How Does Shakespeare Present the Relationship Between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth?

In the play Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, the audience is shown the relationship between the character of Lady Macbeth and the character of Macbeth as both a supportive and a destructive relationship. This is because Lady Macbeth supports Macbeth’s destructive ambitions such as killing the King so that he, himself could become the King of Scotland. Not only does she support his ambitions, but she also provokes Macbeth to a point of almost “bullying” Macbeth to submit to his darkest of ambitions and pressuring him into killing the king, a decision that he regrets till the end of his days. The writer, Shakespeare, shows this to the audience to illustrate the point that even the best of us can give in to evils such as avarice, temptation and greed and become a monster because of

This quote reveals that Lady Macbeth is an extremely ambitious and unscrupulous woman. However Macbeth contradicts to Lady Macbeth, as he is too kind by nature to complete what needs to be done even though he consists the ambition. Macbeth’s goodness does not allow him to act heinously and murder Duncan in order to seize the throne. As Lady Macbeth shows her anxiety towards Macbeth she also states ““That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, and fill me from the crown to the toe top- full of direst cruelty”(1.5. 48-50). The quote shows Lady Macbeth’s no hesitation in murdering King Duncan. Her feelings contradict to Macbeth. Macbeth shows anxiety and extreme fear as he begins to feel mix feelings. The quote shows that Lady Macbeth’s ambition is strong to overcome her husband. Even after Lady Macbeth Duncan’s murder, Lady Macbeth states “ My hands are of your color, but I shame to wear a heart so white”(2.2, 82-83) while Macbeth was crying that he hears voices and states that he heard voices- “Methought I heard a voice cry “Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep”(2.2. 47-48). It is clear during the murder of Duncan that the two characters- Lady Macbeth and Macbeth have changed the ideal role between genders. Lady Macbeth contradicts to the expectation of women during the 11th century as she controls over her husband. She leads her husband who should have power over her to murder the loyal king of Scotland as well as

     Lady Macbeth progresses throughout the play from a seemingly savage and heartless creature to a very delicate and fragile woman. In the beginning of the play, she is very ambitious and hungry for power. She pushes Macbeth to kill Duncan in order to fulfill the witches’ prophecy. In Act I, Scene 6, she asks the gods to make her emotionally strong like a man in order to help her husband go through with the murder plot. She says, “Come, you spirits That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, And fill me, from the crown to the toe, top-full Of direst cruelty!” Also, she does everything in her power to convince Macbeth that he would be wrong not to kill Duncan. In Act I,

Lady Macbeth gives Macbeth the first push to kill Duncan, and she wants to be ruthless, feel no remorse so that she and her husband will successfully kill Duncan. She desires to “stop up th’ access and passage to remorse” (Shakespeare 1.5.51) so that she will not feel bad about the murder. She persuades Macbeth to kill Duncan, but he struggles afterward when he does not follow the plan and forgets to put back the daggers he cannot face the evil act he has committed. Lady Macbeth is satisfied after Macbeth is king, but that is not enough for him any longer. Eventually the killings take a toll on Macbeth’s mental state, and the guilt he begins to feel is unbearable. Macbeth kills Duncan and then says “this is a sorry sight”

In the beginning Lady Macbeth had a strong stance on killing Duncan and went far enough to even mastermind their murderous plan. She is witty and reluctant as to why Macbeth is afraid to achieve their ambitions; Enough to insult his manhood, “What beast was ’t, then, That made you break this enterprise to me? When you durst do it, then you were a man” (1.7.47-49). This then urges Macbeth to show his wife he is stronger than she says. Although Lady Macbeth seems evil, praying to the spirits to “ unsex me here, And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full Of direst cruelty” (1.5.31-33). She is in fact not. She’s dreaded with guilt, which in then shows her humane side. After all, Lady Macbeth couldn’t find the right in the murder of Duncan. While sleep talking she exclaims, “What, will these hands ne'er be clean?—No more o' that, my lord, no more o' that” (5.1.31-32). She is losing sleep from the guilt and is unable to believe the righteousness of the

This is shown many times throughout the play; she thinks she can do everything that is needed to be done with killing Duncan, because she is not a “coward” but when it comes to her making the attempt to do so she chickens out because she finds Duncan to resemble her father to much when he is sleeping. She tells Macbeth everything will be fine as long as he doesn’t show his fear. She does not understand that she has a much stronger conscience then she is aware of. The play reads, “Only look up clear; / To alter favour ever is to fear: / Leave all the rest to me.” (Act I, v, 79-81) This statement is very important because it shows that Lady Macbeth is very confident in herself. She is saying that Macbeth just needs to stand there and look pretty, and sell himself to everyone mean while she will plan out everything else, involving this horrid murder. Much later in the novel she starts to feel very guilty for the murder of Duncan, and eventually falls ill, ridden in guilt. Lady Macbeth has mentally wired herself to act as though nothing will get through to her, it is like she is an iron wall, she thinks nothing can get through, but in reality, the wall is nonexistent, and her conscience is very strong, it is just not present at the necessary times. As well as Lady Macbeth’s blindness to her conscience and guilt, she is blind to the consequences that come with doing

