In Act one scene 5 of this play, Lady Macbeth is first introduced. She reads a letter from her husband telling her about the witches’ predictions. She is delighted with her husband’s letter, although she says that Macbeth lacks ruthlessness, and that she will stop at nothing to achieve what she wants. Although she knows that Macbeth wishes to become king, he will not play falsely. Because of this, Lady Macbeth decides that she will help him to find the necessary determination.
Lady Macbeth then finds that the king of Scotland is staying in their castle, and sees this as the perfect opportunity to make Macbeth king. She asks for her womanliness and femininity to be taken away.
‘Unsex me here…And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full…Of direst cruelty…’
This quote further supports the statement that Lady Macbeth does not seem to be a very feminine character.
When the king arrives at Macbeth’s castle, he talks about how the air ‘recommends itself’ and ‘is delicate’. These words contrast to those used in the previous scene by Lady Macbeth. Lady Macbeth gives a warm welcome to the king, showing that she almost has two sides to her, and is putting up a front to everybody else in order to hide her true thoughts and feelings. She even hides some of her feelings from her husband later on in the play, and never shows how scared and vulnerable she is to any of the other characters in the play. She is portrayed as quite mysterious because of this. She has no difficulty in hiding her real thoughts.
That night, Macbeth changes his mind about killing the king. It would appear that he is afraid of Lady Macbeth in the way that he does not tell her the same things that he said in the soliloquy, which he gives in a previous scene. This shows how much power Lady Macbeth has over Macbeth. Lady Macbeth does not react well to the news that Macbeth does not want to go through with the killing and tells Macbeth that he is cowardly. She goes on to give a very powerful speech she would kill her own child before going back on her word.
This quote also portrays Lady Macbeth in a very masculine way. It also shows how evil Lady Macbeth is, and how powerful she is. This speech shocks the audience, as Lady Macbeth usually uses strong imagery, but this is a very strong image of evil. Eventually, Macbeth’s decision changes because of this powerful speech from Lady Macbeth.
Lady Macbeth’s character is presented as very strong in this part of the play. After Macbeth changes his mind again and decides to kill the king, she tells him that they will not fail if he keeps his nerve, and this re-assures Macbeth. Macbeth appears to be somewhat dependant on his wife during this part of the play.
So far, Lady Macbeth’s part in helping Macbeth to gain power has been crucial, as her determination has removed all of Macbeth’s doubts. This changes later on in the play when Macbeth begins to leave Lady Macbeth out of her plans.
We first see a change in Lady Macbeth’s character when she sees Macbeth after the murder of the king. She seems more on edge than usual, and says that she herself could not commit the murder as the sleeping king reminds her of her father. This is first real sign of guilt that she expresses about the murder. Soon after this she returns to her normal, strong character to face Macbeth, telling him that his worries are ‘brain sickly’.
After Macbeth murders Banquo, it becomes more and more apparent that Lady Macbeth is being further and further cut off from Macbeth. Their relationship appears to have changed. Lady Macbeth’s personality and nature seems to have also changed, as she now seems a lot more vulnerable and uneasy. She feels that nothing has been gained even though they have used up all of their energy, when she sys ‘Naught’s had, all’s spent’. It is obvious now that Lady Macbeth has also been affected by what has happened so far in the play.
Lady Macbeth is not seen much more in the play until the end from this point. As Macbeth shuts her further and further out of his plans and their relationship deteriorates, she appears to be more and more unstable. She is shown at the end of the play for the last time. She is sleepwalking and talking about the murder in her sleep. She is clearly mentally unstable at this point. This is the last time we see her in the play before she dies.
Lady Macbeth is now very different from the person we mat at the beginning of the play. If we compare her to Macbeth, we can see that he regains some of his dignity at the end of the play, as he dies a fearless warrior. Lady Macbeth is pitiful in contrast. Lady Macbeth and Macbeth’s roles appear to have almost changed round by the end of the play. At the beginning, Macbeth is the pathetic, fearful character which we look down on, and Lady Macbeth was the strong one, who was almost more masculine than Macbeth himself. Now, the roles have reversed. Macbeth is more independent. He does not need Lady Macbeth there for him anymore. This could be one of the contributory factors leading up to when Lady Macbeth goes insane. Macbeth is strong by the end, but we look down on Lady Macbeth, who is now weak and pathetic (as Macbeth was in the beginning of the play). We have no respect for Lady Macbeth at the end of the play.
