To be the same in thine own act and valour,
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,
Like the poor cat I’th’adage?’
Lady Macbeth has a strong hold over Macbeth she can easily manipulate him. She
knows her husband so well she knows what buttons to push to get exactly what she
wants. For example whenever she wants to gain control over Macbeth she questions
his manhood; this seems to be extremely important to him or reasons we can not be
to sure of. It could be because he has no children and it is obvious Lady Macbeth has
as in Act 1 Scene 7 line 54 she says ‘I have given suck’ this means she has breast
fead a baby and in order to do this she would have had to at least have been pregnant
in order to produce milk. It could have been Macbeths Child and something happened and she blames him. Other reasons why Macbeth is sensitive about manhood
could be the following;
He feels he is not good enough he is weaker than his wife who is a woman (unnatural
for Elizabethan period)
Everything about Lady Macbeth and her husband’s relationship is unnatural. She has
the power in the marriage at the beginning of the play. She is the dominant one.
An interesting thing about Macbeth is that he seems only influenced by women/
unnatural. The two things that influence him are Lady Macbeth and the weird sisters.
This concept is quite confusing as we are often given the impression of Lady Macbeth
being a witch which is unnatural and we are also aware that her marriage and
behaviour with Macbeth is unnatural so is she an unnatural woman?
Is Lady Macbeth a witch? This is hard question that has no answer we can only speculate.
There is a lot of evidence to show that she may be a witch some examples are as
follow;
- At the beginning of the play Act 1 Scene 1 line 12 the wired sisters say
‘Fair is foul and foul is fair’
Then almost the same words are used by Macbeth in Act 1 Scene 3 line 36 were he is
referring to the weather (also a very important factor for the unnatural e.g. the weird
sisters in the first act when they talk about when they will meet again, the idea of the
good characters only using good referencences such as good weather, light, food, fun)
‘So foul and fair a day I have not seen.’
Lady Macbeth is said to be very beautiful if this is true the could apply. If she
Is beautiful she is bad/evil as bad/evil is beautiful, confusing but that I would expect
nothing less from a writer like Shakespeare nothing is as it seems.
- One of Lady Macbeths soliloquies is very important when talking about the
unnatural; it is in Act 1 Scene 5 lines 35 onward. In this she talks to ‘spirits that tend on moral thoughts’ and says many things that could be used to argue she is a witch some examples are;
line 39 ‘unsex me here’ she may say this as the women are the weaker sex and she
wants to be stronger.
She goes on to say she wants to be rid of her conscience and then says ‘Come to
my Woman’s breasts and take my milk for gall’ This is another reference to her
having a child.
‘Come thick night’ is also a reference to evil as all the bad that happens in this
play happens at night.
Arguments that show Lady Macbeth is not a witch can also be taken from this
soliloquy the fact that she needs to ask for her conscious to be taken away from
her, tells us that she needs more courage more evidence of this is in Act 1 Scene 2
line 1 she tells us that she also drank the wine to make herself drunk to giver her
courage this shows she is weak or human.
More evidence that could be used to show Lady Macbeth is not a witch is in Act
2 Scene 2 lines 12 and 13 she tells us that she would have killed the king if he had
not looked like her father this is yet another piece of evidence that shows she has a
conscience.
Another thing can be used to show that lady Macbeth is not a witch is that at the
end of the play were we find out that she is driven mad and kills herself this is
quite ironic really seeing as she often tried to tell Macbeth to forget what had
happened as it would drive him mad when in fact it is her who goes mad.
Another important question about Lady Macbeth is weather or not she actual
faints or if she pretends to in Act 2 Scene 3 line 112
If she actually faints is this because she is finding it hard to deal with what she and
Macbeth have done, just as she could not kill Duncan as he reminded her of her
father both signs of a conscience. Or is this another attempt to draw the attention
form Macbeth, it could be both. It could be another example of deceit towards the
king just as she did in Act 1 Scene 6 line 15 here she Is telling the king how much
they respect him and how flattered they are that the king has come to stay at there
house.
Throughout Act 1 Scene 6 Lady Macbeth uses so much language that points to
evil I could not possibly mention it all.
An example of Lady Macbeths Domineering side is in Act 1 Scene 5 lines 69 to 70
‘Only look up clear;
To alter favour ever is to fear.
Leave the rest to me’
Here she is taking control she is saying don’t worry I will sort everything out. This is
just what he needs to hear he needs encouragement and she knows it.
Lady Macbeth is obviously a very scheming woman. She is the one who plans to get
the guards so drunk they pass out this is in Act 1 Scene 7. Lady Macbeth tries to make
sure Macbeth is well protected whenever she can; this is shown in Act 2 Scene 2 lines
55 onward she sorts Macbeth out and this could be a sign of affection towards him a
way of protecting him.
Lady Macbeth takes the two daggers from Macbeth and places them near Duncan’s
body.
She is also subject of a lot of the dramatic irony in Act 2 Scene 2 she is again trying
to console Macbeth she tells him that a little water will rid them of the deed but infact
later in the play this she is the weaker one she is first to go mad.
She sleep walks and sleep talks. In her mind she can not get rid of the blood on her
hands or the guilt. (Blood in this play also symbolises guilt.)
It is a shame I could not go into as much detail as I would have liked. I would have
loved to analyse in greater detail the many questions that remain unanswered for
example is lady Macbeth a witch, did she have Macbeth’s child or children if so were
are they, and how many faced does Lady Macbeth have and which side of
of her character is the real lady Macbeth. I would love to further question her
marriage to Macbeth and how she compares to Lady Macduff . I would love to do the
same for Macbeth and really get to grips with his amazingly complicated Character. I
love the challenges Shakespeare gives us and would love to
know his if he had them. Every part of the play is linked with another
part and I wish I could sit down and consider the play from every angle possible.
If I were to re write this essay I would defiantly try harder to make all the links with
the characters and hidden meanings.