Lady Macbeth calling on these evil spirits would have shocked audiences in the 1600s when Shakespeare wrote ‘Macbeth’ because people feared witchcraft and evilness then. In these times anyone found practising witchcraft was sentenced to death. Moreover, for Lady Macbeth to be plotting to kill her King would have shocked audiences, making them uneasy all the more. This was because of the Divine Right. Divine Right was that the King was seen as God’s closest human on earth. His behaviour was never questioned as people looked upon him as a religious body. Therefore, killing the King was not only viewed as a crime against the King, but as a crime against God.
When King Duncan arrives at Macbeth’s castle he gives Lady Macbeth a gift and calls her ‘our honour'd hostess’, this shows how much he loves and respects her. This can make her plan to murder him even more ruthless, but I think that it shows that Lady Macbeth was once a caring and kind hostess to Duncan and is not as fiend-like as she seems. The idea of Lady Macbeth once being an honoured hostess is also illustrated by other characters, such as Macduff:
‘O gentle Lady,
‘Tis not for you to hear what I can speak’
Lady Macbeth’s language is confident and assertive when convincing Macbeth that they should kill Duncan, making her plan seem foolproof:
‘What cannot you and I Perform upon
Th’unguarded Duncan?’
This reiterates her powerful character which was unusual for a woman in the 11th century when ‘Macbeth’ is set. In the 11th century women were seen as inferior to men, this was also the case in the 1600s when Shakespeare wrote ‘Macbeth’ so for Lady Macbeth to be so strong minded would have been regarded by audiences as remarkable.
My thoughts of Lady Macbeth being more human than portrayed, at times, is furthered when she has to drink alcohol to give her courage during the murder because I do not think that a fiend would need simulated courage to follow through on an evil deed.
‘That which hath made them drunk hath made me bold;
What hath quenched them hath given me fire.’
I think that without the artificial help Lady Macbeth takes (evil spirits and alcohol) she would not have been able to go through with the murder of King Duncan. Even with the alcohol and evil spirits upon her an owl manages to frighten Lady Macbeth, revealing her more vulnerable side. Furthermore, Lady Macbeth was unable to kill Duncan herself, even with the help of the alcohol and evil spirits, as he reminded her of her father, thus showing her more exposed and sentimental side.
‘. . . Had he not resembled
My father as he slept, I had done’t.’
After Macbeth returns to Lady Macbeth, from killing Duncan he is frightened of the blood on his hands – Lady Macbeth reproaches him for this and sets herself up as an example of courage and determination, just as she had earlier done when planning the death of Duncan.
‘My hands are of your colour, but I shame
To wear a heart so white.’
I think that this quotation can show how Lady Macbeth can be callous, but after she faints I feel that this had been a front she showed Macbeth to encourage him not to be cowardly. When she faints we can see how the murder of Duncan is truly upsetting her, especially when Macbeth vividly illustrates the king’s body:
‘His silver skin laced with his golden blood’
As a result, I think that Lady Macbeth fainting is an indicator to her feminine sensitivity. Therefore, my opinion that she is not as ruthless and as fiend-like as some might think is further supported. I believe that Lady Macbeth got carried away in trying to help her husband succeed in what he wanted, that she did not consider the extreme methods she was going to undertake or the reality of the consequences.
Further on in ‘Macbeth’ we see how Macbeth is now in control, moving on with his own plans without entrusting any of the details to Lady Macbeth, leaving her behind. It causes them to slowly grow apart, consequently leaving Lady Macbeth alone with no-one to confide in – causing guilt and distress to build up and ultimately overcome her. We first begin to see the cracks in Lady Macbeth’s mental stability in her soliloquy which illustrates her troubled mind and guilt through negative words and images:
‘’Tis safer to that we destroy
Than by destruction dwell in doubtful joy.’
In addition, we can see this when she begins sleep walking. During her sleepwalking Lady Macbeth re-enacts incidents and murders that have previously happened – obsessively rubbing her hands to clean blood of them, making ironic her earlier advice to Macbeth:
‘A little water clears us of this deed
How easy is it then!’
Her other advice to Macbeth, after Duncan’s murder, is made ironic as she herself has gone mad and had a mental breakdown.
‘These deeds must not be thought
After these ways; so, it will make us mad.’
While sleepwalking Lady Macbeth speaks in prose, illustrating how tormented her mind is with thoughts of the evil deeds that have took place from the time of Duncan’s murder, such as the killing of Macduff’s family:
‘The thane of Fife had a wife: where is she now?’
The re-running of events in her head drives Lady Macbeth to insanity, and, in the end she takes her own life – not being able to cope anymore this is obviously the only way of escaping she can think of. For me, this confirms that Lady Macbeth really regrets ever tempting Macbeth to kill Duncan and that she is deeply sorry. I think that, although she has said and done some evil things, for example - putting Duncan’s murder into motion, she is not completely fiend-like but a vulnerable and sensitive woman who tried to hide behind a pretence of courage and ruthlessness for her husband.
