the audience and Macbeth, and hopefully by now the audience will realise that Macbeth's
ambition is the flaw in his character.
The first time the meet Lady Macbeth, she is reading the letter that Macbeth has written to her
about the predictions of the witches. The letter itself it tells us something about Macbeth when
he says "I have learnt by the perfect'st report, they have more in them than mortal knowledge,"
which means that he has conducted some type of research into the validity of the witches
predictions, and what he has found out would suggest that the witches are telling the truth. This
has confirmed for him his initial thoughts of his future role in the country, giving him stronger faith
in the witches and his destiny, and also may have acted as more firewood for his already blazing
ambition. This is why later on in the play, there is no question or doubt in either Macbeth's or
Lady Macbeth's mind that the witches may have been lying. Before Lady Macbeth has finished
reading the letter, I think the audience may hope that she will see through the deceit of the
witches, and will be disappointed that she believes the witches too, and thoroughly disheartened
to find out that she will be the one to drive Macbeth to kill the king. The rest of the letter is a
brief summary of the past events that have happened to Macbeth, and Shakespeare probably
intended this letter to be useful to the latecomers amongst the audience.
Lady Macbeth, like Macbeth himself, instantaneously thinks of killing, or getting Macbeth to kill
Duncan, though she exclaims that Macbeth "is too full o' the milk of human kindness To catch
the nearest way." Unlike Macbeth, she doesn't have soliloquies contemplating the consequences
of the murder of Duncan, so the audience will perceive her as a very impulsive woman who
doesn't think things through well enough. She gives the audience a description of Macbeth as
she seems him, and this will change the audience's perception of Macbeth accordingly. In her
opinion, Macbeth knows that if he is to be king, then the king must die. Macbeth doesn't want
to kill the king himself, though he would be happy for the king to be murdered and wants the
king to be murdered, just as long as it is not he who does the deed; "what thou wouldst highly,
That wouldst thou holily; wouldst not play false, And yet wouldst wrongly win," as Lady
Macbeth puts it.
Suddenly, the audience doesn't have the perception of an honourable, loyal and brave subject of
the king; but a man with burning ambition but thinks too much of the repercussions. His wife
says "hie thee hither, That I may pour my spirits into thine ear," which means that she has
already made the intention of persuading Macbeth into killing the king, just moments after
reading the letter. I think that it is this speech that makes the audience pity Macbeth at this point
of the play, rather than hating him for his cruel intentions. This is because we know that when he
returns weary to his castle, his wife will be there to greet him and ready to manipulate him. Also,
this quote tells the audience what Lady Macbeth thinks of herself in that she assumes that she is
stronger than Macbeth and she can persuade him to kill the king, regardless of the fact that he is
too full of the "milk of human kindness."
However, I do not think Lady Macbeth wanting to kill the king is purely selfish, and I do think
that there is love between them. In the letter, Macbeth calls her his "dearest partner in
greatness," and when she considers Macbeth's character after reading the letter, she does not
say that Macbeth stops her from greatness, but he stops himself. If she was as egoistic as some
scholars would have you believe, I feel that she would have mentioned that Macbeth is stopping
her from rising to power, instead of things like "All that impedes thee from the golden round."
Another example is when Lady Macbeth orders the messenger who comes to her with news of
Duncan's arrival to "give him tending."
When the messenger arrives, he comes with the news "The king arrives here tonight," Lady
Macbeth, in a moment of confusion thinks that the envoy is referring to Macbeth, bursting out
with the words "Thou'rt mad to say it." This is another instance where Shakespeare divides the
iambic pentameter to create an atmosphere of urgency, hurriedness and in this case, surprise.
Freud would analyse this slip of the tongue by saying that it shows the deepest emotions,
thoughts and desires of the Lady Macbeth at the time, who therefore must already envisage
Macbeth crowned.
