Lady Macbeth's Character Analysis Due to Lady Macbeth's challenging traditional gender roles, she and Macbeth face a tragic downfall. Lady Macbeth is shown to have dominant control in her relationship, she is expressed as an ambitious woman with evil attributes. She is seen forcing her husband to murder his best friend by antagonizing his manhood and making him become driven by ambition. Her famous quote, “And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full Of direst cruelty/Make thick my blood/Stop up the access and passage to remorse /That no compunctious visitings of nature /Shake my fallen purpose.”(Shakespeare, 1.1.5). Lady Macbeth asks for her to be ‘unsex’, wishing for her femininity to be released, then goes on to mention how she might …show more content…
In Act I, Scene 5, Lady Macbeth receives a letter from Macbeth detailing the witches' prophecy and she ululates how she wants to discard her femininity and explore her masculine ones. She exclaims, "Come, you spirits that tend to mortal thoughts! Unsex me here, and fill me from the crown to the toe top-full of direst cruelty" (Shakespeare, 1.1.5). Macbeth is said to view Lady Macbeth as a ‘masculine soul inhabiting a female body’, saying she is ‘ambitious’ and ‘violent’, but Shakespeare uses that as a way to describe her in a different light. Shakespear shows that her masculine attributes don't make her ambitious and violent, until Macbeth leads her to it, she is only ambitious of becoming queen after she receives the letter. Shakespeare also portrayed her as more malicious and dominant, for instance, when having to make her husband kill his best friend but also it is implied that throughout their marriage she was the one in control of it. Additionally, in Act III scene 4, Lady Macbeth again takes charge as her husband loses control upon seeing the ghost of Banquo. During the time where Macbeth loses his mind, Lady Macbeth controls him, she keeps telling him to ‘fix himself’ and even orders others in the dining area to stay seated and to
Lady Macbeth embodies the ideals of masculinity because she manipulates her husband to kill the king Duncan so she and her husband can have all the power to be king and queen and to manipulate people so they can be by their side. For example the text states, ¨Marriage counseling to solve the issues of our relationship? What issues? Just kill Duncan so I can be Queen already’’(Shakespeare #). This quote shows that Lady Macbeth takes advantages of her husband because he only tell her his secrets to her, so that is when Lady Macbeth takes advantages of her husband and manipulates her husband to kill king Duncan so Lady Macbeth and Macbeth can been the next king and queen. Accordingly, at the beginning of the sentence, this evidences shows Lady Macbeth manipulates people by taking advantages of them. From my point of view Lady Macbeth manipulates people so she can be the next queen and she also takes advantages of people that trust her so that is when she gives them advice so they can do things that favor Lady Macbeth by being the next queen. For instance ¨Lady Macbeth outraged, calls him a coward and question his manhood, ¨´when you durst to do it,´ she says then ´you were a man´¨(Shakespeare #) .This quote shows that Lady Macbeth also manipulates her husband in many ways like making him think he is not man because he is scared to murder king Duncan and making him think a man is who doesn't have fear to do something that might have dangerous consequences, so then he decides to murder Duncan. In conclusion in “Macbeth “the
Lady Macbeth expresses her ambition for power when she says, "Come, you spirits... unsex me here, And fill me from the crown to the toe full of direst cruelty!" Act 1, Scene 5, lines 38-411. This quote deeply underlines the fact that Lady Macbeth would do anything to get rid of the “weakness” that comes with being a woman when it comes to gaining power. She would get rid of her feminine qualities just to secure power.
Lady Macbeth shows that she is the dominant character in the relationship because she says ‘that croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan, under my battlements.’ The pronoun choice here is interesting as she says ‘my battements.’ This shows that lady Macbeth thinks she owns the castle, this was very unusual as at the time women were not allowed to own property, and as only men could purchase and own property this shows that Lady Macbeth wishes to take on the gender roll of a male figure. This is further proven earlier in the play when Lady Macbeth speaks aside and says ‘unsex me here’ this is showing that she wishes to be free of the gender boundaries that women were set and instead be allowed the freedom of a male at the time and be able to speak
First of all, Lady Macbeth plays a significant role in Macbeth's rise and downfall as a king from being manipulative and conceiving. For exampl, "Look like th' innocent flower/but be the serpent under't" (1.6.76-77). This quote said by Lady Macbeth states that she wants Macbeth to act innocent and kind, but actually be cruel and cunning in order to become king. Lady Macbeth is willing to say anything to her husband because he needs a little convincing since he is too kind and fair. Macbeth is so hesitant and worried on being king that Lady Macbeth hollers, "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 (1.7.56-57). This shows that Macbeth wasn't sure if he wanted to be king until
The play Macbeth by William Shakespeare is a thrilling play that portrays many different emotions. In the play the protagonist goes from being seen as a hero to being seen as someone that everyone hates; even his wife, Lady Macbeth, begins to lose trust in him after what he started. For example, Lady Macbeth was so confident and eager to become Queen that she took actions she would soon regret. Lady Macbeth quickly regretted what she did to Duncan. At the end of the play, Lady Macbeth was filled with so much grief and fear of what she did.
Lady Macbeth is one of the most dominant characters in the play Macbeth because of her ambitious, manipulative and deceitful nature. Lady Macbeth’s ambition is her most consuming trait. It is expressed in the quote “Come, you spirits/ that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here/and fill me from the crown to the toe topfull/of direst cruelty”(I.v.l.39-42). This famous quote said by Lady Macbeth is about how she wishes to be more like a man so she can kill Duncan herself, which proves that she is willing to take any measures possible to earn success for her and her her husband Macbeth. Additionally, Lady Macbeth is a manipulative character . Her controlling nature is exhibited when she manipulates her husband into killing the king, by saying
Before her husband arrives to their home, she ponders her husband’s ability to go through on their scheme. She states that she is afraid that her husband is “It is too full o' the milk of human kindness,” (Act 1, Scene 5) and would not morally be able to do what is necessary to help achieve her goal. As she realizes that she may have to be the one to carry though with the plan, she asks for her femininity to be taken from her and replaced with masculinity. In saying this, she is implying that she is willing to lose herself to benefit herself in the future. When faced with the possibility that her husband may not murder Duncan, Lady Macbeth carefully criticizes him to get what she wants.
