This is where Lady Macbeth first get’s the idea of her plan. When Macbeth returns back to the castle he is immediately approached by Lady Macbeth who takes him to one side and discusses her evil plan.
At the start of the play we see Lady Macbeth as a manipulative character, she uses the comment “act like the flower, but be the serpent underneath”
This quote sums up what she is like at the start off the play, she is basically telling Macbeth to act like a flower which indicates purity and goodness, but be a serpent (snake) which acts sly and was a classic evil creature in Shakespearean times. During the middle of the play, Lady Macbeth acts like the witches by being sly and innocent (like a flower); this could be a connection that Shakespeare is trying to make. Lady Macbeth’s real personality comes out though when she persuades Macbeth to kill King Duncan, she does this by manipulating him, there are many tactics she uses for example one of them is by flattering him by using the following quote, “What cannot you and I not perform upon the unguarded Duncan?”
The effectiveness of this is that she make’s him feel more manly and invisible what was a big part of culture in Shakespearean times, but the main tactic she uses is accusing Macbeth of cowardness she uses the quote “And live a coward in thine own esteem, Letting I dare not wait upon I would.”
Lady Macbeth is suggesting that Macbeth won’t have any self-respect if he doesn’t go though with it, this is questioning his manhood, which is a weak spot what Lady Macbeth picks up during the play, she repeats to question his manhood throughout the play to manipulate him to do what she wants him to do. She is determined to make Macbeth to commit this dirty deed you can tell this by the way how she emphasising her own determination, she says “And we’ll not fail”.
In act 1 scene 7 Lady Macbeth is talking to Macbeth, She says a dramatic quote what shocks the audience “And dash’d the brains out, had I swore as you
Have done this.”
In this quote she is saying that I would savagely kill my baby, if I swore to you that I would, this is beyond thinkable is Shakespearean times. This shows how vicious Lady Macbeth could be and what she is capable of.
In act 2 scene 1 Macbeth has decided to kill Duncan, but has not done it. When Duncan is around her she is seen as a kind hostess, but this is not a true reflection of her character. In act 2 scene 2 Macbeth has returned after the murder. Lady Macbeth says “that which has made them drunk, hath made me bold.” She has been drinking, so this could indicate that she is not confident without drink.
In act 5 scene 1 we see Lady Macbeth dramatically change into a weak, paranoid, mad, depressed and worried. Lady Macbeth is sleep taking and has violent outburst, describing what dirty deed’s that she ahs done “what will these hands ne’er be clean” this indicates that she is still thinking about that has happened and still worried about it, the audiences reaction would have been surprised because Lady Macbeth seemed to be the stronger character, how would have been least likely to tell the secret. This quote is significant because she is hallucinating that she has blood on her hands and turning paranoid, Blood is a common theme in this play and always crops up. Clusters and repeated images are one of the common techniques Shakespeare uses to create more of a effect.
