How does Shakespeare use Lady Macbeth to add drama to the play?

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How does Shakespeare use Lady Macbeth to add drama to the play?

In the play Macbeth, William Shakespeare presents the dark queen which is Macbeth’s wife, very differently, then to stereotypical women at these times. She is equal not hesitating to say dominant in their relationship. In this essay I’ll be exploring her character and presenting how she adds drama to the play.

Lady Macbeth adds drama to the play in different ways. One of those is language.  There is a lot of dramatic and violent imagery used in the play. Her speeches send shivers down the spine when she talks about ‘dashing the brains out’ and ‘plugging her nipples’ from the baby’s ‘boneless gums’ and also form these sentences we can realise how strong and honourable she is. These horrific images show the despicable most horrible deed a mother can commit and she would not hesitate to do those deeds if she only swore to. She uses very violent and horrifying words and phrases which give the play the intense effect and actually qualify the play as a triadic play.  It would also interest the audience as it’s a tense and dramatic scene which truly shows the dark side of Lady Macbeth.  Also she mentions other horrible things like darkness, supernatural events and witchcraft. Witchcraft is a quite important theme in the play as the three witches have a mystical relationship with Macbeth and similarly to Lady Macbeth guide him through his career.

If to go to the theatre and watch the scene in which Lady Macbeth is trying to persuade Macbeth to commit the murder by comparing her to him and explain to him that she would dash the babies ‘brains out, had I sworn to’  and informing him only if he did it ‘then you were a man’.  I would imagine the women playing lady Macbeth would be in dark clothing as she is referred to as the dark queen, at the point where she says ‘have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums’ she could have her hands near her breasts and pretend she’s holding a baby and them make a quick gesture away from her breast as if she’s throwing something forward. Then as she said the last words ‘had I so sworn as you have done to this’ she could stand really straight with her hands by her side and say the words in a deep voice speaking through her teeth.  This is because it would clearly reflect what she had in mind and stun Macbeth as well as the audience. She would follow each word with an action to express what she’s doing and excitement to the scene.

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Lady Macbeth has a complex and an unusual relationship with Lady Macbeth which adds excitement and drama to the play. In their relationship we can find a struggle for power as Macbeth sees her as his equal which is strange but more surprisingly she is hungry for power and at times wants to be dominant and that’s what drives the plot forward. At the beginning of the play Lady Macbeth is more dominant and aggressive as she drives Macbeth forward and forces him to make decisions which highly affect the play like the murder of the king. But as I ...

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