“We will speak further”
This shows that Macbeth is in deliberation on the matter. He needs time to think and has been partially convinced, this reflects on the relationship in that Lady Macbeth has partially managed her overall goal of convincing Macbeth into the murder of the king.
In act 1 Scene 7 Macbeth is struggling with the idea of killing Duncan. He has makes a good argument against killing the king saying that
“He’s here in double trust:
First, as I am his kinsman and his subject,
Strong both against the deed; then as his host,
Who should against his murderer shut the door”
When Macbeth says that the only thing to compel him to do it is his own ambition,
“But only
Vaulting ambition which o’erleaps itself
And falls on th’other-”
Lady Macbeth comes into the scene interrupting him as she did in at the end of act 1 scene 5; by doing this Shakespeare puts Macbeth into a difficult position as he has just started on his thoughts about committing the murder. Macbeth does however tell Lady Macbeth
“We will proceed no further in this business”
Lady Macbeth does not listen to him, actually venturing into telling him off for making the decision and for not being strong enough to actually carry out his ambitions
“Art thou afeard
To be the same in thine own act and valour,
As thou art in desire?”
Also she calls him a coward for not wanting to go through with it.
“And live a coward in thine own esteem”
This shows that Lady Macbeth is in control of the relationship as she has the confidence to say these things, something which she does not have the confidence to do later on in the play. When told by Macbeth that he does carry out his own ambitions Lady Macbeth ‘plays another card’ putting the responsibility onto Macbeth, she asks him why he told her about the witches prophecies in the first place
“What beast was’t then
That made you break this enterprise to me?”
After that she changes again to try and make Macbeth feel guilty saying that he has tendered to the idea of killing the king like she has her dead child however he has killed it.
“I have given suck and know
How tender ‘tis to love the babe that milks me:
I would whilst it was smiling in my face,
Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums
And dashed the brains out, had I so sworn
As you have done to this.”
This shows that the relationship is a strong one. One where Lady Macbeth knows Macbeth well and is able to change tact to fit in with Macbeth’s arguments. There is not however much proof that Macbeth knows Lady Macbeth as well as she does him. For example when he tries to stop her from going through with the plan, he is not able to argue competently with her and at the end of the scene is agreeing to the plan.
As I just stated at the end of the scene Macbeth does, after Lady Macbeth explains the whole of the plan to him and how and why they will not fail, agree to Lady Macbeth’s plan showing that she can control him, and does have an amount of power over him.
Act 2 scene 2 begins with a monologue from Lady Macbeth, in which she shows signs of not coping with the killing well, she was not able to kill Duncan herself
“”had he not resembled
My father as he slept, I had done’t
She says that she has been drinking
“That which hath made them drunk, hath made
Me bold;
What hath quenched them hath given me fire”
Also she does not trust Macbeth to have killed Duncan; she fears he has awoken the guards which she drugged
“Alack I am afraid they have awaked,
And ‘tis not done”
This shows that she does not have a lot of faith in Macbeth’s abilities to kill Duncan, even though he is a great soldier and a war hero.
When Macbeth comes back from having killed Duncan, he and Lady Macbeth converse in a series of short sentences, this shows that they are both worried about the consequences of the killing and that Lady Macbeth is both losing her hold over Macbeth as she takes no action to calm him down. This shows that the relationship between the two is starting to fall apart because the relationship is obviously built on Lady Macbeth being a controlling force over Macbeth as she has great persuasion powers and can influence him. Later on in the scene Macbeth starts taking control of the dialogue, giving longer multilinal passages than Lady Macbeth whereas if we look back over the scenes previously Macbeth has always had a smaller part, speaking-wise and when Lady Macbeth is in the scene, than Lady Macbeth. This is an indication that Macbeth has some control over the relationship. However– L53 to L60 –Macbeth refuses to go back to smear the blood onto the guard’s faces as he is to scared “I am afraid to...look on’t again” so Lady Macbeth smears blood on the guard faces, showing she is still the most ambitious of the pair. After she has left Macbeth says “will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood
Clean from my hand? No” this is symbolism as the blood represents the killing of Duncan and the hand represents his conscience, he is actually saying that his conscience can never be wiped of the deed. Also in this small soliloquy he says “The multitudinous seas incarnadine,
Making the green one red”
He is referring to the blood on his hands turning all the seas red instead of being cleansed. However this use of language speaks more than just that; the first line using long polysyllable words and in the second line he uses small monosyllable words, because Macbeth’s language comes down in status it shows that he feels he feels in his self he has come down in status, which is ironic as by killing the king he knows he will, politically, go up in status from thane of Cawdor and Glamis to the king, as the witches prophesised. When Lady Macbeth comes back, she uses the same metaphor as Macbeth does on line 63-64 however contradicts him, “ A little water cleans us of this dead” is in direct contradiction with Macbeth saying that all the water in the sea could not wash his hands of the blood, this reflection in the two character’s speech shows that the relationship between them is still strong.