In between the time the messenger leaves and Macbeth arrives she does something quite
unexpected. Although there is never any indication of her being a witch, she tries to cast a spell
upon herself to make herself a more cruel person. She asks the "spirits That tend on mortal
thoughts…fill me…top full Of direst cruelty" and makes some other morbid demands, such as
"take my milk for gall," which means that she is asking to become bitter and poisonous. Another
request that she makes is for the "murdering ministers" to "unsex me here." This brings about the
notion that only men can commit sin or atrocities, which even today is still partly true (if you look
at government statistics, males commit a much higher proportion of crimes in virtually all
countries). But why does she feel the need to chant all these disturbing incantations?
Women aren't really associated with cold-blooded murder, and are often associated with the
maternal mercy and love. Her chants would indicate that she will actually commit the murder
herself when she says "That my keen knife see not the wound it makes," and until only moments
before the King is slayed, the audience are led to believe that Lady Macbeth will carry out the
crime. Her rather pathetic excuse for not killing the king with her own hands is that he had
"resembled My father as he slept," and she couldn't murder him.
I think that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are similar in the respect that they always need a
"honourable" excuse to murder, to "validate" their crime. For example, Macbeth is always
happy to cut someone from the "knave to the chaps" on a war field, though he cannot kill a
sleeping man without a legitimate justification. Similarly, Lady Macbeth is trying to clear her
conscience for the murder that she intends to do by persuading herself to believe that she
wouldn't have been able to have done it without the evil spirits filling her. Also, when she is
attempting to put Macbeth under her influence when they are hotly debating about the killing of
the king, she uses some horrifying blackmail techniques to manipulate Macbeth; another sin that
she can blame on the evil spirits. Although there is a theme of the supernatural within this play,
there are no indications that any witches or demons responded to her call, although it is up to
the director if there should be a suggestion that Lady Macbeth has any powers or not. My
opinion is that she hasn't, and that she is just trying to make lawful in her own eye what is
unlawful to the rest of the world.
So what were the kinds of things that Lady Macbeth did, how did she persuade Macbeth to kill
the king - or did Macbeth want to kill the king in the first place enough to do the deed himself?
The audience have seen that there is a part of Macbeth with a desire to kill the king, and also
have seen a part that feels that if it is his destiny, then the crowning will happen by its own
accord. The audience have seen the loyal, strong Macbeth and they have also seen the plotting,
treacherous Macbeth. In the next section of this play, the audience will see the conflicts that
Macbeth faces with his wife and his own self, and delve into the subject of how Macbeth was
persuaded to kill the King Duncan.
The instant Macbeth returns to his home, Lady Macbeth rushes out to welcome her beloved
husband, and the words she uses to greet him implies that she assumes Macbeth will kill
Duncan. She does this by calling him the greatest by "the all hail hereafter," and she declares that
"the future is instant," by the death of the king. However, only moments before she claims that
Macbeth will never "catch the nearest way" by killing Duncan. So why does she seem to assume
that Macbeth will do the murder? An audience will see that Lady Macbeth is already trying to
influence Macbeth by making this statement, knowing full well that he does not want to commit
this murder, and the audience will see the self-conflict that Macbeth is going through.
Here we see another instance of distribution of the ten beats when Lady Macbeth says, "The
future is instant." And Macbeth immediately follows this up with "My dearest love," to complete
the ten syllables. This shows Macbeth trying to cut off Lady Macbeth from her speech in which
she is trying to persuade him. Further evidence of Macbeth not really wanting to listen to his
wife in case she may persuade him in the same conversation is when Macbeth says "We will
speak further," which means he is trying to say 'we'll talk about it later', and trying to put the
subject off. However, what Lady Macbeth does say in this conversation is "Leave the rest to
me," which does imply that she will assassinate the king with her own hands. In this same
dialogue, she also says "you shall put…into my despatch," which furthermore proves that she is
leading Macbeth into believing that he will have no physical role in the murder of the king. Lady
Macbeth thinks this strategy will work because she describes Macbeth as a man who "wouldst
not play false, And yet would wrongly win;"
Another theme that arises in this discussion between husband and wife is the notion of two-
facedness, and Lady Macbeth gives Macbeth advice on an act he has not agreed to do; "look
like the innocent flower But be the serpent under't," she tells him. This whole dialogue gives the
audience the feeling that Lady Macbeth is forcing Macbeth into agreement of killing the king,
and she is perceived as the dominant figure in the relationship at this moment in time. Also, this
quote will remind Shakespeare's audience about the gunpowder plot, which failed and the
conspirator, Guy Fawkes, who was burnt alive. A coin was made to commemorate this, which
had a flower on one side and a serpent on the other; this is what Shakespeare makes a direct
reference to. A feeling of foreboding will be predominant throughout the audience as they make
the connection between Guy Fawkes and Macbeth, and predict that Macbeth will receive a
similar punishment. This also tries to draw pity away from Macbeth's character, which does
seem to build up during the play; King James would not have been happy with everyone having
Macbeth down as a lovable but flawed character. In his eyes, Macbeth is the enemy and this
play is designed to be a deterrent for anyone attempting to murder the king, as a severe
castigation will follow.
