“I am settled, and bend up
Each corporal agent to this terrible feat.
Away, and mock the time with fairest show
False face must hide what the false heart doth know” (1.7.79-82)
Macbeth says this after Lady Macbeth has persuaded him to join her in this terrible feat of manslaughter. He now understands what she was talking about when she said hide your desires and how you do that. This is fundamental deception and again links Macbeth to the witches as they deceive people in the exact way that Macbeth does. ‘You cannot tell a man from his face’ Macbeth proves this saying with his every action. I think this as he is trying to lie and cover up what he has done but is so conscious of the deed that it haunts him, that he finds doing this impossible.
When Macbeth is told by the witches that he is going to become king he reacts to the words “All hail Macbeth, that shalt be King here-after” (1.3.49) in a way that lets us know that he has thought about being king and murder before, but what we do not know is whether or not Macbeth has discussed this with his wife yet. This is then revealed in act 1 scene 5, when Macbeth walks in on Lady Macbeth talking to herself about being more powerful and plotting to murdering King Duncan. Then when the couple talk about the plot together it shows that the thought has already passed through both their minds and yet has not been discussed.
The large difference between the husband and wife is that Macbeth is afraid to fail as he has accomplished so much in life, but his wife thinks that to murder the king will be worth the deed and risk of being caught as shown in the quote as the benefits if they were to succeed were infinite, you could however interpret the quote in the way that she says that as if they could not fail, but in my opinion she just thinks that if they fail, to bad, they fail.
“MACBETH: If we should fail?
LADY MACBETH We fail!” (1.7.59)
Lady Macbeth is also very good at persuading people towards her will and can tempt them and almost bend them to her wishes, she is a very manipulative woman. “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 sworn as you have done to this” (1.7.54-59). Lady Macbeth is so determined to carry out her plan and for her husband to join her and do the dirty work that she frightens him and calls him a coward, makes him feel weak and insecure, and tormented as if she is playing with him.
A few weeks after Macbeth and his wife have killed King Duncan, there is a feast. Macbeth tells his wife that he has had Banquo killed because Banquo suspects Macbeth to have killed Duncan even though he does not voice this opinion out loud. Lady Macbeth cannot believe that he has done this because she is always used to being in charge and being the stronger of the two but she goes along with it. Then that night at the feast Banquo’s ghost appears and only Macbeth can see him. Macbeth feels haunted and tormented, not believing that this can be true so he is quivering and shaking in hysteria, which makes him look mad in front of all his guests. To begin with Lady Macbeth handles the situation very well taking Macbeth outside to calm him down and ask what the matter is and telling the guests that anyone who new him well enough would recognise that this happened quite often. The second time Lady Macbeth cannot cover up as her husband is beside himself with horror at the sight of Banquo’s ghost and daemon he thinks he can see before him. So all the guests have to leave and the party is ruined with everyone leaving very worried and scared that their king is going mad.
The best part of Macbeth and his wife’s relationship is the trust and the way they confide in each other their worst fears and what they have had to go through. “Methought I heard a voice cry ‘sleep no more! ’Macbeth does murder sleep, the innocent sleep, sleep that knits up the ravelled sleave of care, The death of each day’s life, sore labour’s bath, balm of hurt minds, great nature’s second course, Chief nourisher in life’s feast.” (2.2.35) in this quote Macbeth relays his feelings and what he remembers from when he killed Duncan. Macbeth’s brain thought up images of things that he didn’t want to hear and made him think that they were really happening. Macbeth then pours out his inner feelings about how scared he was and how he felt to his wife whom he thinks will help him rid these images from his mind. The odd thing is, is that Macbeth can and has killed many times on the battle field with out a thought about it and now one death to an important figure when there is little chance that he can be harmed scares him witless so much that he has to go to his wife for support.
The relationship between Macbeth and his wife is a strong yet very bizarre one. They rely on each other for support when they have done something wrong or are afraid but never convey their normal lives to each other or their achievements as this makes them look like a normal couple of which they don’t want to be and aren’t seen as.
