Lady Macbeth is the wife of Macbeth, Thane of Glamis. She is the essential figure in Shakespeare's play Macbeth because she was the one who strained him to kill the king to take over the throne. The audience knows she is an influential woman because she wants everything but at the price of the king's life. The authority Lady Macbeth got was from insatiability. Lady Macbeth becomes egotistical, resentful, petrified because of her determination as the play develops.
The strength of her character escalates greatly. The initial impression of Lady Macbeth is that she is resolute and ambitious.She was first seen when she was reading her husband's letter about his meeting with the witches and their predictions. She was very pleased that Macbeth had become the Thane of Cawdor. So she started getting very courageous about becoming the future queen. Lady Macbeth was very similar to the witches in many ways in Act One.
She calls evil spirits to make her evil and take away any kindness she has left "I may pour my spirits into thine ears", so that Macbeth doesn't feel sorry and leave the king alive. The witches have associations with evil spirits and demons.She also turns good into evil "come, to my mother's breasts and take my milk for gall" she doesn't want the delight that every woman wants to be come a mother but rather poison her milk. The witches turn evil into good "fair is foul and foul is fair", this means that good is bad and bad is good so in both ways you should do bad.
Lady Macbeth wants to manipulate Macbeth, "chastise with the valour of my tongue", she will persuade him with her own words. The witches have already manipulated Macbeth with their prediction about his future.They both have lots of similarities in their language such as all they speak about bad things and that evil should take over them. Finally they both like darkness so they can hide their evil intentions.
To show her objective and evil purpose she uses very vigorous, melodramatic and exceedingly sturdy language that women of that time wouldn't consider about using or talking back to their husband. Lady Macbeth uses a lot of ways to persuade her husband Macbeth to murder King Duncan: "Great Glamis! Worthy Cawdor! Great than both by the all - hail here after" this shows she's trying to flatter Macbeth that whatever they are doing is correct.She also says "when you durst do it, then you were a man "this means she's using emotional blackmail and questioning about his ability and man hood. This really mortifies Macbeth that someone would question him on his man hood.
However she occasionally relieved him "But screw your courage to the sticking point and we'll not foul" this shows Lady Macbeth is being reassuring to Macbeth he is strong and no one can beat him in anything.Macbeth had a misapprehension about being the greatest. But irregularly she would really tease him "live a coward in thine own esteem, letting I dare not wait upon I would. " Lady Macbeth is using verbal abuse to manipulate and cause pain to Macbeth. Lady Macbeth is very diverse from Macbeth at this stage of the play. She is the one out of the couple who has the most power by keeping making insults and manipulating Macbeth.
Lady Macbeth is very much in control of the situation straight after the murder. She goes and puts the daggers near the chamber men while Macbeth was still in shock.Their hands were covered in blood which signifies murder "will great Neptune's ocean wash blood clean from my hands "Lady Macbeth replies "little waster clean us of this deed". This significance of the imagery of blood, darkness, contaminated seas and loss of sleep, shows they are guilty of murder and want to get lost in the darkness.
So no one sees them and that their sin can't be washed by big oceans/ seas. This and the rustling noise make the atmosphere more peculiar, spine-chilling and mysterious. Lady Macbeth requests her guests to stay patient and that Macbeth isn't feeling well.When Macbeth sees Banquo's ghost at the banquet he goes frenetic.
Lady Macbeth controls the entire drama. She began to praise Macbeth when he starts to panic that he's a very strong soldier and commanding king and no one can beat him in this world. As Macbeth starts to pull himself together we start to see Lady Macbeth less in control . Their relationship is breaking up they don't speak to each other. Macbeth ignores her as he doesn't need her anymore for encouragement and doesn't sleep with her.
Instead he goes out with his councillors and has more confidence in himself because he has no one in his way.The cause Lady Macbeth suddenly transforms into an obsessed woman because she's not authoritative anymore, she starts to see that she has no significance. Also this murder has led to one problem after another because of her dreams and aspiration to become queen. While sleep walking she talks about blood on her hands and keeps rubbing it off. "Here the smell of the blood still: all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand .
Oh! Oh! Oh! " She sleeps with the light on like little children as if she's terrified of the dark.How come she is by that light though she used to love this darkness in the begging to hide her dark intentions. This is called irony. Not sleeping signifies that she's feeling guilty and gets flash backs of the murder that wakes her up . Her and Macbeth's relationship has finished , they don't meet or talk to each other and Macbeth can't be bothered if she goes mad or even dies .
She jumps off the balcony of her room and dies because she couldn't handle the flashback of the horrible night. Macbeth didn't even shred one tear for her, his own wife, as he had no relationship with her.He just walked past her dead body. Lady Macbeth has changed radically.
At the beginning powerful she was demanding. However, the guiltiness hit her in the face and she started going insane she started reading the letter again that Macbeth had sent her that started everything. The audience would have said she got what she deserved. The response won't be different today because what she did was wrong.
She was on evil's side and she did an enormous sin by killing the King in her house. Even in the 21st century the response would be the same, this woman didn't deserve to be alive.
