Preview

Is Lady Macbeth Selfish Or Selfless?

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
182 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Is Lady Macbeth Selfish Or Selfless?
The words, “Leave all the rest to me” can be very much debated on whether here Lady Macbeth is actually being selfish or selfless. She is overall a ruthless partner in this relationship with Macbeth. As she is ruthless, she wants the best for herself. This whole time she is manipulating her husband to kill Duncan because he has to “keep his word”. She truly wants whatever fame that comes with being royalty. All this time, She is heavily encouraging Macbeth to do the deed; This can be seen by how technical she is in preparations for the murder, he wouldn’t have had the strength to do it on his own. Lady Macbeth states “Look like the time. Bear welcome in your eye,Your hand, your tongue. Look like th' innocent flower, But be the serpent under’t”

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Lady Macbeth enters the play in Act 1, scene 5 were she is perceived as a powerful, controlling and an independent women. She is ruthless and tries to make sure Macbeth becomes king by planning the deed, and also getting her own hands dirty. While Macbeth feels guilty about the blood on his hands, she says, "My hands are of your colour, but I shame / To wear a heart so white,” (2.2.64-65). However, Lady Macbeth makes a complete 180 turns in Act 5 when guilt and repentance come to haunt her. She is sleepwalking and muttering about the horrible act of killing Duncan. The paranoid…

    • 941 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    They persauded Macbeth to kill people only because they wanted to be benefited. they were selfish and not worrying that they would soon turn Macbeth into a crazed lunatic The witches delighted in chaos and toil. They did not tell Macbeth what to do but they simply showed him what can happen through their prophecies and the apparitions they showed to Macbeth. Macbeth could've been a perfect target for them to bring about this chaos. Macbeth is a strong soldier, he has killed enemies in war, and perhaps the witches knew his true nature("by the prickling of my thumb, something wicked this way comes..."). The extent of their influenced is demonstrated through their predictions, they are temptations and a form of flattery which Macbeth eventually gave into. On one hand, Lady Macbeth has the far greater influence because she is Macbeth's wife and they share a passionate relationship together. Just like the witches she flatters him, but this time it is a direct flattery and a direct temptation towards him. As far as Macbeth being changed into a diffrent person, he himself is responsible for his own actions. The final decision lies within him and this was demonstrated when he carried out the murder of King Duncan. Lady Macbeth acts as the catalyst for Macbeth. Macbeth realised that he would have to commit regicide (stars, hide your fires; let light not see my deep and black desires), but he was unwilling to do so. Lady Macbeth changes his mind by attacking his manhood, despite the brave acts he has commited as a soldier. She also flatters him shamelessly. The murder of Duncan sets Macbeth on the trail of evil, as he didn't consult his wife when he killed Banquo and Macduff's family. He didn't even care when she commited suicide. The witches represent the Three Fates in Greek Mythology. they connotate destiny, fate, etc. They delight and thrive in chaos and toil. In my opinion, the witches represent the primeval human emotions of hate and wickedness. They are all that is…

    • 469 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Candidiasis is an infection caused by Candida fungi, especially Candida Albicans. These fungi are found almost everywhere in the environment. Some may live harmlessly along with the abundant "native" species of bacteria that normally grow the mouth, gastrointestinal tract and vagina. Usually, Candida is kept under control by the native bacteria and by the body's immune defenses. If the native bacteria are decreased by antibiotics or if the person's immune system is weakened by illness (especially AIDS or diabetes), malnutrition, or certain medications, Candida fungi can multiply to cause symptoms. Candida infections can cause occasional symptoms in healthy people. Candidiasis can affect many parts of the body, causing localized infections or larger illness,…

    • 389 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lady Macbeth claims that she can "look like the innocent flower/But be the serpent under 't" (1,5,64-65). She imagines that she has the capability to be remorseless and determined enough to do anything. Yet, she calls upon supernatural forces to use to her advantage. She does not ask for the help of the ‘dark side' but demands it as though she could undermine the power of unearthly evil forces. She demands: "Come, you spirits/that tend on mortal thoughts! Unsex me here…stop up the access and passage to remorse…you murdering ministers…come, thick night, / And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell…nor the…

    • 681 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the first two acts of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Lady Macbeth shows herself to be a formidable woman with aspirations and a plan. She is clear about her desire to become Queen of Scotland and by way of her internal conversation, she plans her manipulation. By knowingly manipulating Macbeth and applying consistent pressure, Lady Macbeth executes her plan. She encourages Macbeth to see killing King Duncan as the only logical next step to fulfill the prophecy. Lady Macbeth’s intent, blatant disregard for life, and emotional manipulation of her husband make her morally responsible for the murder of King…

    • 803 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    She had single handedly changed Macbeth’s mind when he had decided he was going to let fate take its course and solely let everything play out however it was going to. He was not entirely desperate to become king and was content with being the Thane of Glamis and the Thane of Cawdor, therefore he was not exactly intent on murdering the king to claim the throne for his own. Though, almost too easily, Lady Macbeth had convinced him that to become king, he had to murder the king and frame someone else-- it was their only course of action. Of course, she was more power hungry than the once humble Macbeth had been, so she had done the framing and most of the schmoozing. In fact, the only thing that even stopped her from murdering the king in the first place was that he looked similar to her father while he had…

