In the play Macbeth, Shakespeare introduces one of his most merciless and devilish characters. With this description, one often thinks of a man, but surprisingly Shakespeare introduces a dangerous woman in Lady Macbeth as the dominant force, which encourages Macbeth to commit murder. Shakespeare also reveals in Lady Macbeth’s character the guilt one feels after committing such crimes onto others. Ambition and guilt are the main themes in Shakespeare’s Macbeth and he provides an excellent display of how these two traits can destroy the lives of many. Lady Macbeth starts out as a main character who urges Macbeth to take the throne and she appears to be amazingly more ambitious than Macbeth. It is intriguing how she plays an active role in Macbeth’s crimes but in the end, she is driven into madness and suicide by guilt. …show more content…
The play Macbeth is set in motion by Lady Macbeth’s murderous plan, since Macbeth is unsure of carrying out the witches’ prophecies. She manipulates Macbeth to kill King Duncan by questioning his manhood as she explains “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.” (1.7.56-58). By belittling him and plotting out every detail of their actions, she persuades Macbeth to fulfill her ambitions for him to become king. After the crime, Macbeth is terrified of what he has done and again it is Lady Macbeth who insures him that they will succeed in their plans when she tells him, “A little water clears us of this deed. / How easy is it, then!” (2.2.86-87). Unlike Macbeth, Lady Macbeth never doubts herself since she is a stronger and more cold-blooded character than he
Although it is clear the audience would have disagreed with Macbeth’s ambitious ways Shakespeare never makes his own opinions on Macbeth’s ambition clear. Regardless, ambition alone is not enough to spark the flame for Macbeth to commit the murder. While Macbeth desires what he can obtain from murdering Duncan, he hesitates to commit these acts himself. Therefore, it is his feminine flaws, and the manipulative nature of his wife, that truly sets the violent motion of the play in action. One must understand Macbeth is not the ‘masculine hero’ he outwardly seems to be.
Although the role of Lady Macbeth in the murder of Duncan is unfairly undermined, it is clear that she plays the critical role of the motivator. When reading Macbeth as a reader it is difficult to take into consideration that she did in fact play both roles of motivator and victim. Shakespeare leaves it up to the reader as to which role they perceive of Lady Macbeth. A crucial point that shakespeare hints at in this play is that life is a play and we are nothing but mire actors that partake in a
• She thinks she is strong but she eventually feels guilty Earlier on in the play, Lady Macbeth is portrayed as the strong one, the leader, whilst Macbeth appears to weak and easily manipulated. Lady Macbeth is repressing her feelings; she needs to do this in order to comit such an act, eventually her conscious catches up with her. She can not cope with the reality of the part she played in such a heinous act. She drives herself mad with guilt.
Lady Macbeth is presented as multifaceted in the play Macbeth because she seemed evil for wanting to kill Duncan, persisting Macbeth to go through with the deed, making herself maleficient but towards the end is faced with guilt.