The scene right before the death of Lady Macbeth is a key scene, as it portrays of how the guilt, of murdering Macbeth, has broken her down mentally. By then, the relationship between her and Macbeth, had lost all meaning, and even Macbeth admits this to himself. Macbeth is quoted to have referred to Lady Macbeth as … “ your patient”…to the doctor taking care of her. During this scene she is sleepwalking, and is in a state of shock. She quotes…“What, will these hands never be clean?”…Referring to the blood, which she claims to ‘see’ on her hands. This echoes one of her earlier phrases, after the murder of Duncan… “ A little water clears us of this deed”…A clear contrast is seen between, the once commanding and composed Lady Macbeth and the now remorseful and unstable queen.
At first Lady Macbeth is a key figure in her husbands plans, and helps him greatly in the acquirement of the throne. She regularly keeps Macbeth in check, and inspires confidence within him, to make sure he carries out the ‘deed’…‘ that may I pour my spirits in thine ear ’…the plan was inspired by Lady Macbeth, who saw herself responsible over Macbeth. Lady Macbeth plays a key role in motivating him, as she has a great influence over him. He expresses her as his…‘Dearest love’…which indicates that he confides in her and their relationship is very close. On the night of Duncan’s murder, she had full control over the situation, and showed great composure in dealing with Macbeth’s sudden reluctance to carry out the murder.
The composure and quick thinking of Lady Macbeth, which I feel Macbeth lacked, secured them the throne…“ Help me hence, ho!”…She quotes, as she imitates a faint and causes a distraction away from the unstable and delirious Macbeth.
If it were not for the persistence of Lady Macbeth, Macbeth would have not been able to gain the courage to go ahead with the murder; this is why it is very surprising that she loses complete control over Macbeth, as he was once the ‘tool’ in her quest for power.
At the start of the play, Lady Macbeth was the dominant character, and she overpowered and outthought Macbeth, but as time went on Macbeth grew confidence in himself and Lady Macbeth’s position as the motivator was no longer needed. The reason for her collapse was mainly due to the fact, now she had no objectives in life all that was left was to reflect upon the crime she had committed. I would have thought that an evil enough person to quote… ‘ I would while it was smiling in my face have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums, and dashed the brains out’…would have been able to cope with this strain and support her husband to the fullest extent, but surprisingly she was unable to do so eventually collapsing completely.
However from a different point of view the death of Lady Macbeth could be seen to be inevitable and bound to occur. Lady Macbeth slowly seems to fall apart as time goes on in the play. There are several reasons for the collapse, of which were mainly illustrated in scene act five scene two, where Lady Macbeth is considered to be effected by a disease in which the doctor describes… ‘ is beyond my practice’…It is clear that Lady Macbeth has had a mental breakdown, due to the aggravating of her mind. The ‘deed’ she had committed was the obvious cause of this breakdown. Firstly, I feel that after the murder of Duncan, Macbeth slowly grew confidence within himself and began to enforce control over his own throne. He therefore didn’t need the assistance of Lady Macbeth, whose role was mainly to keep Macbeth stable and to assist him in times of panic. Inevitably the murders would eventually harden Macbeth, and he a great warrior deemed himself invincible against any threat, mainly on the reliance of the prophecy told by the witches.
I believe that if Macbeth were to continue in running the throne, he would eventually need to learn how to become more independent and self-reliant, especially in times of panic. This is exactly what occurred and after Macbeth took control of the throne, he calmly took care over the other murders that needed to be dealt with. This left Lady Macbeth completely out in the cold. This left her to ponder upon the crime she had committed, with her guilt eating away at her conscience. Her relationship with Macbeth completely broke down, as they never communicated with each other.
Macbeth had always relied on the support of Lady Macbeth, who in times of distress had urged him along the way. But when Lady Macbeth was left to ponder on her thoughts, she had no one to confide in. This left her insecurities to eat away at her conscience, until she felt it necessary to commit suicide.
To add to the sense of inevitability, Lady Macbeth shows signs of ‘human weaknesses’ at some stages in the play. In the scene of the murder of Duncan, Lady Macbeth quotes… “Had he (Duncan) not resembled my father as he slept, I had done’t”…this reminding us of the fact that Lady Macbeth was born of a Father and a Mother, and that she still felt love for them. Another point of her ‘human weaknesses’ refers to her fear of blood, as in her sleepwalking scene she uses hyperbolic imagery to describe the ‘blood’ on her hands…“ here’s the smell of blood; all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand”…this resonates a quote from Macbeth, who also used hyperbolic imagery to describe the blood on his hands…“Will all great neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?” … All of these aspects of Lady Macbeth expose a side of her personality, which she tries to hide, even from her husband.
In conclusion, I believe it would be difficult to judge whether the breakdown of Lady Macbeth is surprising or not surprising, as there are an equal number of points, which in turn give a different aspect of either opinion. In summary I believe that the composure of Lady Macbeth at the beginning of the play and the great collapse she suffered, gave the play an unexpected twist, but there were also clear signs of Lady Macbeth not fully revealing her true feelings about the ‘deed’ which she committed, which could be said to be the cause of her self destruction.