    • 920 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Fatal Influence On Macbeth

    • 1659 Words
    • 7 Pages

    In a way, she is a merely acting out the role of the good wife, encouraging her husband to do what she believes to be in his best interests.”(Edward) I think no woman would do this to her husband, especially in that time of era, women are fearful of planning a murder act, but it was Lady Macbeth who planned on killing Duncan and also raged on Macbeth about his manhood. It has been said that “She is a catalyst and supporter, but she does not make the grim decision, and Macbeth never tries to lay the blame on her”. It was Lady Macbeth who questions her love for him and influenced in doing such a horrible…

    • 1659 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lady Macbeth have influenced Macbeth when she said “That I may pour my spirits in thine ear…” (I.v.26-29). Lady knows how her husband is unsure about what he wants to do with the king so she make up his mind for him. Lady Macbeth plans the murder and makes Macbeth feel like he doesn't have a choice. Although these arguments portray Lady Macbeth as a conspirator, she is not a murder. Lady Macbeth did not commit the murder with her own hands. Macbeth has his own conscience and is capable of making his own decisions. He knows the difference between right and wrong and he knows consequences come with his…

    • 709 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    She had told Macbeth to “look like the innocent flower but be the serpent under’t” and leave the rest to her, this shows that she was concocting the whole plan.…

    • 616 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Shakespeare’s play The Tragedy of Macbeth three witches prophesied that Macbeth would be king. Doing what anyone else would do, he told his wife and she brewed up this plan to murder the king. The king would be staying at the Macbeth’s castle, Inverness for a party. At first Macbeth was against the plan but Lady Macbeth was not backing down and talked him into it. “Macbeth talks himself into a kind of thoughtful stupor as he tries to work out the situation for himself. In the following scene, Lady Macbeth will emerge and drive the hesitant Macbeth to act; she is the will propelling his achievements. Once Lady Macbeth hears of the witches’ prophecy, Duncan’s life is doomed.”( Shakespeare A 1, 1–4) Her plan was well thought out and she could not wait. He patience overpowered her excitement though as she waited for him to fall fast asleep. Soon after he was asleep she had drugged the guards and Shoved Macbeth in towards the kings resting area. Macbeth was…

    • 500 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Corruption In Macbeth

    • 676 Words
    • 3 Pages

    As a result, her desire for power allows her to be stronger, more remorseless, and more driven than Macbeth. In fact, she is fully aware of this when she declares that Macbeth is "art not without ambition, but without the illness should attend it.” This is why Lady Macbeth acts not only as Macbeth's confidant, but his also his controller. Consumed by her desire to become Queen, Lady Macbeth herself plots the murder of Duncan and when Macbeth questions the idea of regicide, she manipulates him with her powerful soliloquies. This is done by condemning her husband’s biggest insecurity; his manhood. She states that Macbeth would be “so much more the man” if he were to follow through with the plan. Lady Macbeth even points out that she herself would even kill her own baby as a means to reach her goals. This drives Macbeth to the point where he is “settled and bend-up” to prove himself. Her condescending inspiration is the first to trigger a change in his morals and attitude. However, as Macbeth’s own ambition starts to flourish and facilitate an obsessive and power hungry killing spree, Lady Macbeth’s character changes as well. She becomes helpless and is reduced to a weak figure that sleepwalks and is constantly trying to wash nonexistent blood from her hands. This is because she is so overwhelmed by the guilt of her treachery that a…

    • 676 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    human traits that are found in all people, traits that we all at one time or another have…

    • 628 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Feminity and Lady Macbeth

    • 533 Words
    • 3 Pages

    From the start of her introduction in the play after reading Macbeth’s, she expresses her feelings about the situation that Macbeth has become involved in. Lady Macbeth does not think that her husband is capable of doing what is necessary in order to become the King of Scotland, as was prophesized by the Weird Sisters in a previous scene. She says that Macbeth is “too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness / To catch the nearest way.” (I, iv, 16-17).…

    • 533 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In her actions of begging to be made cold to face the murder she plans to commit, it is showcase her methodical train of thought and her cunningness, to achieve what she wants. Her ambition is seen when she asks, “That my keen knife see not the wound it makes, Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark To cry “Hold, hold!” (Act 1, Scene 5) She knows her own weakness. She claims she is more manly than Macbeth, that she can carry out the act because he is too cowardly. But she knows her conscious will battle with her if she has to be the one who thrusts the blade into duncan, sealing his fate. She asks to not see the wound she makes so she will have a clear conscious and will not be riddled with guilt. When it is Macbeth who physically plunges the metal deliverance of death into the lively flesh of the King, she feels as though she does not have the blood on her hands by using her manipulativeness to get what she wants, but in her mind she didn't inflict any…

    • 747 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lady Macbeth played a major role in planning the murder. She taunted Macbeth by saying “Wouldst thou have that which thou esteem’st the ornament of life, And live a coward in thine own esteem.” (1.7). She pushed him to get what they wanted, royalty. In the beginning of the play she was evil and convinced Macbeth to slaughter Duncan. They were both partners in greatness and in crime.…

    • 530 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays