Shakespeare aligns Lady Macbeth with the three witches somewhat, and when he writes Lady Macbeth’s lines he uses images that are also associated with the three witches, and witchcraft in general. When Macbeth and Banquo meet the witches they cannot determine the sex of the creatures “that look not like th’ inhabitants o’ th’ earth, And yet are on’t” that they see before them. This ties in later with Lady Macbeth saying “Come you spirits That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here”, which casts doubt over her femininity, just as the witches are not quite female, but are not perceived to be male.
When Lady Macbeth personifies an imaginary raven, saying “The raven himself is hoarse That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan Under my battlements”, she uses two adjectives that describe a tone of voice often associated with witchcraft, and the raven, which is totally black and relatively large, is associated with witchcraft due to its colour as a witch’s familiar, and associated with death due to its presence at the Tower Of London.
When she uses emotional blackmail to get Macbeth to go through with the murder, she is using the same technique that the witches used to lure Macbeth to his eventual downfall. Lady Macbeth used his love for her to cajole him into murdering Duncan, and the witches used his love for success for the same purpose.
The final point that aligns Lady Macbeth with the witches is the goddess Hecate. Hecate is very much like Lady Macbeth in that she is reasonable and calm even when angry, and they both see that once a sequence of events has started, you have to go along with them - Lady Macbeth sees that she has to go along with her plan, and that she cannot turn back, and Hecate sees that she cannot stop the events caused by the witches actions, so she makes plans of her own to further exasperate the situation, to make Macbeth “spurn fate, scorn death, and bear His hopes ‘bove wisdom, grace, and fear”. The strongest link between Lady Macbeth and Hecate is that they both refer to the evil doings as “great business”. They are the only two characters in the book to use this phrase, and Macbeth is the only other character to refer to the murder as business, creating a strong link between the three of them.
This would invalidate the description “fiend-like”, as it would appear that Lady Macbeth is actually a very caring person who fits Macbeth’s original description of her, but is being controlled or influenced by a force of evil, such as the Devil, or more probably due to Shakespeare’s alignment of her with them, the three witches.
At times, Lady Macbeth’s conscience, or perhaps her “true” thoughts break through, and she says, “Had he not resembled My father as he slept, I had done't.”. This shows that she does have guilty feelings about the regicide of Duncan that will not allow her to actually commit the murder herself, but she still feels compelled to persuade Macbeth to go through with the plan. Immediately after the murder has been committed, she once more becomes ruthless and has no qualms about going to the scene of the crime to incriminate the dead King’s guards. This indicates that the forces of evil possessing her have regained control, because any rational person that could not bring themselves to commit a murder would surely not want to go to the scene of the crime to smear blood onto two innocent men. Another point when her conscience breaks through is in Act 5 Scene 1, where one of her Ladies in Waiting calls for a doctor to observe Lady Macbeth’s sleepwalking. Lady Macbeth acts almost schizophrenic, indicating a struggle within her between good and evil, and she complains about invisible spots of blood on her hands, and tells herself to wash them off. This is the real Lady Macbeth wanting to forget about the murder, and to rid herself of guilt, and distance herself from the more evil, possessed version of herself that conspired to kill Duncan.
Her guilt shows that she does, however, possess queen-like qualities, which proves the latter half of Malcolm’s description of her correct. When Macbeth calls her his “dearest partner of greatness” we imagine her as a very fair, and balanced woman, who is probably quite religious, which would have been seen as fashionable at the time the play was set. This image of her is most probably true, up until the point where she realises she could quite easily kill King Duncan. However, her ruthlessness at this point shows that she is in fact a very capable woman who can achieve anything, which would make her a good queen.
When she greets King Duncan as he arrives at her castle she is very welcoming and courteous, offering to do everything that the King wants, “in every point twice done and then done double”. This is exactly how a queen would be expected to welcome someone, and is not how you would expect a murderess to greet anyone.
As shown in act 1 scene 7, she knows how to cajole her husband into action, and to suppress his worry, which would be a very helpful quality in a queen, as her husband, the King, would often need moral support. Although in this instance it is negative because she is emotionally blackmailing him into going through with the murder, it shows that she is fully on her husband’s side, and knows what is best for him in terms of ambition and advancement, and will not betray him by shying away from any problems that may arise in the future. She assures him that she will not force him to take sole responsibility for the murder by constantly referring to “the guilt of our great quell” and telling him “But screw your courage to the sticking-place, And we’ll not fail”. The use of the words we and our show that she will stay with him whatever may happen, and not abandon him if the plan goes wrong. However, she refers to only his courage, showing that the deed will be performed by only Macbeth, and not by her.
Later on, when Macbeth has committed the murder, Lady Macbeth shows yet more queen-like qualities when she steps in to help Macbeth, when he is too panicked to go back to the scene of the crime to wipe blood on the guards. This shows once more that she will stand by her husband, and is brave and careful in the face of danger.
When the murder has been committed, Lady Macbeth uses her acting skills, pretending to faint so as to detract attention from Macbeth. A queen might need to use some form of acting to conceal her true feelings, as showing her true feelings may lead to trouble. It is here that Macduff says “O gentle lady, ‘Tis not for you to hear what I can speak; The repetition in a woman’s ear would murder as it fell”. He still fully believes that Lady Macbeth is a good and innocent woman, and urges her to protect herself from the thought of the dead Duncan. This indicates that outwardly Lady Macbeth is a model woman, and many people, not only Macbeth, find her to be gracious and kind.
Lady Macbeth’s most important asset is her ability to control situations, such as when Macbeth is seeing the apparition of Banquo, she quickly realises what is happening, and dismisses Macbeth’s actions as being something that “hath been since his youth” and tells the lords to ignore him as “If much you note him, You shall offend him, and extend his passion”. This has the sole aim of protecting Macbeth’s name, and will also stop them paying much attention to anything that Macbeth could say that might incriminate him. When the ghost appears for a second time, Lady Macbeth orders the lords to “Stand not upon the order of your going. But go at once.”. Not only is it strange for a woman to give orders to high-ranking men, but it also contravenes the tradition that the most important guests should leave last. Instead, she urges everyone to leave at once. Lady Macbeth is successful in getting everyone to leave only because she possesses the ability to control people and situations, and commands respect from everyone, even men. It is only Lady Macbeth’s actions that prevented Macbeth from revealing his guilt, and so saved his kingship.
The final queen-like quality that Lady Macbeth possesses is to know when she is not wanted. As Macbeth becomes more and more paranoid about being discovered as the murderer of Duncan, saying that even “Stones have been known to move and trees to speak”, and employs spies to tell him of everything they hear, he does not speak to Lady Macbeth and does not ask for her help. Instead of making the situation worse by constantly trying to talk to him, she leaves him alone. However, the situation is affecting her too, but she does not properly reveal this to Macbeth, so as to burden him with even more stress. Unfortunately, the guilt destroys Lady Macbeth before it destroys Macbeth and she commits suicide. This is probably her final act of protection, in that her killing herself prevents her from revealing the truth.
In conclusion, the evidence clearly shows that Lady Macbeth possesses many queen-like qualities, including compassion, self-control, authority and clear thinking. Had she been the queen of Scotland through honest means, she would have been very successful, and loved by many. However, the case for calling her “fiend-like” is not so clear. Her evil does not seem to be innate. Rather, it appears to be caused by an outside force, or forces, such as Hecate and the three witches, or the Devil. This is indicated by the lines “Come, you spirits That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full Of direst cruelty!“ and Lady Macbeth’s schizophrenic sleep-talking. A more accurate description of her would be “a possessed queen”.
