Preview

How Is Lady Macbeth A Hero

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
452 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
How Is Lady Macbeth A Hero
“To beguile the time, / Look like the time; bear welcome in your eye, / Your hand, your tongue; look like th' innocent flower, But be the serpent under't” (1.5.63-66). British playwright William Shakespeare wrote The Tragedy of Macbeth in 1606. The play is about the downfall of a hero. In this play one of the main characters, Lady Macbeth, is shown as a strong character. Some believe she is even a stronger character than her husband, Macbeth. However, I do not perceive the characters of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth in this way. I view Lady Macbeth as weaker than her husband due to her: lack to admit when she is wrong, inability to back up her words, and her cowardliness. Lady Macbeth does not easily back down when she believes she is right. She

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Lady Macbeth has also been presented as a villain through the tactics of flattery, accusing Macbeth or cowardice, questioning Macbeth’s masculinity and manhood, reassurance and emphasising her own…

    • 504 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lady Macbeth completely destroys the idea that women are weak. At the time Macbeth was written, women were not seen as equal to men. They weren’t warriors, like many men were expected to be. One of the first times she speaks, Lady Macbeth reveals that she’s not delicate, and also has a dark personality. She doesn’t need to play by the rules.…

    • 231 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lady Macbeth is a controversial figure. She is seen by some as a woman of strong will who is ambitious for herself and who is astute enough to recognise her husband’s strengths and weaknesses, and ruthless enough to exploit them. They see her in her commitment to evil and in her realisation that the acquisition of the Crown has not brought her the happiness she had expected, and finally, as one who breaks down under the strain. Others see her as a woman ambitious for her husband whom she loves. She recognises the essential good in him, and feels that, without her, he will never win the Crown. She allies herself with the powers of the occult for his sake, but here inherent femininity breaks down under the strain…

    • 1005 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The term “tragic hero” was first introduced by Aristotle, Greek philosopher and playwright, around 2,400 years ago. A tragic hero is defined as, “a great or virtuous character in a dramatic tragedy who is destined for downfall, suffering, or defeat(dictionary.com).” To first be identified as a tragic hero one must be virtuous or noble but have a character flaw and/or make a bad decision. This decision or trait will lead to a run of misfortune which the hero knows that he is to blame. Despite this the hero will remain to have a high opinion of himself. This will eventually lead to a downfall that is considered greatly deserved. Throughout all this, the hero must remain to have morals no better or worse than any average person. This allows the…

    • 716 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Macbeth is a brave yet conflicted character that has to face a lot of decisions throughout…

    • 1262 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    “Of all Shakespeare's female characters Lady Macbeth stands out far beyond the rest — remarkable for her ambition, strength of will, cruelty, and dissimulation” (Traits of Lady). Lady Macbeth is usually viewed as an interesting character because of her notable traits. Her cruelty, cunning, and manipulation certainly contribute to one’s fascination with her. However, equally intriguing are Lady Macbeth’s notorious views she possesses. The unyielding views Lady Macbeth holds on manhood, womanhood, and guilt greatly affect her life.…

    • 937 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Cotton King

    • 451 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Beside kingly power, Macbeth also has a power struggle in his relationship with Lady Macbeth. Firstly, Lady Macbeth has the power over Macbeth; she is much stronger and vicious than her husband. Already lacking power in his marriage, one can understand the reason behind Macbeth’s power thirsty and his eagerness to receive the kingship. Secondly, compare to Lady Macbeth, Macbeth is much more compassionate, he is often portrayed as weak minded and vulnerable. Knowing that she is more powerful…

    • 451 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “A tragic hero is a literary character who makes a judgment error that inevitably leads to his/her own destruction” as said by Aristotle, a Greek philosopher and a scientist who came up with the characteristics of tragic hero. William Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a play about a tragic hero named Macbeth who was told about his prophecy by three witches and one of them was him being king, in which he succeeds by killing all in his way. The term tragic hero applies to Macbeth. Through three witch’s predications, Lady Macbeth’s encouragements, and the fact that he is a courageous man.…

    • 871 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Is Macbeth A Tragic Hero