In Act 2 scene 3 the murder of Duncan is announced shortly after Macbeth says:
“Had I but died an hour before this chance,
I had lived a blessèd time, for from this instant,
There’s nothing serious in mortality.
All is but toys; renown and grace is dead,
The wine of life is drawn, and the mere lees
Is left this vault to brag of.”
There are a number of points to be made about this speech: firstly, Macbeth, although giving the impression that he is talking about Duncan dying to his company, he is actually talking about his having killed Duncan. He says that his life is not worth living “There’s nothing serious in mortality” and that he wishes he had died in place of Duncan “had I but died...blessèd time” he says “the wine of life...is left this vault to brag of” here he may be talking about Duncan however I believe he is also talking about himself. Saying his life is drained away and only parts of him are left.
Later on in the scene Macbeth admits to having killed Duncan’s guards cleverly defending himself “who can be wise, amazed, temp’rate and furious” and using elaborate language “unmannerly breeched with gore” however he knows that all that he is saying is lies, this shows that he listens to his wife and her words
“Look like th’innocent flower,
But be the serpent under’t”
this shows that Lady Macbeth is still dominant in the relationship as Macbeth has done what he has been told after Macbeth is finished Lady Macbeth fainting to draw attention away from Macbeth, this either shows that she is really fainting as Macbeth has gone against her plan or that she is just trying to draw attention away from Macbeth as she feels he has said too much. Either way however Macbeth has gone against her plan and killed the guards, this shows that Macbeth has started to think for himself. This may be the point where he starts to stop listening to Lady Macbeth. In the next few scenes Ross and an old man talk about how Macbeth’s a bad king and Banquo becomes suspicious of Macbeth. The next scene featuring Macbeth and Lady Macbeth is act 3 scene 2, Lady Macbeth calls Macbeth to talk to her, this shows dominance and that she is not losing control, however when she is alone she says that they have gained nothing
“Nought’s had, all’s spent” this shows that she is starting to have doubts about what they have done however she advises Macbeth not to think about
“, why do you keep alone
Of sorriest fancies...thoughts which should have died
With them they think on?”
This shows that Lady Macbeth is trying to be strong for Macbeth but is finding it hard to, the relationship is starting to fall apart as Lady Macbeth does and as Macbeth starts to become more dominant as we see later on in this scene Macbeth formulates a plan of his own (about killing Banquo and Fleance) and decides not to tell Lady Macbeth, almost patronizingly, calling her dearest chuck
“Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck,”
By Macbeth starting to make decisions for himself, we can know that the balance of power in the relationship is starting to move in Macbeth’s favour as his ambition starts to overpower him and take control of him.
When Macbeth is being haunted by Banquo’s ghost in act 3 scene 4 Lady Macbeth chastises Macbeth asking “are you a man?” instead however of backing down Macbeth replies “Ay, and a bold one” this shows that he is starting to stand up to Lady Macbeth. Also later on Macbeth says to the ghost “what man dare, I dare” these two quotes together show that Macbeth starts to become much more aggressive, this is probably because he cannot deal with having murdered Duncan and feels he has to take charge of everything, also Lady Macbeth starts to lose her grip on reality as we see in Act 5 Scene 1 these two factors of Lady Macbeth not being able to support Macbeth and Macbeth’s increased aggression and overall ambition are two of the main key factors in their relationship falling apart.
In Act 5 Scene 1 we see Lady Macbeth “sleepwalking” whilst observed by a doctor and a Waiting-Gentlewoman. In lady Macbeth’s dream she is attempting to clean her hands of a spot of blood and she is reliving the night of the murder “yet here’s a spot” “who would have known the old man had so much blood in him” “to bed, to bed there’s knocking at the gate” and all of the past events of the play involving Macbeth “The thane of fife had a wife, where is she now” this fragmented use of prose text is meant to show that the murders have took their toll on Lady Macbeth and that her mind is fragmented. Macbeth does not appear in this scene and is not aware o this at all. At the end of the scene the doctor says that she needs god more than medical attention “More needs she the divine than the physician.” This is interesting as it links back to act 2 scene 2 where Macbeth claims to have cut himself off from god as he cannot say amen
“I could not say ‘Amen’
When they did say God bless us”
This is this could be interpreted as that the two have both been cut off from God this would not be surprising because of all the sins they have committed worshipping idols (Lady Macbeth calling spirits to her in act 1 scene 5 L38-40) Committing multiple murders (Duncan, Attendants, Banquo, Murderers, Ross’s family etc) talking to witches and so on. This may be why they have such bad fortune. The last scene which I am commenting on is act 5 scene 5 in which Macbeth is told that his wife is dead. Lines 16-27 are Macbeth’s speech considering the death of his wife. Considering that someone he loved has just died this is a very small amount of text to express all his feelings. This shows that towards the end of the play Macbeth and Lady Macbeth grow rather far apart.
In conclusion Shakespeare uses many techniques to portray this relationship however the main one is language, what they say to each other and how they say these things. The relationship throughout the play goes through many stages between their love, ambition, sorrow, madness and death they are always united reflecting each other and in this they have a strong relationship.
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