To what extent do you believe Lady Macbeth is responsible for the tragedy of Macbeth? How might the direction of the play impact upon this?

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James Crowe

English

G.C.S.E. Coursework

Macbeth

To what extent do you believe Lady Macbeth is responsible for the tragedy of Macbeth? How might the direction of the play impact upon this?

The question of the essay, to what extent do I believe Lady Macbeth is responsible for the tragedy of Macbeth, makes it clear that she is the object which we study. However it is about the play of Macbeth, so therefore Macbeth himself must also be largely looked at. To answer this question, I first intend to outline how this will be looked at and then study the extent to which she is responsible. Also the question of the direction of the plays impact upon this I will look at to see how it affects the extent to which Lady Macbeth is seen to be responsible. However this I believe is less important than the first question raised, and it relies upon the first question so I will spend less time looking at it than the main point. Finally I intend to show that Lady Macbeth is responsible for the tragedy of Macbeth, but not to a large extent.

A tragedy is when an essentially good person brings about their own downfall by their flaws. Macbeth has a few major flaws which I will discuss in more detail later, such as the ease with which the witches and his wife, an interesting comparison, manipulate him. His vaulting ambition and his jealousy of Banquo’s foretold future success, and by the end of the play the ease he finds in ordering people’s death, all of these are major flaws. As Hecate tells us, he is a ‘wayward son’ Act 3 Scene 5 Line 11. So, by definition Lady Macbeth can’t be responsible to a large extent because its all his flaws that bring about his downfall, and eventually his death. Therefore he is responsible. However this is a very interesting and intriguing play where the tragedy is obviously brought about not just by Macbeth. It involves lots of other characters, it involves fate and the supernatural, and it is clear they have an effect on Macbeth (the circumstances help bring about the tragedy). From the question there are really 3 main answers to the question. Either she is very responsible, a little responsible or not at all responsible. I will now cover these three ideas in detail.

        There are many reasons to say that Lady Macbeth is very responsible, for example she manipulates him, she frames the servants, she encourages Macbeth and she even plans the murder of Duncan. She calls upon the supernatural, and also she seems to care about nothing but herself and she’s always looking out for herself. Her relationship with Macbeth seems to fall apart, and in a way this is part of the tragedy, that it rips their marriage to pieces.

        Firstly, she manipulates him. She plays with his ego and challenges his manhood. This is one of the big questions in the play, ‘what is being a man?’ She has a very unique view on what a man is, and she uses this to great extent in testing what he is willing to do by trying to force her views of a man on him, ‘When you durst do it, then you are a man;’ -Act 1 Scene 7 Line 49. She says you are a man when you commit the crime. In fact she is almost forcing him to do it at points, as when he doubts and is about to back out she reinforces what he must do, encourages him and pushes him onwards. She tells him off when he thinks about not doing it, and she also manipulates him by testing his love. At the start if the play in a letter to her he says ‘my dearest partner of greatness,’ –Act 1 Scene 5 Line 10. Therefore we can assume they have a high co-dependence and communicate well at that point. Obviously not a bad relationship. Later on she uses this to her advantage when again he is thinking about not doing it, as she says ‘Art thou afeard / to be the same in thine own act and valour / as thou art in desire?’ –Act 1 Scene 7 Lines 39-41. So we see she is asking if his love is as feeble as his courage. Would he do it for her? In the speech that contains the quote she is saying he is fickle and cowardly. A big test if he truly loves her, and as we see after her challenges and encouragement he does indeed murder Duncan.

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There are many other reasons that point towards Lady Macbeth’s responsibility for the tragedy of Macbeth. She finishes Macbeth’s deed by framing the servants, making her an accomplice. She in fact plans Duncan’s murder and sets everything up. She acts evilly, calling on the supernatural and ignoring morality. She also says ‘Had he not resembled / my father as he slept, I had done’t.’ –Act 2 Scene 2 Lines 13-14. So we see, although she has some feelings, she does admit that if Duncan didn’t resemble her father she would have done the murder herself. This seems to be a hint ...

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