When King Duncan does arrive in the castle, Lady Macbeth acts the perfect host that is to be
expected of her. While this is happening, Macbeth is thinking about the talk he has had with his
wife about the murder, and begins his famous soliloquy "If it were done." In his train of thoughts,
Macbeth is much more biased towards letting Duncan live. The only real argument for killing the
king is pretty weak, and this is "if the assassination Could trammel up the consequence…Might
be the be-all and end-all here," he would kill the king. But Macbeth knows that there is no way
he can avoid punishment. Macbeth reveals something very interesting that indicates that maybe
he is religious when he declares that, "We'd jump the life to come," meaning that he would risk
punishment in the afterlife. Even if there is no life after death, Macbeth also knows that there is
some type of natural justice on this world and "We still have judgement here." Macbeth believes
that "bloody instructions, which, being taught, return To plague th'inventor," so he feels that this
murder is a double sided sword. It will be plain for the audience to see that he is thoroughly
confused about what he should do.
There is indication in this soliloquy that Macbeth does actually love the king. He says that
Duncan is a perfect ruler, he "Hath borne his faculties so meek…that his virtues Will plead like
angels," and that "tears shall drown the wind," with the great sadness that will follow the death of
Duncan. Duncan stays at the castle in "double trust," one with his kinsman and one with his host.
He thinks that it is ironical that it is he "Who should against his murderer shut the door, Not bear
the knife [himself]," and by the end of the soliloquy it seems that he has talked himself out of the
murder of the innocent "cherubin." This is quite often the case, as we will se in a following
soliloquy, that when Macbeth is on his own he is certain that he does not wish to murder the
king. However, a short period of time with his Lady and he changes his mind, although
unwillingly, and this does prove that Lady Macbeth does influence and manipulate Macbeth
quite heavily. Even at the end of this soliloquy Macbeth says "I have no spur To prick the sides
of my intent, but only Vaulting ambition," and on cue Lady Macbeth, the spur of Macbeth's
vaulting ambition enters. This is Shakespeare's use of dramatic irony, and lets the audience
know for sure that it is Lady Macbeth who drives Macbeth to do the deed.
After Lady Macbeth's entrance, Macbeth lets her know almost immediately that "we will
proceed no further in this business," and gives his reasons. He has won "golden opinions from all
sorts of people," and the king himself has "honoured me of late," and he does not want to
jeopardize the enviable position that he has climbed towards. He tries to be clever and uses a
metaphor, comparing new clothes with his prestigious current position, which he says, "would
be worn in their newest gloss, not cast aside so soon." Lady Macbeth picks up on this metaphor
immediately and turns it around on Macbeth, screeching, "Was the hope drunk, Wherein you
dressed yourself." This command of the English language shows Lady Macbeth to have great
wit and intelligence, and will make Macbeth feel foolish by comparison, that he too cannot
retaliate so quickly. Even this adds to Lady Macbeth's overpowering of Macbeth. She then
emotionally blackmails Macbeth with the words "From this time Such I account that love," and
is telling Macbeth that she will assume Macbeth's declaration of love for his wife was out of
drunkenness. Staying with the theme of drunkenness, she says to him he "looks so green and
pale At what it did so freely." She is accusing him of not being able to hold his "drink", or hold
his courage, and is basically stating that Macbeth is not a man, and he is like the cat that did not
want to get his paws wet. This effective use of metaphors and puns twist into each other and
effectively starts to twist and confuse Macbeth. However, Macbeth regains his composure, and
tells his wife to shut her mouth by ordering her "pr'ythee peace." It is interesting to see that Lady
Macbeth can have the wit to turn around Macbeth's metaphors, but does not have the
intelligence, nor the imagination to think about the terrible consequences of murdering the king. I
can imagine audience desperately hoping that Lady Macbeth will actually change her mind, as
they will take pity on Macbeth, who will be punished for something he didn't really want to do.
