Compare Lady Macbeth in the Play 'Macbeth' to Ophelia in 'Hamlet'

'Macbeth' was written around about 1603-1607 and no one really knows when the exact date 'Hamlet' was written, but it was approximately in 1599-1601. The plays written were both tragedies written by William Shakespeare. 'Macbeth' was about a man who was told a prophecy by three witches that he will be lord of Cawdor and he will become King. So he killed the former King of Scotland for himself and his wife Lady Macbeth to become king and queen, he was not alone in the murder his wife manipulated and steered him into the direction of killing King Duncan. Macbeth also kills various other people on the way to maintain his power. 'Hamlet' is set in Denmark, Prince Hamlet is the song of King Hamlet and Queen Gertrude. King Hamlet passes away he the ghost of him tells his son that it was his brother Claudius that killed him. Hamlet swears revenge. He murders Polonius because he was eavesdropping ( the court chamberlain). Polonius's son Laertes returns to Denmark to take vengeance of his father's death. Polonius's daughter Ophelia who loves the Hamlet but his behaviour drives her to madness. Ophelia dies by drowning herself. Soon enough a duel takes place and ends with the death of Gertrude, Laertes, Claudius, and Hamlet.
My view on Lady Macbeth is that she is a very powerful, manipulating and devious lady and she is the wife of Macbeth. I say that she is quite powerful due to her manipulating ways. However she the guilt of leading her husband to King Duncan death gets a bit to much for her which then leads to Lady Macbeth to committing suicide. Ophelia is the daughter of Polonius and sister of Laertes. She is also a beautiful, simple minded women and innocent. However Ophelia is caught between her obedience to her father and her love for Hamlet. She soon hates the position she has been put in and it drives her to madness and she soon drowns herself.
Lady Macbeth was not like the stereotypical type of wife in the society at the time. She is a really strong women plotting the seed of King Duncan death. Macbeth and her relationship it represents equality which is really unusual for women back then. When Lady Macbeth is reading a letter from Macbeth he refers to her as ' My dearest partner of greatness'. Also women they were more expected to be mothers and hostess which are more traditional female roles. Motherhood it hardly important to Lady Macbeth, ambition and hunger for power is.
Lady Macbeth relationship with Macbeth is quite a abnormal relationship for the time back then. She has more of a dominant role over her husband and she overrides his thoughts about killing King Duncan. Lady Macbeth says in Act 1 Scene 5 ' Unsex me here' . She is literally saying take all her femininity away so that she can be more masculine and do the deed herself. So with Macbeth she is really confident to speak her mind. Ophelia on the over hand she obeys her father straight away and she is quite dependant on the men in her life i.e.: her brother . Lady Macbeth does not really mention her family much in the play only her father in Act 1 Scene 2 'Had he not resembled. My father as he slept, I had done ’t. Here she is saying if he never resembled her father as much she would of done it herself. This shows a mixture of her evilness and humanity because even though the King reminds her off her own father she still wants him dead however it shows humanity because she does not want to the deed herself.
Both ladies they have a mixture of strengths and weaknesses. One main weakness of Ophelia would be that she is quite giving and does not have confidence to speak up for herself. For example when her father Polonius asks her to spy on Hamlet and she knows its wrong however she gives in and says, 'I shall obey my lord'. She has the need to please others and make them happy and this just shows to what a feeble character Ophelia is. A weakness of Lady Macbeth is that she is way to confident. In Act 1 Scene 7 she says , ' But screw your courage to the sticking place, And we'll not fail'. This shows that Lady Macbeth is really convinced that they would not fail. A strength that Lady Macbeth has is that she is quite intelligent and quick thinking. Ophelia strength would be that she is quite kind and sweet and people instantly like her however this can be a weakness to.
Both characters died by committing suicide. They were both similar in some ways and different. They both had similar views to what they wanted. Also due to the events happening before the deaths it got to much for both of them and insanity got the better of them both.