Shakespeare causes more discomfort by using enjambment and caesura within Lady Macbeth’s first speech. The first speech, Act One Scene Five, is written in iambic pentameter. This type of syllabic layout usually has a very even rhythm that is pleasing and reassuring to the listener. Shakespeare disrupts this expectation of evenness by putting breaks and pauses in the middle of lines and making the ends of the lines run on to the next. The use of enjambment could be used to represent the disturbance of the natural order, as Lady Macbeth chants a ‘spell’ to give Macbeth the will power and ambition to change the divine right of kings. Other disruptions in the natural order are Lady Macbeth’s wish to behave as a man, and her use of witch-like incantations. This would make the audience uncomfortable, as they are not at ease with the ‘breaks’ in the natural order.
The audience learn from Lady Macbeth’s language that she is overly ambitious, as she talks negatively about Macbeth’s lack of ambition. She also disrupts the audience’s expectations of a female character by being negative towards her husband; “yet I do fear thy nature is too full o’th’milk of human kindness”, which was considered as unwomanly during her times. Milk is a liquid usually associated with women rather than men and so by using it to describe Macbeth, Shakespeare is subverting the male versus female stereotype. This creates drama as any change from normal behaviour would capture the audience’s attention and increase dramatic tension, for the audience can see that Lady Macbeth is highly volatile and capable of anything.
Later in this scene, Lady Macbeth distorts the male and female stereotypes further by claiming to be more ambitious than a man, her husband. At the end of the scene she asks to be transformed into the strong, more unfeeling gender. This suggests that Shakespeare may have wanted to show the audience the extreme lengths to which Lady Macbeth’s ambition could drive her. Lady Macbeth galvanises Macbeth into action and therefore structurally drives the narrative forward. The audience feel attached and interested in her because of the closeness created by her soliloquies, and so they want to move along with her.
During the confrontation between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, there are certain language patterns and specific imagery used which recurs throughout the play. Lady Macbeth says, “your face, my thane, is a book”, and the audience is reminded of when Duncan made reference to not being able to judge a person by their face. When Lady Macbeth encourages Macbeth to be deceitful; “look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under’t”, the audience feel sympathetic towards Duncan, as he knows he cannot judge characters. This theme of deception is backed up by death imagery such as “the raven himself is hoarse” which creates a feeling of unease for the audience. Unification of imagery echoes around the play, constantly reminding the audience of these themes.
In Act One Scene Seven, Lady Macbeth convinces Macbeth to murder Duncan. She uses language that would have shocked audiences from the Jacobean period, and also still trigger strong reactions today.
“I would, while it was smiling in my face,
have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums,
and dashed the brains out,”
This outburst of unfeminine imagery would cause distress to the audience, furthering their feeling of discomfort. The language is unnecessarily detailed and gruesome, showing the extremities that Lady Macbeth is willing to go to to satisfy her ambition. The language used is not maternal, and shows Lady Macbeth as cold and unfeeling.
In Act Two Scene Two, before the murder of Duncan, Shakespeare reveals Lady Macbeth’s first sign of human feeling and we realise that she cannot be wholly evil; she cannot kill Duncan as he looks like her father; “had he not resembled my father as he slept, I had done’t.” She shows love to another person other than Macbeth, and exhibits signs of conscience. This creates drama because it reflects a universal human emotion, parental love, with which the audience can connect. Unfortunately conscience is her ultimate downfall, as her guilt slowly drives her mad and to her death. The audience can believe in her as a real person if she is portrayed as complex and as having a conscience because they can relate to her.
After the murder of Duncan, Lady Macbeth resumes her detached and cold persona. She reacts very differently compared to Macbeth. Macbeth presents great feelings of guilt, and is already displaying traits of madness such as hearing voices; “me thought I heard a voice cry ‘Sleep no more!’” whereas Lady Macbeth is obviously in control at this point and treats Macbeth like a little child revealing her lack of guilt. She is portrayed as being practical; ‘a little water clears us of this deed’, but this creates tension for the audience as they know that the act will not be easy to forget.
The presence of Lady Macduff in the play serves to create a contrast between her and Lady Macbeth, which heightens the audience’s sense of Lady Macbeth being unnatural and illustrating her insanity. This creates drama as providing a comparison for Lady Macbeth portrays how distant from the typical Jacobean woman Lady Macbeth is. It shows that Lady Macbeth is unstable and unpredictable, intensifying the feeling of drama throughout the rest of the play.
As the play develops, Lady Macbeth exhibits signs of deterioration, and is struggling to control the consequences of the murder. In the banquet scene, there is a large contrast in the way Lady Macbeth acts in front of the public (the other diners) and her private persona with Macbeth. She struggles to stay in control of Macbeth when he appears to see the body of Duncan. The audience see how uneasy lady Macbeth is, and this creates tension for them. Towards the other diners she appears to be very elegant and articulate; ‘My royal Lord’ however her asides seem irritated; ‘O proper stuff’ reveal her panic and insecurity. She could also be interpreted as having sings of desperation in her voice, marking the beginning of her downfall. The audience would feel the tension through the differences of her two personalities. The ghost of Banquo is another supernatural entity that would produce dramatic tension, as many special effects such as mist clouds would be used to heighten the drama for the audience.
Lady Macbeth’s character takes a dramatic turn in Act Five Scene One. Her language in this scene betrays her troubled mind in many ways. For most of her previous dialogue, Lady Macbeth speaks in verse, but when she is sleep walking she changes into prose and it loses the elegancy it has held before. Her ideas become choppy and her sentences are short. This reflects her state of mind; she is to disturbed to structure her sentences. The audience can see how she has deteriorated. This creates tension because Shakespeare has made her neither fully good nor fully bad, and this adds complexity to her character. Although the audience know that Lady Macbeth deserves to be punished for her crime, they may feel sympathy towards her has they watch her struggle.
The credibility of Lady Macbeth’s character often depends on the actress and the director’s portrayal of her motivation. The director of Macbeth on the Estate, a contemporary drama for television chose to focus on the loss of Lady Macbeth’s child, whereas a BBC production of Macbeth focused on Lady Macbeth’s love for Macbeth. Macbeth on the Estate, set in modern Britain, includes many sophisticated characterisations that contribute to explaining Lady Macbeth’s motives and guilt. She is used as the messenger for Lady Macduff, and is seen is her dead child’s room, and shows concern for Lady Macduff’s children. This allows the modern day audience to relate to her because they can associate and the director is able to show her guilt by making her tell her friend to flee with her children.
The last time the audience hear of Lady Macbeth, apart from in the final scene, is when Macbeth learns of her death. Shakespeare may have chosen to kill Lady Macbeth because she is no longer needed. Structurally, Shakespeare has used Lady Macbeth’s character as a catalyst to speed up the play. Lady Macbeth draws out Macbeth’s desires, and so the audience are drawn into the play through its fast paced narrative. After Lady Macbeth has made Macbeth kill Duncan, she is no longer needed structurally. Shakespeare can let her guilt override her, and cause her to become ill and die.
Throughout the play until her death, Lady Macbeth reveals the many sides of her character. When the audience is first introduced to her, she is seen as murderous, calculating and highly ambitious; yet, as the play develops she exposes a more feminine and humane side. Her complex character and strong ambition drive the play forward, giving rise to dramatic tension and engaging the audience’s imaginations through the imagery, language and emotion of her role. The audience will wonder whether she, indeed. is wholly evil. The audience will feel mixed emotions at her death, as, although she could be portrayed as ‘evil’, they will feel sympathy towards her because they have seen her downfall and witnessed her guilt consume her.