We have often talked about the about the audience's perception of Macbeth, but never
Macbeth's perception of himself. He certainly thinks he is man enough; he is a fierce warrior and
a valued subject of the king. He says to Lady Macbeth "I dare do all that may become a man;
Who dare do more is none." What he is saying therefore that a man that does more them him is
not a man, but a beast. Once again Lady Macbeth is quick to strike back with "What beast
was't then That made you break your enterprise to me?" so it is quite clear that whatever
argument Macbeth may wish to take, Lady Macbeth will be ready to pounce back. Macbeth's
self-perception as a worthy man slowly deteriorates as Lady Macbeth eats it away with her
words. "When you durst do it, then you were a man," she cries out to him. If Macbeth has
confidence in himself, why does Lady Macbeth's words make him feel undeserving of the title "a
man"? It is quite obvious that Duncan has high regard for Macbeth, and so do the rest of his
kinsmen. Yet Macbeth knows that nobody understands him more than his wife, and he cannot
act nor put on a two-faced show in front of her. Evidence from the text is when Duncan
contemplates that "There's no art To find the mind's construction in the face," whereas Lady
Macbeth, because she knows her husband all too well, says to him "Your face, my thane, is a
book, where Men may read strange matters." If the person who knows Macbeth better than
any other thinks that he is not a real man, then surely, in his own eyes, he cannot be. This is
when Lady Macbeth drops the bombshell: "And, to be more than what you were, you would
Be so much more the man." Lady Macbeth is really edging him forward to the task, and he
starts to think that 'there is only one way that I can prove myself to be the man that I know I
am.'
The next things she says really do suggest that Lady Macbeth and Macbeth had talked about
their rule one day, some time before the appearance of the witches. "Nor time nor place Did the
adhere, and yet you would make both." but now "They have made themselves, and that their
fitness now Does unmake you." She is trying to take Macbeth back to the things he has said to
her, and the oaths that he has made. She is trying to make him guilty, and builds this up
furthermore with the horrific image of Lady Macbeth, who would have "dashed the brains out"
of the "babe that milks me…had I sworn as you Have done to this." What Lady Macbeth is
really saying that she is more of a man than he is. This whole emotional blackmail, the
questioning of manhood, courage and faithfulness to promises gone by, all are drawing Macbeth
into her clutches. The abundance of her clever word play add to her role as the dominant figure,
slowly dragging Macbeth down until he questions, semi-persuaded "If we should fail." As soon
as these words leave his Macbeth's mouth, she knows that she has won. "We fail?" she would
crow ironically, as if it were impossible, a joke. "We'll not fail." As soon as these words are
said, all of the audience will be severely dismayed, depressed even. They know that Macbeth
has give into her, and will wish that they could somehow tell Macbeth to not listen to his wife.
