Discuss the every changing relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth

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Discuss the every changing relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. By A. Inceman 11s 2003

From the very beginnings of the play, Lady Macbeth is viewed as very controlling, strong, and certain; saying that Macbeth 'Shalt be what thou art promised´. This shows Lady Macbeth´s command, she is ordering Macbeth to become what the witches have foreseen, not questioning whether he will achieve it, or even not try. From the very start therefore we see just how powerful Lady Macbeth is, if she can command her husband to murder the king of Scotland. Her power is also shown in the way she taunts Macbeth, saying he is 'too full of the milk of human kindness´. This shows how cold Lady Macbeth is, as milk is the food of new born children, she is implying Macbeth is too much like a kind child to murder anyone, which is another method used to pressure Macbeth on into killing his king. Her coldness and control is again shown when she begins to plot Duncan´s murder with Macbeth, she says he should 'look like the innocent flower but be the serpent under it´, more advice for the killing of his king, and 'leave the rest to me´ shows her cool control over the matter. Lady Macbeth also shows a more helpful side, offering help. 'I may pour my spirits in thine ear´, which although seemingly providing a contrast to her cold hearted plotting earlier, is in fact another way in which she is convincing Macbeth to kill Duncan, her words are sweet to Macbeth´s ear, but are in fact rooted in evil, and this perhaps shows an 'innocent flower´ side to Lady Macbeth.

She is seen by some as a woman of strong will, who is ambitious for herself and who is clever enough to recognise her husband's strenghts and weaknesses, and ruthless enough to exploit them. They see her in her commitment to evil and in her realisation that the gain of the Crown has not brought her the happiness she had expected, and finally, as one who breaks down under the strain. Others see her as a woman ambitious for her husband whom she loves. She recognises the essential good in him, and feels that, without her, he will never win the Crown. She allies herself with the powers of darkness for his sake, but here her femininity breaks down under the strain of the unnatural murder of Duncan and the alienation of her husband. She is seen as simple and realistic where Macbeth is complicated and imaginative. She can see what must be done; he visualises the consequence.
Macbeth however is on the other end of the scale in their relationship, and once he plucks up the courage to tell her he does not want to continue with the murder. But she rallies, calling him a 'coward´, saying that if he could murder Duncan 'he were a man´. This to Macbeth, a proud and mighty warrior is a deep insult, and he soon is convinced that he will carry out the murder. Lady Macbeth´s cold hearted side again shows, saying she would 'dash´ out the brains of her own child because she is so sure Macbeth should kill Duncan. We also see how Lady Macbeth´s influence has rubbed off on Macbeth, as he says 'False face must hide what the false heart doth know´, which is very similar to Lady Macbeth´s words of the 'innocent flower´ earlier. All in all, in act 1 we see how Lady Macbeth has a power over Macbeth, she is cunning and calculated, and despite the fact that Macbeth is the seasoned warrior, she is the one who laughs at murder and Macbeth who declines, however we see her use her power over Macbeth to make him want to murder Duncan, showing how the power in the relationship is all in Lady Macbeth´s court in the first act.

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In act two, after murdering Duncan, Macbeth says 'This is a sorry sight´, but Lady Macbeth again shows her power over Macbeth. 'A foolish thing to say a sorry sight´. This shows how she is still cold hearted, as she thinks it is 'foolish´ for a man to show remorse at a murder he committed. She orders him to not think 'so deeply´, saying that thinking about the deed 'will make us mad´ and 'unbend your noble strength´. Here we see a slightly weaker side to Lady Macbeth, she is herself feeling vulnerable to guilt, almost immediately after the murder. ...

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