    • 673 Words
    • 3 Pages

    A great play has to include many important features in order for it to be classified as a tragedy. For any great tragedy, there must be a tragic hero in the story. Fear and pity are created by and through the conflict. Every tragedy must also end in hope. William Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a great tragedy deserving of much more praise.…

    • 673 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lady Macbeth was her husband’s backbone for the entirety of her life. When he first received the visons she was the one who helped him complete what needed to be done for him to be crowned king. From hiding the knife to talking him into doing other evils. She always worked to help her husband as much as possible. Even when she started going crazy she hid it from her husband to ensure that he could lead without fear of messing up. Even though he hid half of his plan from her she still stood with him and covered…

    • 550 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Macbeth Critcal Essay

    • 601 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Despite these powerful feelings of angst towards Macbeth and his wife, the initial impression we get of Macbeth differs greatly from our concluding opinion. In Macbeths opening soliloquy he demonstrates his inner thoughts by admitting ‘ I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent but only vaulting ambition which o’erleaps the pretender’ Shakespeare illurstrates a esstentailly worthy and good man at this point as Macbeth admits that he has no intentions on killing the king as it would only fufil his own selfish motives. Macbeths fatal flaw of ambition is also revealved at this point as he lacks the aggression which would help him strive for his greater glory to be king. However, these admirable qualities are dashed with the entrances of Macbeths wife, Lady Macbeth who should surprise the audience with her extremely controversial character traits. Noticing her husbands weaknesses, Lady Macbeth used extremely disturbing imagery and provocative language in a bid to convince her husband to kill the king , Duncan. She says ‘ I have given suck and know how tender tis to love the babe that milks me. I would…dash’d the brains out had I so sworn as you have done to this’ Lady Macbeths reveals that should would go to unimagineable lengeths for her husband but while he is this nervous and worthy man, she seems to be ashamed of him. The audience however should realise that Lady Macbeths ruthless personality and harshness towards her husband only exists…

    • 601 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Macbeth

    • 527 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Fear can affect an individual’s decision – at times it has a positive effect, and other times a negative impact. Shakespeare uses one of his characters to demonstrate how an individual’s fearlessness can have such dreadful consequences. Lady Macbeth begins the play as a very strong-willed woman who exhibits stereotypically male characteristics. She is extremely power hungry and is willing to harm anyone standing in her path to royalty, but unlike Macbeth she does not get stronger as the play progresses. Rather she shifts into the conventional role of a woman, exhibiting signs of fear and weakness. When Lady Macbeth was first introduced in, she appeared to be a typical nobleman’s wife of…

    • 527 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    To begin with, Macbeth is greatly influenced by Lady Macbeth. She “is depicted by Shakespeare as an equal of Macbeth in the realm of ambition and ruthlessness; without her, in fact, Macbeth's courage may never have reached the ‘sticking-place’” (Moss & Wilson 7). She convinces him to commit the murder of King Duncan, as well as convinces him that murder is the only way to achieve their ambition. Rather than listening to his own conscience, which tells him to “...proceed no further in this business” (Shakespeare I.VII.34), Macbeth allows his wife to manipulate and convince him by accusing him of not being a man and expresses that she would “...dashed the brains out...”…

    • 1209 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Macbeth’s real tragedy is his marriage lies with the fault of his wife Lady Macbeth (Thompson 1). “Macbeth's violent behavior is correctly understood as, and deemed to be, bravery because it is in service of his friends and "cousins." His loyalty is what is being lauded. But, mangled by the blood-spotted hands of his wife, he becomes a traitor to his "brother band" and to himself. Her monomaniacal ambition changes him into a monster.” She is literally "awakened" by her blind and vaulting ambition to realize she did not want the kind of man she thought she wanted (Scheil 2). “She is desperate to fit in with her husband's warrior society, and fails to do so.”…

    • 462 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lady Macbeth is one of Shakespeare’s most famous and frightening female characters. When we first see her, she is already plotting Duncan’s murder, and she is stronger, more ruthless, and more ambitious than her husband. She seems fully aware of this and knows that she will have to push Macbeth into committing murder. At one point, she wishes that she were not a woman so that she could do it herself. This theme of the relationship between gender and power is key to Lady Macbeth’s character: her husband implies that she is a masculine soul inhabiting a female body, which seems to link masculinity to ambition and violence. Shakespeare,…

    • 730 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays