The use of the soliloquy has made the scene dramatic; Shakespeare introduces a beautiful wife of a Lord by her revealing what a vice person she is in a matter of a minute.
As Act one scene five continues Lady Macbeth says what makes the audience think of her even as a fourth witch;
“unsex me here, And fill me, from the crown to the toe, top-full Of direst cruelty! Make thick my blood”
Here Lady Macbeth is saying that she wants all of her feminine qualities to be removed, “Come to my women’s breasts, and take my milk for gall”. Lady Macbeth is exclaiming that she wants her milk to be replaced with poison; also she reveals that she has deadly intentions and does not want any pangs of conscience to get in the way. “That no compunctions visitings…”
This is so shocking for an audience in the 17th century because women were low in society, not independent, therefore for a woman to be so aggressive and forceful (especially to her husband) is quite shocking.
As Lady Macbeth asks for all of her feminine qualities to be removed, her milk to be replaced by poison and reveals that she has deadly intentions and she does not want any conscience of any form, this tells the audience that she could possibly be the most evil character. Also that she could influence Macbeth to commit crimes and murders. This also brings to mind a comparison between Lady Macbeth and the three witches. Both Lady Macbeth and the witches are involved with Macbeth and both could lead Macbeth or give him ideas for evil. Lady Macbeth however is a beautiful woman, the witches most probably do not have very feminine features; however from the inside neither are feminine or would like to be and they all have a heart of immorality.
In Act one Scene seven Lady Macbeth criticises Macbeth and persuades him to murder King Duncan. She does this by criticising Macbeth, this starts at the beginning of the scene. She patronises him and criticises him in order to persuade him to kill Duncan, “Was the hope drunk
Wherein you dressed yourself?”
Shakespeare uses rhetorical questions here, Lady Macbeth is asking Macbeth; were you so optimistic earlier simply because you were drunk? By saying this Lady Macbeth makes Macbeth feel like he is weak (the use of rhetorical question puts Lady Macbeth in a higher position than Macbeth and it was very uncommon in the 17th century) and that he is not a man if he does not do this. Lady Macbeth’s uses of emotional words are a big factor in persuading Macbeth to kill King Duncan;
“…From this time
Such I account thy love.”
These use of words and the way she speaks to him hit Macbeth from the inside because she says that he would do this if he loves her (he knows that he is in love with her), it also makes him realise that he is not alone which is reassuring in a bid to persuade him to kill the King. During this scene Lady Macbeth is absolutely in control of the situation and of Macbeth, she speaks to him aggressively and takes control of the situation in an antagonistic manner and makes all the plans while ordering Macbeth about. This shows the audience that she is a strong and aggressive character because that is how Shakespeare is presenting her as well as evil. Initially the audience impressions of Lady Macbeth would be that she is demented and is like a fourth witch, however as the play gets up to this point the audience impressions may be changing. As they will feel that Lady Macbeth is not just a fourth witch but she is an evil character that plans and acts through her crimes.
At the start of Act two Scene two Lady Macbeth feels quite uneasy, “Hark! - Peace!” She is also feeling that Macbeth should be perfectly prepared to kill Duncan with no guilt. She however admits that she cannot kill Duncan and this is because Duncan reminds her of her father;
“Had he not resembled my father as he slept, I had done’t”
What this shows about Lady Macbeth’s character is that she does have an ounce of guilt feeling and conscience and that she is not completely cold hearted and evil. After the murder Lady Macbeth still does not react to Macbeth in a positive way, she still says that he is weak;
“Infirm of purpose! Give me the daggers. The sleeping and the dead…”
She accuses him of being weak willed: only children are afraid of nasty pictures. At this point in the play Lady Macbeth’s relationship with Macbeth is that Lady Macbeth is in power and Macbeth is persuaded by her by mere criticisms. After the first murder Lady Macbeth does not stop criticising her husband. This is presented by Lady Macbeth telling Macbeth that he is weak and that he should be a man. Nevertheless their relationship has shown to be extremely strong as they have gone through the murder of the King together and the fact that one of the main reasons Macbeth committed the murder is because he loves his lady portrays this.
In Act three Scene four in the banquet just as Lady Macbeth and Macbeth have successfully completed the murder of Banquo, Macbeth starts to lose control slightly as he hears that Fleance has escaped.
“Most royal Sir,
Fleance is ‘scaped”
As Macbeth hears this news, he struggles to control himself in front of all the other lords and becomes anxious, “Then comes my fit again”. Lady Macbeth acknowledges this and tries to keep Macbeth from making anything obvious, she starts by telling him to act normal and be a host.