Similarly to the completion of an iambic pentameter by several characters, she completes the
thrice repetition of the word "fail." Even in modern day propaganda schemes, the repetition of
three is used as a brainwashing technique, so this is another example of Lady Macbeth using her
language only to persuade Macbeth. She then goes through her plan quickly to Macbeth. In all
honesty, it is a clumsy plan, and shows that Lady Macbeth hasn't really thought it through, unlike
Macbeth who turns things over in his mind for hours. Lady Macbeth doesn't seem to think that
this is a flawed plan at all, and she has not the imagination to predict any difficulty in carrying out
the plan and getting away with it. There are no full stops in Lady Macbeth's description of her
tactics, which would indicate two things. She wants to tell Macbeth quickly, before he can
change his mind and that she has almost memorised the way she will tell Macbeth, so it all blurts
out in a hurry. She must have been fairly confident that she would persuade Macbeth if she'd
thought of the plan and the manner in which she'd tell Macbeth. Macbeth does actually slightly
question the plan, thinking "Will it not be received…That the [the guards] have done't?" though
Lady Macbeth is quick to point out that if they act sad, and make their "griefs and clamour roar
Upon his death," then nobody will suspect Macbeth and his Lady.
Another thing worthy of mention is that when Macbeth does comply with the murder, she says,
"screw your courage to the sticking place." A modern interpretation of this line is that it can be
taken as sexual innuendo, and she is saying that Macbeth has made the right choice, and he'd be
rewarded for it later on in the bedroom.
"What cannot you and I perform upon Th'unguarded Duncan?" asks Lady Macbeth. This would
suggest that she too would help murder the king, but when it actually comes to it, Macbeth is
alone. Other examples of Lady Macbeth indicating that she herself would murder the king is
when she says "Leave the rest to me," and "you shall put…into my despatch," which
furthermore proves that she is leading Macbeth into believing that he will have no physical role,
or only a minor one in the murder of the king. Macbeth probably thought that the onus would be
shared, which would've have made him be less reluctant to kill the king. In fact, throughout most
of the play, the audience, as well as Macbeth, believe that Lady Macbeth will kill the king with
her own hands. Her rather pathetic excuse for not killing the king is that he had "resembled My
father as he slept," and she couldn't murder him.
However, we know that Macbeth really is persuaded to kill the king when he is says "I am
settled, and bend up Each corporal agent to this terrible feat." He then gives Lady Macbeth
similar advice to which she had given him: "false face must hide what the false heart doth know."
Leading up to the murder, Macbeth is walking around the castle, waiting for his call from his
wife that the guards have been drugged, and the king is ready for his murdering. He sees and
talks to Banquo, as would a friend, though I think he has an ulterior motive in that he fears
Banquo knows too much. He says to Banquo that he would like to "spend it in some words
upon that business," meaning the business of the witches. He also informs Banquo that if he
follows Macbeth's advice, "it shall make an honour" for him. Banquo answers with a very noble
and honourable speech, saying, "So I lose none [honour] in seeking to augment it, but still keep
My bosom franchised, and allegiance clear, I shall be counselled," This is the kind of thing that
the Macbeth described by the Captain should have said. I believe that if this righteous sermon
delivered by Banquo is not enough to force Macbeth into aborting his mission, if this does not
appeal to his "good" side, then nothing will; he is wholly convinced that he must kill the king.
Macbeth's soliloquy ensuing this moment does show his inner struggle of his "heart opressèd
brain" though it seems now that Macbeth will carry out the crime regardless.
Banquo is portrayed very favourably in the play. He was in fact a fabrication, and was created
by a Scottish historian to validate the Stuarts heritage. Also, the witches prediction that
Banquo's children shall be Kings would have pleased King James, a Stuart, who claimed to be
a direct descendant Banquo, even though he didn't actually exist.
After Banquo leaves, Macbeth starts arguably what is the most famous soliloquy "Is this a
dagger I see before me" in the entire play. From this point on, Macbeth starts to mentally
disintegrate, imaging, seeing and hearing things. The dagger represents what he is about to do,
and his unwillingness to do it. He says that the dagger is a "false creation, Proceeding from the
heart-oppressèd brain" which is showing that he cannot think or concentrate fully. He then sees
blood on the knife, and realizes "It is the bloody business," which is making him imagine things.
