The Truth behind Lady Macbeth
English 4A
16 October, 2011
The Truth behind Lady Macbeth
In the play, “Macbeth”, the character that stands out the most is Lady Macbeth. Her role in this story is significant, she is an evil, ruthless, and ambitious person. She is responsible for the murders that her husband commits because she was bloodthirsty for the crown. In fact, she then becomes more eager to get the crown than Macbeth himself and soon realizes that once you commit one violent act, there is almost no way of ever turning back. An analysis of Lady Macbeth reveals that she is a powerful character who adds complexity and depth to a play about murder, madness, and revenge.
Due to her ambition to become queen, Lady Macbeth persuades her husband to murder king Duncan. She accuses Macbeth of being a coward believing that he is not worthy enough to match his acts with hi desires telling him “Art thou afeard to be the same in thine own act and valour as thou art in desire?”(1.7.39-40). Lady Macbeth is trying to bring out the evil within her husband, she wants to provoke him into doing this terrible deed so that Macbeth will no longer be afraid and shall be devoted to murdering Duncan. She is aware that she has control over her husband which she is using against him. Macbeth does not tolerate being called names by his own wife or by anyone else, he states “I dare do all that may become a man; who dares do more is none”. To him his wife’s opinion is very important and he is determined to prove his manhood. This shows Lady Macbeth’s manipulative power against Macbeth and how she can use his emotions to gain her personal desires which was the crown. Once her husband has decided to go through with it she then begins to plan out the murder.
Careful planning is something Lady Macbeth seems to do very well, she shows this when she is planning Duncan’s death. They both decide that the best time to kill Duncan is when he has fallen asleep, “What cannot you and I perform upon Th’unguarded
16 October, 2011
The Truth behind Lady Macbeth
In the play, “Macbeth”, the character that stands out the most is Lady Macbeth. Her role in this story is significant, she is an evil, ruthless, and ambitious person. She is responsible for the murders that her husband commits because she was bloodthirsty for the crown. In fact, she then becomes more eager to get the crown than Macbeth himself and soon realizes that once you commit one violent act, there is almost no way of ever turning back. An analysis of Lady Macbeth reveals that she is a powerful character who adds complexity and depth to a play about murder, madness, and revenge.
Due to her ambition to become queen, Lady Macbeth persuades her husband to murder king Duncan. She accuses Macbeth of being a coward believing that he is not worthy enough to match his acts with hi desires telling him “Art thou afeard to be the same in thine own act and valour as thou art in desire?”(1.7.39-40). Lady Macbeth is trying to bring out the evil within her husband, she wants to provoke him into doing this terrible deed so that Macbeth will no longer be afraid and shall be devoted to murdering Duncan. She is aware that she has control over her husband which she is using against him. Macbeth does not tolerate being called names by his own wife or by anyone else, he states “I dare do all that may become a man; who dares do more is none”. To him his wife’s opinion is very important and he is determined to prove his manhood. This shows Lady Macbeth’s manipulative power against Macbeth and how she can use his emotions to gain her personal desires which was the crown. Once her husband has decided to go through with it she then begins to plan out the murder.
Careful planning is something Lady Macbeth seems to do very well, she shows this when she is planning Duncan’s death. They both decide that the best time to kill Duncan is when he has fallen asleep, “What cannot you and I perform upon Th’unguarded
Cited: Shakespeare, William, and Alan Durband. Macbeth Modern Version Side-by-side with Full Original Text. Hove, S. Aust.: Townsend School for the Visually Impaired, 1986. Print.