The Reversal of the roles in Macbeth

macbeth

the reversal of the roles

In Act 3 Scene 2, it becomes evident to the reader that the characters of Macbeth and his Lady have changed significantly. At the beginning of the play, Lady Macbeth is presented as the cunning, dominant and manipulative wife, whose love for her husband was clouded by ambition and greed. Macbeth in the earlier scenes was presented as an easily persuaded, weak and submissive husband, juxtaposing his warrior status on the battlefield. However, as the play progresses, the roles of the couple seem to be reversed, and nothing depicts this clearer than this scene.

Firstly, through the structure of the dialogue, Shakespeare effectively conveys Macbeth as the more domineering and authoritative character. In Act 1 Scene 7, where Lady Macbeth convinces Macbeth of his ability to murder Duncan, she is the prevailing speaker in the dialogue, and Macbeth interjects with short sentences infrequently. This format is identical in Act 3 Scene 2, however it is Macbeth who leads the conversation, with Lady Macbeth making the occasional remark. This is effective because whoever is speaking on stage gets the most attention and therefore the most respect, elevating the status of one character in at particular ...

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In this Scene, Macbeth also replicates Lady Macbeths warning in Act 1 Scene 5, of the power of deception that lies in one’s face. Lady Macbeth instructs Macbeth to ‘look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under’t’. This command suggests Lady Macbeth’s cunning and deceptive nature, to portray on your face the opposite of your true intentions. Similarly, in Act 3 Scene 2, Macbeth too tells his lady that they must make ‘vizards’ to their hearts, ‘disguising what they are’, which is essentially the same message as before, embodied in a different quotation. This is effective because it shows the levels of deceitfulness have shifted from Lady Macbeth instructing Macbeth to be less like ‘an open book’ whereas in the later scenes, Macbeth seems to have the upper hand and advises Lady Macbeth to be slyer, conveying the reversal of roles effectively.

Again, Shakespeare draws another comparison to their characters through their appeals to the fiends and spirits of the night. In this scene, Macbeth appeals to ‘black Hecate’ the Greek goddess of witchcraft, emphasising his plunge into evil after murdering Duncan. Before however, Lady Macbeth appears to be affiliated with the dark arts after summoning the evil spirits to ‘unsex’ her in order to prepare her for murder. In ther later scenes however, Macbeth describes her as ‘innocent’ which is a complete contrast to her previous character.

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