Lady Macbeth, Not What She Seems
In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Lady Macbeth seems to be a power-hungry, greedy, strong woman, yet be the end of the play, Lady Macbeth is so mentally weak that she has a complete collapse. Like so many other things in the play, things are not what they seem to be. In the very first scene, the three witches chant, “Fair if four, and foul is fair” (1.1 12). Lady Macbeth seems fair on the outside, but urges her husband to commit a foul murder. Lady Macbeth seems strong, but in the end is tremendously weak.
Even though King Duncan grants Macbeth Thane of Cawdor and gives Lady Macbeth a ring to show his appreciation, Lady Macbeth is not satisfied. Macbeth had heard from three witches that he would be king, and Lady Macbeth is willing to do anything to get Macbeth to that position. Lady Macbeth is the seemingly strongest character in the play, pushing Macbeth to commit the murder. This strength is exhibited when she questions Macbeth’s manhood. “Unsex me here, and fill me from the crown to the toe-top full of direst cruelty” (1.5 40-43). When Macbeth does not want to go forward with the murder, Lady Macbeth tells Macbeth that he is breaking a promise to her, and describes it in awful terms. “I have given suck, and know how tender ‘tis to love the babe that milks me – I would, while it was smiling in my face, Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums, And dashed the brains out, had I so sworn as you Have done to this” (I.7 ). Macbeth agrees to go forward with the plan to kill the king, and tells Lady Macbeth, “to bring forth men-children only” (I.7.) This shows how much power she has over Macbeth and how strong she seems. Lady Macbeth is also extremely greedy and wants complete control over everything, even though she huualready has great importance in her kingdom and is incredibly wealthy.