He then personifies murder, or indeed himself, as a skeleton. The rest of the soliloquy has a
semantic field dealing with darkness and evil, such as "Nature seems dead…wicked dreams
abuse…curtained sleep; witchcraft celebrates… Hecate…withered Murder… wolf… howl's…
Tarquin's ravishing strides…like a ghost," and he realizes that the murder of the king will put him
in the same category as all this wickedness and malevolence. These words in the semantic field
will also give the audience a sense of the evil that is about to come, and the words charge the
atmosphere of the audience, who can feel something terrible is coming very soon; Nevertheless,
the "bell rings" for the cue of the murder and Macbeth goes off to finally do the dastardly deed.
After Macbeth has murdered the king, he returns to his chamber where Lady Macbeth awaits.
Shakespeare builds the tension, and shows the paranoia that the two are now going through.
They are frightened by every noise and shudder at every shadow, as we can see by the total
splitting of the iambic pentameter, which shows the panic between them, and it is very fast
flowing:
Lady Macbeth
I heard the owl scream, and the crickets cry.
Did you not speak?
Macbeth
When?
Lady Macbeth
Now
Macbeth As I descended?
Lady Macbeth
Ay.
As you can see, there is almost no gap in between the words of the actors, which creates an
atmosphere of hurried and frenzied paranoia.
It is Lady Macbeth who regains her composure the quickest. Macbeth never does regain his
composure, and starts to lose control of his mind; his immediate response to killing Macbeth is
losing his common sense and his ability to think straight. Macbeth, the brutal killer who can cut a
man from the nave to the chaps, looks at his hand and says, "this is a sorry sight" because they
are bloody. Returning to his chamber, he thinks that he heard the sons of the king, Fleance and
Donalbain, wake up, say their prayers and go to sleep again. When Macbeth heard them say
"Amen," he himself could not pronounce the blessing "Amen" to them. This would give
Shakespeare's audience the perception that Macbeth has joined the side of the devil, and that
he can no longer worship God; once again, this ties in with the theme of the Divine Right of
Kings. A modern day audience may consider that in fact it is Macbeth's own perception of
himself as evil that forbids him from worshipping God.
On the return journey, Macbeth also hears a voice cry, "Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder
sleep." This means that Macbeth murdered a sleeping King, but more ingeniously, Macbeth
murders the innocent. He will never be able to sleep again in the rest of the play, if he does, he
will feel better in the morning. Macbeth says that sleep is the "Balm of hurt minds." His
conscience eats at him; the thought of killing the king plays on his mind, and stops him from
getting the bliss that sleep offers. Later on in the play, Shakespeare uses an owl as a metaphor
for Macbeth; "A falcon…by a mousing owl hawked at, and killed," as a falcon is a royal bird.
Similarities between Macbeth and an owl are that they both hunt the innocent in the night and
that they both do not sleep. The reason why Shakespeare uses this metaphor is once again to
try and draw all sympathy away from Macbeth, as the king would not have liked him. In
Shakespeare's time, owls were associated with witching and darkness, so the audience would
despise Macbeth in theory; yet I still think pity would have been present in practice.
Macbeth returns to the chamber with his hands smothered in blood. Lady Macbeth orders him
to, "wash this filthy witness from your hand," but Macbeth retorts "Will all great Neptune's
ocean wash this blood Clean from my hand?" and he says that the blood on his hands will stain
all of the seas, "Making the green one red." Only after killing the king does he realize what he
has done. Still, Lady Macbeth bears no guilt and says, "A little water clears us of the deed." As
a director, I would force the actor playing Macbeth to show that he is become insane, and all
the lines are to be said in a frenzied fashion, with Lady Macbeth trying to calm him; especially
the lines when he talks about hearing voices. Also, when it becomes apparent that Macbeth has
brought the daggers back with him and he did not smother the guards in blood as was planned,
I would like the actor to be too preoccupied with madness to really care about these details.
