In one of Shakespeare's most violent plays, Macbeth, the characters are constantly influenced by their fear. Shakespeare suggests that the way a person perceives reality can be greatly altered by the presence of fear, this in turn can ultimately change their goals and ideals; that fear controls free will. Throughout the play, Lady Macbeth and Macbeth’s personalities change into something completely different from when they started. Macbeth starts out tentative to murder, however, he soon becomes addicted to the fear and panic he brings. Lady Macbeth undergoes a completely opposite ordeal. She convinces Macbeth to murder Duncan, but soon becomes mad with the guilt and terror that it has brought. The fear of being caught has affected the characters …show more content…
Lady Macbeth does not think ahead. Although she does consider what will happen once Macbeth becomes king, she does not anticipate any other scenario besides the one she wants. When Macbeth becomes king, Lady Macbeth is glad that their plan worked, however, she is caught off guard when Macbeth begins to murder more people. Showing that she was not expecting this to happen and did not think through the gravity of her …show more content…
In the confession scene, she seems to be sleepwalking, having nightmares about what they’ve done. The fear begins to control everything she does. Lady Macbeth does not have power over her own choices, fear is controlling them. She becomes afraid of reality, finally realizing the gravity of everything Macbeth has done and how she participated in it. The murder that seems to hit her the most is Lady Macduff's. When she is having her hallucination, Lady Macbeth says, “The Thane of Fife had a wife. Where is she now?” (5.1.38). The use of the phrase ‘Where is she now’ suggests that Lady Macbeth did not participate in the murder of Lady Macduff, as she asks a question rather than stating something she already knows, but has realized that Macbeth was the one who killed innocent people. Furthermore, right after killing Duncan, Lady Macbeth tells Macbeth that “[her] hands are of [his] colour” (2.2.67-68), showing that she is as involved in this murder as Macbeth. Later, when she is hallucinating and confessing to the murders, she is constantly rubbing a spot on her hand, trying to get the blood off and says, “Here’s the smell of the blood still; all the perfumes of / Arabia will not sweeten this little hand” (5.1.44-45). Lady Macbeth’s repeated motif of blood suggests that she is plagued with guilt and fear of reality. The use of the word ‘still’ suggest that she has made the connection between what she had done and how it is
Once guilt begins to overtake Lady Macbeth, she looses control of her emotions and actions, sending her onto the fast track to death. In a way, Shakespeare has Macbeth and Lady Macbeth change roles. In the beginning it seems as if Macbeth is more emotionally affected by the killing of Duncan. However, once Banquo is killed Macbeth is perfectly fine with it, and Lady Macbeth becomes vulnerable and lets the guilt overrule her. She begins to repeatedly pretend to was her hands and sleep walk. “Here’s the smell of blood still. All the perfumes of/ Arabia will not sweeten/ this little hand”
In the beginning of the play, after the visit of the three witches, Macbeth tends to ignore his desires for power, and depends on chance. “If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me, without my stir” (I, 3, 143-144), this declaration by Macbeth shows his initial stand, which is believing in fate and to be sin free. As Macbeth’s character develops throughout the play, he moves from being reliant on chance, to take actions to fulfill his darker desires. However, Lady Macbeth also has a manipulative mastermind, she possesses the power to influence her husband‘s decisions in a negative manner. “... and you shall put This night’s great business into my dispatch, Which shall to all our nights and days to come Give solely sovereign sway and masterdom,” (I, 5, 55-60) Lady Macbeth was the one who conceives the entire plan about murdering king Duncan, and hashes out the details before Macbeth even truly considers taking action to make the prophecies come true. “Was the hope drunk Wherein you dressed yourself? Hath it slept since? And wakes it now, to look so green and pale At what it did so freely? From this time Such I account thy love,” (I, 6, 26-40) even though Macbeth has the desire to become a king, he did not have enough courage to take any action to fulfil his desire. In contrast, Lady Macbeth is full of courage and will stop at nothing to get what she wants and desires. She attacks Macbeth’s weakest spot, his courage, by convincing him that he will only be a man if he commits the murder.
At the same time, it can also be said that Lady Macbeth’s greatest fear is the weakness within herself, a fear linked to her femininity, and it is this fear that becomes the biggest factor in her ruin. In her famous soliloquy in Act 1, scene 5, Lady Macbeth denies her feminine side of sentiment and kindness, the very characteristics she condemns Macbeth as a weak coward for having. This can be seen when she calls for spirits to “unsex [her] here (Shakespeare 1.5.361),” so that she could become crueler. Lady Macbeth links cruelty with action, and action with fearlessness. Until her death, she pushes away any hint of weakness and fear of taking action.
Throughout the play Macbeth, we see how the prophecy, told by the three witches at the beginning of the play, is used as a basis for the decisions made by both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. The decision they made henceforth, was to take matters into their own hands to make sure the prophecy comes true. Believing there would be no consequences for their actions, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth carried out their malicious plan. Later, Macbeth returns to the three witches to learn more about his future. Considering the prophecies of Birnam Wood moving and one not born of woman killing Macbeth seeming unlikely, Macbeth continued to commit crimes with the hopes of gaining what was told he would have, the throne of Scotland.
