Lady Macbeth - four key passages showing her character

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Year 10 Shakespeare Coursework

Examples of good writing on ‘Macbeth’

1.

In a scene in which she is onstage alone Lady Macbeth demands that ‘spirits’ remove her femininity, which she sees as her weakness and give her masculine strength to perform the task: “unsex me…and fill me…top-full of direst cruelty!”  The contrast between the images of maternity and poison when Lady Macbeth says “come to my woman’s breasts and take my milk for gall” emphasises the gravity of the transformation which Lady Macbeth desires.

2.

The presentation of the witches is interpreted differently, depending on the production – for example in Polanski’s film version, the first image is of the witches with a large staff, which could be seen as a phallic symbol and a sign of masculine power: exactly what Lady Macbeth craves.  Other similarities between Lady Macbeth and the witches emerge as she requests help from dark forces and uses sinister imagery like “the raven”, “blood”, “thick night” and “smoke of hell” which link to the supernatural power of the witches.  Her use of imperative verbs like “come” – further evidence of her masculine power and commanding nature - imitate an incantation or curse, and the hard ‘c’ at the beginning give it more forceful sound to show her wilfulness.  Lady Macbeth’s connection to the witches, especially at this time when she is requesting supernatural aid in her quest for illegitimate power, is Shakespeare’s way of giving female power evil connotations.

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3.

Having been absent for an entire act of the play – reflecting her decreasing importance to Macbeth and of her own power – Lady Macbeth makes her final appearance in Act 5.1.  In this scene she is sleepwalking and in portrayed as guilt ridden and insane.  Her gentlewoman says “she has light by her continually, ‘tis her command” showing her to be paranoid and fearful.  It adds to a growing sense of irony, for she fears the dark now, while before she called upon darkness to hide her evil deeds.  Her speech lacks focus, displaying little of its ...

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