“My royal lord, You do not give the cheer”
As the lords realise that Macbeth is not well once he has hallucinations of Banquo’s ghost Lady Macbeth tries to retain control and reassure the Lords that nothing is wrong.
“Sit, worthy friends. My lord is often thus…The fit is momentary; upon a thought”.
As she is reassuring the lords that all is well she asks Macbeth if he is a man, “Are you a man?” She insults Macbeth and basically tells him to keep the act going. This criticism relates to when Lady Macbeth rhetorically asks; “was the hope drunk?” At this point in the play I feel that Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth as not just an evil witch like character that is prepared to be a cold blooded killer, but also a strong woman that is stronger than a lot of men emotionally (strong women who insulted and controlled their husbands was not a person that would be found in 17th century Britain, therefore the character of Lady Macbeth would surprise an audience in the 17th century). He does this by making Macbeths reaction to hearing that Fleance has escaped to be panicky and that Lady Macbeth is there to prevent order turning into disorder. Towards the end of the scene Lady Macbeth does not appear to be satisfied with Macbeth and accuses him of ruining the fun with his fit,
“You have displaced the mirth, broke the good meeting, With most admired disorder”.
The disorder in the banquet and the reactions of Lady Macbeth towards Macbeth’s fit would require good quality stagecraft. The stagecraft in this scene should emphasise the certain quotes (“displaced the mirth, With most admired disorder”. Act four Scene two shows comparisons between Lady Macbeth and Lady Macduff. I believe that Shakespeare wrote this scene to show an innocent character in Lady Macduff, also to put emphasis on the innocent people that could be the next victims of Lady Macbeth and Macbeth and to really highlight the evil nature of Lady Macbeth. Also to show the more realistic Lady life of the social background of the time. Act Four Scene two highlights the evil nature of Lady Macbeth by comparing her with Lady Macduff. Lady Macduff is a nice woman and this emphasises the opposite feelings of Lady Macbeth.
“I hope in no place so unsanctified
Where such as thou mayst find him”
The fact that Lady Macbeth is utterly evil because she will take pride in knowing that her husband has murdered women and children is shown in this scene which highlights the evil inside her.
I believe that by this point in the play Shakespeare wants the audience to think of Lady Macbeth as utterly evil that it may even end up driving her crazy.
In Act five Scene one Lady Macbeth starts to sleep walk, she is now being presented not as a complete evil witch with power but a women going insane out of guilt. She makes actions of washing blood of her hands as she sleep walks and then starts to speak. “Yet here’s a spot”. As Lady Macbeth is walking and talking in her sleep and revealing all the dark secrets her way of speaking and her language has changed;
“Out, damned spot! Out, I say! One: two: why…What need we fear who knows it, when none can call our power to acompt?”
Lady Macbeth’s language at this point is broken up, this technique shows that she is not in the right frame of mind and is panicking. Lady Macbeth is no longer the strong villain that is keeping everything in order but she is reduced to insanity and her character has changed dramatically. The general reaction to the murder of Duncan has disturbed her mind.
The scene presents the breakdown of Lady Macbeth by her actions while she is sleep walking and also how she speaks. She takes paper and writes on it dramatically along with rubbing her hands of blood that is not there. The confessions that she mutters tells the audience that she is very disturbed in the head and may do anything. This prepares the audience for her death.
The news of Lady Macbeth’s death is not very surprising to the audience as they have been prepared for it; it is a closure of her character in the play. During the play Lady Macbeth starts of as a strong, aggressive villain and gradually changes, she is presented as a Lady with a fierce attitude and that can seem to handle anything to begin with. However as Macbeth starts to lose control slightly Lady Macbeth has to work harder to keep everything in order. This seems to start to get on top of her, especially when the lords start to get suspicious. Guilt also starts to come out of her and this is portrayed when she is sleep walking. On stage Shakespeare presents her as a beautiful women however also an evil and demented women who cherished murdering, the audience’s reaction to her in the 17th century would be that she is a shocking character; not only because she loves to kill but also that the fact that a women takes the liberty to commit horrible sins. My personal opinion of her character is that I feel that she is a unique character that is presented brilliantly with usually excellent stagecraft and good language techniques used by Shakespeare; the character could be good for any tragedy play. Also I believe her role in the play is absolutely vital and that it could be argued that she is the main character in the play.