Not only does this suggest that he regards her as his equal, but also by treating Lady Macbeth in this manner, he is allowing her to have the opportunity to hold more power as his wife. After reading Macbeth’s letter regarding the witches’ prophecy and King Duncan’s impending visit to their castle, the desire for Lady Macbeth to lose her feminine qualities and gain masculine ones is indicated throughout the text. ‘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.’ The kind Lady Macbeth becomes a scheming and treacherous woman who craves power and authority. There is a disruption in the traditional order of gender roles and it is evident that there is a role reversal between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Lady Macbeth's usurpation of the dominant role in the Macbeth's marriage is highlighted throughout many occasions. She rules her husband and dictates his actions as she emasculates him to into taking action and killing Duncan so he can be ‘crown’d withal’ using the ‘valour of tongue’. At the end of the play the madly insane Lady Macbeth and wishes for things to return to how they were before. This leaves Macbeth to hold all the power, and make decisions on his own without the influence of Lady Macbeth. The power, in which their titles entail, had a horrible effect on the outcome of their
Being a merciless character that Lady Macbeth is, it is no surprise that she is one of the main contributors to her husband’s murderous actions. In the beginning of The Tragedy of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is driven by her husband’s impending success. She is determined and will do anything to make sure Macbeth’s seat on the throne is ensured even if that means manipulating him into doing what she wants. An example of her strong-minded ways can be see when she received the letter from Macbeth. While reading the letter, she questions Macbeth’s strength and wonders if he is too kind to go through with the plan. When she
In the beginning of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth takes on an extremely masculine persona when confronting Macbeth about killing Duncan and desires that, “Come, you spirits / That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, / And fill me from the crown to the toe topful / Of direst cruelty,” (1.5.38-43). Lady Macbeth is so power hungry that she requests spirits to make her a man so she could have enough will to kill Duncan. While Lady Macbeth portrays a stable, confident woman on the outside, internally she battles against her own feelings of regret and remorse. During her nightmare, Lady Macbeth rambles about her guilt.
While it has been confirmed that numerous characters view Lady Macbeth as a “gentle lady” (2.3.96), she is, however, a woman who desires to live a luxurious life. After receiving the message that Macbeth will soon become king, Lady Macbeth is shown to be in a forward-looking attitude and praises her husband that she cannot wait to be Queen of Scotland. Lady Macbeth’s greediness can be demonstrated as she says, “Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be/ What thou art promised. Yet do I fear thy nature;/ It is too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness...Which fate and metaphysical aid doth seem/ To have thee crowned withal” (1.5.15-17.32-33). These lines of the speech establishes that Lady Macbeth is the dominant partner in the relationship, and her plan of helping Macbeth to become king, will also have her as queen undoubtedly. Lady Macbeth is a clever woman, who can organize plans that everything will go her way. The wickedness of Lady Macbeth is shown as she fears of her femininity and invites evil “[s]pirits/ That tend on mortal thoughts…[to] unsex [her], And fill [her] from the crown to the toe top-full/ Of direst cruelty” (1.5.47-50). After Lady Macbeth has been informed of King Duncan’s arrival to her castle, her thoughts shortly turn to murder because she wishes Duncan murdered without any remorse. Since Lady Macbeth had opened her mentality and body to
Throughout the play, ‘Macbeth’, Shakespeare continuously presents Lady Macbeth’s lust for power and control over her husband as being the driving force for the events of the play. Lady Macbeth controls Macbeth through her constant emasculation towards him. While trying to convince Macbeth to murder Duncan, Lady Macbeth questions Macbeth’s masculinity in Act I Scene VII, where she states “Was the hope drunk… and wakes it now, to look so green and pale”. This shows how the relationship of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth diverged from the stereotypes of Elizabethan England. Elizabethan women were seen as being subservient to men, and heavily reliant on their male counterparts, but the opposite is shown in the relationship of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth.
Lady Macbeth is one of the strongest women in all of Shakespeare's plays and is a focus of exploration of gender roles with her traditionally masculine personality. In her relationship with her husband, Macbeth, she often seems to take the more masculine role for power and success. Lady Macbeth says “Come you spirits/ That tend on mortal thoughts unsex me here” (1.5.47-48) This is Lady Macbeth saying to not identify her by her gender and be given no sex.
On the contrary, Lady Macbeth begins as a ruthless woman. She has a manipulative and controlling character, convincing Macbeth to kill King Duncan; she will do anything to gain power. When she says, “How tender ‘tis to love the babe…I would, while it was smiling in my face, have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums and dashed the brains out” (I.vii. 55-58), she shows her ruthlessness and her “bad” ambition. In her “role reversal” with Macbeth, she gains somewhat of a conscience and realizes her guilt. When she tells him, “You must leave this” (III. ii. 35), she wants Macbeth to forget about his plan to murder Banquo’s family. She is very hesitant about committing another murder and does not want Macbeth to follow through with his plan.
After Lady Macbeth reads the letter sent by Macbeth which explains the two prophecies the three witches gave him, she turns sour. Masculinity is tied to courage and ambition which Lady Macbeth wants. Wanting to become like a man she cries “Unsex me here, / And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full / Of direst cruelty!” (1.5.40-43 ) to gain the courage to kill the king. She cries for the courage the man has to consume her body.