She doesn't care what the outcomes will look like. She manipulates Macbeth in the worst ways. Telling him he mustn't love her anymore because he won’ti murder him. She says she doesn't love him as much because he is not being a man. She tells Macbeth her plan on how the murder will go. She promises him that they will not get caught. Lady Macbeth also says if she makes a promise and keeps it he must keep his promises too. After the murder he is now faced with more than he can handle. This includes the dreams of the bloody danger, the guilt he must carry along with him and even
In the play Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, the characters of Macbeth, Macduff, and Lady Macbeth all interact with power and fear. In the beginning, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth become obsessed with gaining power and it consumes them. When they finally reach their goal, putting Macbeth on the throne, Macbeth himself becomes overwhelmed with the fear that he will be overthrown and lose the power he murdered to claim. Lady Macbeth feels the weight of her guilty conscienous bear down on her as she recalls the horrid deeds that they committed. Macduff on the other hand, never was in power, but he felt the effects of tyrant Macbeth. Macduff leaves for England in hopes of returning with a new king, meanwhile Macbeth murders everyone at Macduff’s estate.
She has a mental breakdown and kills herself over the burden of keeping everything a secret. The knowledge she had to hide from everyone was eating her from the inside out. Unlike Lady Macbeth, Macbeth deals with his pent-up emotions in a very different way. His pent-up emotions affect him very gradually and not suddenly. They are visible in the change of his daily attitude, not his sanity or lack thereof.
Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, is a tragedy takes place in Scotland where two of the main characters, Macbeth and Banquo, are acknowledged for their dedication in the war between Scotland and Norway. Soon after the war, Banquo and Macbeth meet The Weïrd Sisters, who give them a prophecy that Macbeth will be the future king of Scotland and Banquo’s children will become king as well. The Witches also declare that Macbeth will become Thane of Cawdor. Not knowing what to think of The Weïrd Sisters, Macbeth then receives news that he is appointed Thane of Cawdor by King Duncan. Now that part of Macbeth’s prophecy has come true, it is proven to him that The Witches are accurate, and that Macbeth will become King next.
The play Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare highlights the unfortunate demise of a hero due to Macbeth’s ambition and want for the crown. The witches and Lady Macbeth play a heavy role in his decision to kill King Duncan. After the assisted murder of the King Macbeth continues to create blood shed becoming anxious that everyone around him is plotting against him. This leads to more unnecessary murders and the deterioration of Macbeth’s sanity. Shakespeare uses the Witches to play a partial role in the tragic downfall of the hero Macbeth displayed through dialogue.
In the beginning of the play, it is evident that Lady Macbeth is willing to do almost anything in order to possess power. However, throughout the course of the play, as more murders are committed by her and Macbeth, Lady Macbeth develops a guilty conscience. Ironically, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s views on killing anyone seen as a distraction flip. By the time after Duncan’s murder, Lady Macbeth begins to deteriorate, and falls into a downward spiral. For instance, she cannot sleep at night and eventually hallucinates blood of murder on her hands, representing insanity and paranoia.
The analysis of each character’s fears and responses present how each of their fears lead to differences in reasoning, motives, and choices. With Lady Macbeth, fear of weakness drives herself and through her, Macbeth, to what she perceives as “manly”, leading to Duncan’s murder when the couple conspire to usurp the throne. However, fear runs both directions, and towards the end of the play, the horror of their crimes leads Lady Macbeth to descend into madness. Like Lady Macbeth, Macbeth’s fears also lead him to lose his ability to live well. By the end of the play, he seems unbothered by morality and ethics- it is the fear of losing power makes him waver before he completely loses himself to greed, seeing no other option but to keep
In the story of Macbeth there are a myriad of themes that can be explored and analyzed within the text, which become distinct and unique in their own way. As the main character, Macbeth, goes through continuous conflict and self doubt based on the morality of his choices; other characters slowly get assorted within the chaos that ultimately changes and influences the scenes and murders that play out throughout the book. Lady Macbeth (Macbeth’s wife) can be attributed to most of her husband's actions as she calls his “manhood” and “pride” into question over and over again. Lady Macbeth manipulates her husband into murdering King Duncan and anyone else that threatens their power, which steadily begins to address her own morality as a human being. As the book continues, further on, a sense of guilt can be discovered as part of the aftermath of murdering Duncan.
Lady Macbeth then comes up with a plan to kill Duncan. Her plan is that Macbeth must
Lady Macbeth is obsessed with royalty. Lady’s desire is to become a queen and be able to rule. When MacBeth gets his fortune told by the three witches, Lady is determined to make sure those tellings come true. “All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor! The Third which predicts that Macbeth will become king. All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter! Then Banquo asks them to predict his own future.” Lady was going
Lady Macduff is another women who played a part in the play. She was left alone in the play by Macduff. Her husband who is named Macduff never ran away for her and their children, he actually just left to search for Malcolm so he could help concur Macbeth the protagonist in the story. His wife thought that Macduff was a coward, that he just left her and his children and acted dishonestly. Her son said that the world is full of dishonest people. Her son asked her ' 'How will you do for a husband ? ' ' Lady Macduff replied to her son by saying ' ' Why, I can buy me twenty at any market ! ' ' - Lady Macduff and her son 5.1.39-40. All she said was that she will find a new one. She just jumped to conclusion. She should have thought differently of her husband and not calling him a dishonest person. He actually left for a good reason. At the end of the act Lady Macduff gets killed and so do the children. Just by being through a lot she made the wrong choice and just