The Love and Devotion of Lady Macbeth

Power, and the pursuit of it, can make the strongest person weak. An ironic twist because power is supposed to be the opposite of weakness, but they can be one and the same. The primal thirst for power can lead to people committing atrocities whether in real life or those who are portrayed in fiction. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Macbeth is susceptible to be corrupted by the yearning for power and Lady Macbeth does horrible deeds out of love for her husband. Although she appears evil, she loves her husband so much that she is willing to be unsexed, give her sanity and plot treason for her husband’s ambitions. Lady Macbeth is a woman, and as a woman she is automatically and unjustly associated with being a soft and warm-hearted person. As she vehemently pleads here, “…Come you spirits/ That tend on mortal thoughts! Unsex me here/… come to my woman’s breasts/ And take my milk for gall”, (Shakespeare, Act I, Scene V, L 40-47) she desires to lose these qualities to do what is necessary of her. This is one of the most powerful things that can be done for another. The mere fact that Lady Macbeth is willing to call on evil spirits for this unwieldy process shows that she has the utmost love and devotion for her husband. One cannot overlook the irony of Lady Macbeth calling on the very same evil spirits that predicted her husband to be to king, to help herself have the power to make Macbeth the leader of Scotland. Also that is she had truly gotten her wish, then she would have lost one of woman’s greatest gifts, the ability to have children or an heir to the throne.

Later in the play, as a result of Lady Macbeth’s hardened actions, she is beginning to lose her sanity. In all states of consciousness, Macbeth’s well-being still plagues her mind. As she is sleep walking, she is trying to assure Macbeth and sooth him into relaxing sleep, portrayed here, “…I tell you yet again, Banquo’s buried; / He cannot come out on’s grave”. (Act I, Scene V, L 60-61) As one