Lady Macbeth’s strength of will persists through the murder of King Duncan as it is she who tries to calm Macbeth after committing the crime by declaring confidently that, “a little water clears us of this deed,” (2.2.67). Afterward, however, Lady Macbeth’s strong and ambitious character begins to deteriorate into madness. Her first sign of weakness occurred when she confessed that she could not have killed the king, revealing a natural woman’s feelings, “had he not resembled my father as he slept, I had done’t” (2.2.13-14). Just as ambition has affected her before more so then Macbeth before the crime, the guilt plagues her now more effectively afterward as she desperately tried to wash away the invisible blood from her sin, “Here’s the smell of the blood still: all the perfume of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand,” (5.1.48-49). Lady Macbeth’s

Macbeth is confused as he is arguing with himself on what he should do. He states reasons not to kill Duncan, because Macbeth is his noble kinsmen and the act would bring dishonor. However, he also states reason why he should kill him, because Macbeth will then become king and fulfill the witches ' fortune. Lady Macbeth, who appears in the beginning as the driving force for the murder of King Duncan, also develops internal conflict. At first, Lady Macbeth seems to be a woman of extreme confidence and will. But, as situations become more and more unstable in the play, guilt develops inside her. For instance, she exclaims; "Wash your hands. Put on your nightgown. / Look not so pale. I tell you again, Banquo 's / Burried; he cannot come out on 's grave" (Shakespeare V, ii, 65-67). Lady Macbeth sleepwalks and frets about her evil wrongdoings because she is extremely guilty of her influence on Macbeth to commit the murder. Lady Macbeth reacts emotionally and dwells on her actions as guilt eats at her soul.

Macbeth is a dramatic play which tells the story of the downfall of a ‘Nobleman’ who becomes a ‘tyrant’. In Act one Shakespeare introduces the characters Macbeth and Lady Macbeth using a range of dramatic devices.

After the “deed” is carried out Macbeth is full of remorse. He is shaken by the sin he has committed and it is Lady Macbeth who soothes his nerves once he comes back to the castle. This shows Lady Macbeth’s remarkable strength of will through the murder. She even jokes about

In Act 1, Scene 7, Lines 56-57, "When you durst do it, then you were a man; And to be more than what you were, you would be so much more the man", Lady Macbeth orchestrates Macbeth’s self-esteem by taunting his manliness when Macbeth doesn’t plan on following through with her plan. Moments later, she tells him how he should act and what he needs to do, in Act 1, Scene 5, Lines 71-75, “When Duncan is asleep...look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under’t.” She successfully augments Macbeth’s ambition and exhorts him to commit atrocities. After Duncan’s murder, Macbeth no longer values Lady Macbeth’s opinions- his actions are rash and selfish because they are made promptly. Interaction between Lady Macbeth and Macbeth falters since Macbeth is now swept up with erasing his tracks. The two perish as individuals- Macbeth is miserable with guilt caused by cold- blooded Lady Macbeth’s attribution of influence and plan. But instead of comforting her husband and talking him out of murdering more people, Lady Macbeth only gives one feeble attempt.

When considering the idea of disturbed minds we are quickly drawn to an image of mental illness, brutality or social disorder but this is not always the case. There are many reasons as to why an individual might have a disturbed mind: stress, traumatic experiences, childhood problems or illness. Shakespeare’s play “Macbeth” is about a loyal warrior a “lion” and his wife being destroyed by their minds, which cannot lay at rest after killing the king, which in 1603 would be a crime against mankind, nature and God. This is because in 1603 there was a distinct hierarchy of power which was as follows. King, Man, Woman and then beast. By killing the king

At the start of the play Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are seen as a united

In the beginning of the play, Lady Macbeth is already plotting Duncan's murder. Because women are often unable to kill, Lady Macbeth asks the spirits to make her male. In Act I, Scene 5, she states if she were not a woman she could do it herself. "Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here And fill me, from the crown to the toe, top-full Of direst cruelty!” Even though Macbeth listed eight reason against the murder, Lady Macbeth persuades him to kill Duncan (I vii). Macbeth feels remorse immediately following the murder, but Lady Macbeth assures him that everything will be fine. When he worries over his blood stained hands she tells him in Act II, Scene 2 that "A little water clears us of this deed. How easy is it then!" Lady Macbeth is very successful at persuading Macbeth to do things that he knows are wrong. Going against the stereotype of a woman, Lady Macbeth is unkind and uncaring. She tells him, “How now, my lord! Why do you keep alone, Of sorriest fancies your companions making, Using those thoughts which should indeed have died With them they think on? Things without all remedy Should be without regard: what’s done is done”. (citation) This speech symbolizes her cruelty, and her evil accounts for the murders that occur throughout the play. Lady Macbeth is far more cruel and ambitious than her husband.

“Macbeth” by William Shakespeare shows the effect of greed/power on a relationship. Is gaining power more important than a relationship? When Macbeth usurps the throne as King of Scotland, he puts aside his relationships to carry out his work as king, and his relationship with Lady Macbeth is, as a result, impacted. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s relationship shifts somewhat and yet partly remains the same when Macbeth is crowned king of Scotland. Macbeth’s relationship remains the same in that he shows Lady Macbeth respect and continues to use words of love to call her by, but it shifts in that Macbeth becomes more independent and does not confide his plans to Lady Macbeth as he had previously.