Macbeth says, "I'm afraid to think what I have done," which shows that his courage and
manliness that Lady Macbeth used to get him to murder the king leaves him, and he is left a
nervous wreck. Interestingly, Macbeth attacks the courage and questions the manhood of the
people who he bribes to kill his foes; in much the same way did Lady Macbeth to him. Lady
Macbeth keeps her calm, returns to the guard to "make it seem their guilt," and then comes
back to the chamber. She remarks to Macbeth "My hands are of your colour, but I shame To
wear a heart so white," which shows that in a sense, Lady Macbeth is more of a man than
Macbeth, whose "constancy hath left [him] unattended." She tells Macbeth to "Get on your
night-gown…And show us to be watchers." Macbeth we know cannot get to sleep, and soon it
is time to meet the new day; the shock of a deceased monarch, he knows, will fall upon
everyone.
When the household arises from their sleep, he equivocates on several occasions. When he is
asked, "Is the king stirring" by Macduff, he says "Not yet." Another interesting occasion is when
Lenox enquires, "Goes the king hence today?" to which Macbeth replies "He does: - he did
appoint so," which shows the audience that Macbeth corrects himself guiltily. Obviously he has
to lie, but on this last occasion there was no need to rectify himself; he still feels guilty about the
murder of the king. When the news of the murder actually does break out, there is a hysteria
running through the castle. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth act very distressed, though the audience
will feel that Macbeth is the only one of the two who is not putting on a two-faced show.
Macbeth, in this madness, kills the guards who were to be accused of killing the king. This isn't
a very smart move, as Macbeth had no reason for doing so, and therefore he becomes
suspicious under the eyes of the others. He tries to redeem himself by saying that he had done it
in a fit of emotion, and he is very poetic when he describes Duncan "silver skin laced with his
golden blood;" and this might indicate that he really did love Duncan. Furthermore, to draw
attention away from Macbeth and any suspicions that arise, Lady Macbeth faints, and the
limelight moves wholly away from Macbeth until he is crowned King of Scotland. However, I
think that the audience will believe that Lady Macbeth is faking the faint in order to move the
attention away from her husband, rather than fainting after realizing what a terrible thing that she
had done.
So we can see the migration of the brave Macbeth in this story to the nervous wreck that he is
by the end. Macbeth is a man of conscience and a man of imagination. He knew that if he was
to kill the king he would have to receive some kind of punishment, though he went ahead with it
anyway. It is the flaw in his character: his ambition, that let him carry out his deed. Although
everyone has ambition, he could not control his; his ambition and love for the throne had blinded
him to such an extent that he was willing to take the risk. He does say that he has "no spur To
prick the sides of my intent, but only Vaulting ambition," so he admits to himself that he will not
kill the king out of his own accord; he needs someone there to persuade him. This someone to
persuade him is Lady Macbeth, but also the witches: it is as if that Macbeth's ambition is a
chemical reaction on the verge of taking place, but Lady Macbeth and the Witches are the
catalysts. Lady Macbeth recognizes this as she says to Macbeth "art not without ambition," and
understands her role as the vehicle of his ambition when she says "Hie thee hither, That I may
pour my spirits in thine ear." Unlike Macbeth however, she does not speculate about the
consequences of her actions, nor does she seem to take into regard any pain that her selfish acts
may create. She certainly is an intelligent woman, as we can see from her manipulation
techniques that she used on Macbeth, and I think that her ambition blinded her own mind, much
in the same way as her husbands did. Lady Macbeth's plan was a clumsy one, and I think that it
was the frenzy of the relationship between her and her husband that left both of their thoughts
slightly disillusioned.
Scholars always argue that it was the fault of Lady Macbeth that Macbeth was persuaded to kill
the king. It was her constant questioning and perseverance that brought his downfall. We have
seen the two sides of Macbeth in his soliloquies, and it is true to say that when unpolluted with
Lady Macbeth's wilfulness, he talks himself out of the murder. However, I feel that they were
both at fault; Macbeth fantasized over the murders of Duncan and possibly Malcolm before
Lady Macbeth even joins the queue of conspirators; Macbeth needed to be on the edge before
Lady Macbeth could push him.