Lady Macbeth & Miss Havisham Essay Example

How does Shakespeare present Lady Macbeth in Act 1 ?Lady Macbeth is arguably one of Shakespeare¶s most evil characters. She is ambitious,manipulative, calculating and deceiving. She is a powerful character who uses negativelanguage and has an overpowering presence on stage.In Shakespeare¶s Era, women were not expected to have an opinion, they were regarded astheir husband¶s possession, unequal and inferior to men. The stereotypical Elizabethanwoman was expected to be innocent, gentle and dutiful. However, Lady Macbeth goesagainst this stereotype and is very outspoken. She acts as a catalyst, speeding up Macbeth¶sevildoings and persuading him to kill King Duncan. She personifies evil, an important themethroughout the play.In Act 1, Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth as a very ambitious, manipulative woman. Wefirst meet her in Act one, Scene 5, when she is alone, reading a letter from her husband. Theletter describes Macbeth¶s meeting with the µweird sisters¶ and their supernatural predictionsgiven to him µby the perfectest report¶. When Lady Macbeth learns that two of the predictionshave already come true, she believes that Macbeth will become king, and she realises her ambition to become queen.However, the current King Duncan is still alive and Lady Macbeth wants Macbeth to killhim, but, she fears that Macbeth is too honourable to kill Duncan; µ Yet do I fear thy nature, Itis too full o¶ th¶ milk of human kindness¶ ±a symbol of innocence.Elizabethans believed in witchcraft and the supernatural. People believed that witches hadgreat powers such as the ability to change the weather and predict the future and they wereregarded as unnatural and evil. People believed in the natural order in society, which shouldnot be interfered with, as it was considered a sin. Lady Macbeth goes against the naturalorder.There is a lot of religious imagery in the play to remind the audience of the ChristianElizabethan beliefs and damnation would result if anyone challenged these