Macbeth however is a fighting warrior for his country, and therefore his king. To even consider harming his king is complete and utter betrayal to his King, religion and pride. But once he hears the witches prophecy his curiosity overpowers his upmost beliefs, and he is drawn into the possible reality of their words. He insists to Lady Macbeth “they have more in them than mortal knowledge”. He is severely ruthless in deciding that he shall fulfill his destiny in the easiest and fastest possible way as his reward is too great to ignore. He is so ruthless in fact that he does not consider the consequences that himself and especially Lady Macbeth will face if they commit the murder of Duncan. By concealing the realism of the act from themselves, they are also concealing it from God: Macbeth says “Stars, hide your fires, let not light see my black and deep desires” and Lady Macbeth “Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark”.
Both push each other but Lady Macbeths’ cruel character pushes Macbeth more. After her promise “that I may pour my spirits in mine ear” she does everything within her nature to convince him to commit the murder, even if it means taunting him of his love for her. “From this such I account thy love”: If you refuse to commit the murder then you do not love me. She then goes on to refer to her own strength by exclaiming “I would while it was smiling in my face, have plucked my nipple from its boneless gums and dashed the brains out, had I so sworn as you have done to this”: Though I loved that baby, if I’d promised you that I’d kill it, I’d go through with it regardless. The violence and brutality of the words she uses really show her cruel nature. However Macbeth does not apologise profusely for ever doubting their capability, nor does he declare his love for Lady Macbeth and reassure her that with his courage restored he will fulfill an act that will bring them great happiness as a couple. Instead he sends her away and says his “False face must hide what the false heart doth know”: He must not show the deed on his face but store it in his heart, however Macbeth uses the word “false” meaning that he cannot hide it from himself.
Lady Macbeth doubted Macbeth’s ability to carry out the murder of the king before the murder and even after he reluctantly committed it she still doubts him. “I am afraid they have awakened and t’is not done. The attempt and not the deed confounds,” spoke Lady Macbeth to Macbeth after the murder took place, proving the fact that she does not have faith in his courage nor ambition. She however is fueled by the murder and decides to place the daggers beside the guards which Macbeth had not done. This act is not done out of kindness to her husband, who might I add is suffering from severe trauma after performing such a treacherous act, but is done to ensure that they will end up as the King and Queen of Scotland. After touching the daggers Lady Macbeth enforces guilt into Macbeth and scrutinizes him for his weak courage: “My hands are of your colour, but I shame to wear a heart so white”; a great insult to a warior as it indicates a lack of bravery. Macbeth confides in Lady Macbeth that he could not say “Amen” however she does not show any reassurance and in some respects just tells Macbeth off for speaking so foolishly (“Consider it not so deeply, These deeds must not be thought of”). However, Lady Macbeth may not be as tough and persistent as she comes across.
From the reactions we received from the couple as individuals would lead us to believe that Macbeth would be the first to break under the guilt, however he switches roles and almost characters with Lady Macbeth. At the realization that Banquo, Macbeth’s friend who also heard the prophecy from the witches, may have realized that Macbeth could have been the murderer of Duncan, he arranges in secret for him to be murdered. This lethal act we thought we would only ever see once from Macbeth has now been committed again, however his conscience does not remain free of guilt. Lady Macbeth on the other hand begins to go insane when Macbeth has a surprise outburst in the middle of a posh dinner they were holding in celebration of Macbeth gaining the crown. He believes he has seen the ghost of Banquo, and this quite frankly terrifies him; not only because of the obvious fact that Banquo should be dead, but also because this is a sign that he may be going insane. Lady Macbeth however is more keen to cover up Macbeth’s strange outburst than go to comfort and reassure him herself. After describing it as “a momentary fit” to their guests, Lady Macbeth pulls Macbeth aside and forcefully asks “are you a man?” and tells him that his hallucinations are that of those told round a fire by old women on a winters night meaning they are entirely untrue. When they re enter the company of their guests, Lady Macbeth hastily dismisses them before Macbeth unknowingly reveals what he saw and why.
Before the Banquet scene we have one of the first and the last scene that Lady Macbeth and Macbeth are speaking alone. Lady Macbeth is worried that they may still not be secure as King and Queen, however despite these worries when Macbeth enters, he confides in Lady Macbeth about his guilt for murdering Duncan and she continues to tell him that “those thoughts should have died”. What we can see here is that Lady Macbeth does not confide in Macbeth, but Macbeth confides in her. This may be because of several reasons, all of which are only possibilities. Firstly Lady Macbeth may believe that she is superior to Macbeth on the topic of the murder of Duncan, or she may just be considering the fact that if she does confide of her troubles, he may lose his ambition. This would mean that his guilt would overcome him and he may end up confessing their unjust act and therefore commit his wife and himself to death.
After the Banquet scene we do not see Lady Macbeth for a while as Macbeth is hoarding most of the action. This is because it was a patriarchal society in Shakespears day meaning men were higher in society than women. Once upon a time it was Lady Macbeth who was most concerned about Macbeth revealing that they had committed the murder, now it seems it is Macbeth. After ordering the murder of his great friend Banquo, Macbeth still feels unsafe and visits the witches for the second time. They tell him that his nemesis will be a man “borne of no woman”, Macbeth having immediately suspecting Macduff returns to his castle and orders mercilessly to have him killed as swell. Lady Macbeth had no hand in these murders; however on hearing of these more appalling deeds Macbeth has committed, she goes increasingly insane. As observed by her doctor, Lady Macbeth repeatedly sleepwalks whilst imitating the action of washing the blood off her hands, blood that she seems to have because of Macbeth’s deeds, yet she appears to be guilty. The next we hear of Lady Macbeth is her scream as she pushes herself out of a window high up in the castle. Macbeth’s reaction to this is most interesting; on hearing that she is dead he says “she should have died hereafter”: she should have died earlier. He ponders on the pointlessness of life and says that days endlessly merge together until there is no beginning and no end to life.
The man Macbeth turned into after the murder of Duncan was fueled by power and ambition. Lady Macbeth on the other hand seemed weakened by the murder, ultimately leading to a extent where she took her own life. As for their relationship they grew further and further apart as they each took on new characteristics that pushed them away from each other. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth were never going to be a happily married King and Queen, the fact that they could not conceive a child only implies this further. They married each other for the purpose of achieving power in the hierarchy of Scotland, and to potentially have the roles as King and Queen. However once they had achieved these roles, they no longer had each other.