Lady Macbeth`s power analysis
| Subject: | 📚 Literature |
| Type: | Analytical Essay |
| Pages: | 4 |
| Word count: | 982 |
| Topics: | Macbeth, 📗 Book, 🧔 William Shakespeare |
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Table of Contents
Introduction
In the classic play “Macbeth” by William Shakespeare, Lady Macbeth is an unusually dynamic character, who opens in alternative ways during the plot. Lady Macbeth is presented to the reader as an ambitious and convincing person, who provoked her husband Macbeth to murder for the sake of the royal throne, which naturally made her involved in the terrible crime. After all she has done, this woman rejected any values and morals and relied purely on her ambitions to become a queen. Despite this, the conscience, however, regained a place in Lady Macbeth’s soul, so much so that she could not cope with this hard feeling. Lady Macbeth’s great ambitions at the beginning and her psychical state, which led to suicide at the end show that a manipulative woman became a woman, who was tortured by the remorseful feelings because of the murder of King Duncan.
The relationship of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth
During the play, the personal relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth were far from quiet and romantic. Macbeth often came to Lady Macbeth and asked for advice on the controversial topics he was concerned about. At the beginning of the story, Macbeth heard a prophecy from the witches, and Lady Macbeth was the first person with whom he shared it. The prophecy claimed Macbeth would be king and Lady Macbeth started wanting it to become reality. Lady Macbeth began convincing him to kill King Duncan to capture his place on the throne. Against the background of her relationship with the husband, Lady Macbeth creates a murder plan that deepens the reader into her cunning and intelligent personality. Macbeth begins reflecting on this cruel idea, but the woman is doing everything to fulfill her desperate wishes. She begins to demean his dignity and all the masculine qualities and manipulates him, claiming: “Art thou afeared/ To be the same in thine own act and valor/ As thou art in desire? Wouldst thou have that/ Which thou esteem’st the ornament of life, / And live a coward in thine own esteem, / Letting “I dare not” wait upon “I would,” (1.7 39-44). Lady Macbeth doubts Macbeth’s courage, asking him how strong is his fear of achieving their ambitions, thus assessing his courage. Lady Macbeth is manipulating him by demeaning his moral dignity and masculinity to make Macbeth rethink his decision. That is why Lady Macbeth calls the throne “ornament of life”, bearing in mind that it is something incredibly valuable that Macbeth should take into account. She considers Macbeth as a “coward” to bring him to the emotions with which he can achieve their goal.
Lady Macbeth personality
Quite soon after Duncan’s death, the life of Lady Macbeth begins to collapse, and she starts to feel guilt. Her marriage becomes cold because of the lack of sincerity in communicating with Macbeth. They have made their dreams come true and had to fulfill their working duties. Simultaneously, Lady Macbeth desperately fights with the feeling of guilt for murder. She manages to handle her emotions throughout the day, but during the night she does not withstand and loses her mind. Constant obsessive thoughts about the murder of Duncan, which sown in Lady Macbeth’s head, cause her nightmares. During one terrible night, Lady Macbeth cries out: “Out, damned spot! out, I say!” (5.1 35-40) revealing a feeling that Lady Macbeth can no longer differentiate between fantasy and real life. The “spot” woman is talking about means the imaginary blood of Duncan that she has seen on her hands since killing him. Despite the fact that she did not murder Duncan by her own hands, her subconscious increases the sense of guilt. Lady Macbeth says that “hell is murky” which provides us with understanding of her desperate and miserable state, from which she cannot get out. Even though she was dreaming, Lady Macbeth still felt the need to show a feeling of domination and “masculinity” over Macbeth, saying he should “man up” and not be scared because he’s a “soldier”. In addition, Lady Macbeth is desperately trying to avoid showing her inner feelings by all means, thus confirming she is sorry for her actions. A doubtful woman understands the ordinary people are becoming aware of the way in which they have achieved power and thrones. However, she realizes nobody will dare directly oppose them because of their titles. Lady Macbeth struggled for power for so long to feel and enjoy the comfort of royal life, but personal happiness abandoned her very soon. She says that “who would have thought the old man to have so much blood”, which contrasts with her last statement in the other way. Depressed Lady Macbeth confesses to the murder of King Duncan and reveales her emotional experiences. Her hideous nightmare is so profound that she merely started hallucinating about the “Smell of the blood still. All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. Oh, Oh, Oh!” (5.1 49-51). Lady Macbeth’s disordered brain subconsciously deceives her, telling that the “smell of the blood” is still spreading over her. Lady Macbeth couldn’t restrain overwhelming guilt from becoming an accessory to murder, so she decided to get peace by committing suicide.
Conclusion
Lady Macbeth character is dynamically transformed from a powerful, cunning woman, who skillfully manipulated her husband to murder for power, into a mentally unstable soul, who was tortured by her remorseful feelings. She properly uses the most cruel phrases to convince her husband to murder King Duncan, thereby to do the most destructive thing in their life. When Lady Macbeth puts her own ambitions above moral values and sheer happiness, it ultimately fails her. Lady Macbeth wanted to have everything in her marriage, but at the end she lost both her personality and sanity. Every night she became more and more susceptible and as a result lost control over herself. Lady Macbeth never came to terms with the guilt and decided to find eternal peace in death.
- Shakespeare, W. (1992). Macbeth. Wordsworth Editions.
Offered for reference purposes only.