In this scene Lady Macbeth uses a lot of rhetorical questions because she wants her husband to think and change her mind. At this point the audience in Shakespeare’s time might think that Lady Macbeth is an evil woman because at that time women were known as faithful, trustworthy and they did not have power to control their husbands whereas Lady Macbeth is commanding and giving her husband orders which might seem to the audience that she is an evil character.
In addition Lady Macbeth does not want to have any compassion because of the metaphor she uses, “dashed the brain out, had I so sworn.” This suggest that Lady Macbeth would rather kill her own child then break promise she made, which indicates that she is more evil than she seems. Moreover, Lady Macbeth is heartless because normally women tend to have more compassion and be more caring to their child. At this point the language Lady Macbeth uses shows that she is evil because she is supposed to be kind like a normal mother. Also this could make the shock the audience because she supposed to be a loyal wife to her husband and that was what the majority of people in Shakespeare’s time expected from women. This is a turning point in the play because if Lady Macbeth had not convinced her husband to do the murder we would not have the play Shakespeare intended and it would end happily.
In act 2 scene 2 Lady Macbeth seems more practical and less frightened than her husband because of what she said, “Go get some water and wash this filthy witness from your hand.” This illustrates that Lady Macbeth is not frightened of what she did. She is more practical because as soon as they kill the king she is thinking about what to do. Also she wants to hide everything so there is no evidence, whereas Macbeth is terrified and regretted what he did. Additionally, this line when Lady Macbeth says a foolish thought shows that she is selfish. “A foolish thought, to say a sorry sight.” This quote shows that Lady Macbeth is physically powerful and free from worry and regret. She tells her husband that it is a silly consideration to think about what might happen. Furthermore, I think Lady Macbeth is heartless because she doesn’t want to think about what happened and she isn’t showing any sympathy which gives the impression that Lady Macbeth is more evil than her husband.
In the Banquet scene Lady Macbeth covers for her husband. “Sit, worthy friends. My lord is often thus,” This implies that Lady Macbeth cares about her husband and she attempts to calm him. The quote also shows that Lady Macbeth is intelligent because she is trying to cover for her husband by making an excuse that he had childhood mental illness. She is preventing people find out that Macbeth was the murdered as she would lose the title of being queen as well as her honour. Moreover, Lady Macbeth is acting cleverly but she is deceptive because she lied before and she is lying now which shows how evil Lady Macbeth can be. “Are you a man?” This demonstrates that she is questioning Macbeth about his manhood instead of comforting him. In addition I think the audience might think that Lady Macbeth is an excellent woman because she covers for her husband and she shows some concern about his problem I also think that Lady Macbeth wants the audience to think that she is a faithful wife and that is why she covers for her husband. At this point the audience’s view towards Lady Macbeth might change to positive because she shows some concern about her husband and tries to help him.
In the sleepwalking scene, Lady Macbeth loses her control and becomes weak. “Here’s the smell of the blood still.” This conveys that Lady Macbeth is powerless and confused because although the murder was done a long time ago, she can smell the blood on her hands which isn’t there. I believe that Lady Macbeth is still an evil character despite what she is going through. Also Lady Macbeth planned everything carefully in this scene she becomes unstable because this is human nature. When someone commits an evil act and they don’t want to feel guilty but they can’t help what they already did they experience some fear and regret. Despite the fact they didn’t want all of this to happen. I feel that this is what Lady Macbeth is experiencing in this scene. Lady Macbeth is still an evil character. “What’s done? Cannot be undone.” This indicates that Lady Macbeth is expressing her feelings by saying whatever happen which shows that she wants to escape from the past but emotionally she can not help herself. The Polanski adaptation of Lady Macbeth sleepwalking is presented very clearly. It shows that Lady Macbeth gets up from her bed while she is naked and starts to talk to herself while she is unaware of the doctor and the gentlewomen. This also suggests that Lady Macbeth is not as strong as she was at the beginning of the play. At this point the audience might feel sorry for her because she is showing some sign of regret.
