Trace development in the character of Lady Macbeth. How does the relationship with Macbeth change during the play?

Zahra Hassan

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Macbeth Essay

Question: Trace development in the character of Lady Macbeth. How does the relationship with Macbeth change during the play?

In Act 1 Scene 5 Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are very close he addresses her in the letter as, ‘my dearest partner of greatness’ Lady Macbeth is keen to see Macbeth to discuss the murder with him, but fears he is, ‘too full of’ the milk of human kindness’. This proves how well she understands her husband. She respects him by calling him, ‘Great Glamis! Worthy Cawdor!’ Macbeth was perhaps thinking about murder when he wrote the letter, because if he did not think the witches’ prophecies would account to anything he would not have consulted Lady Macbeth, he also did not want her to, ‘lose the dues of rejoicing' which shows they share everything together, including their ambitions hopes and dreams. Macbeth also shows a great deal of trust towards his wife as a letter that implies plotting the death of a king, would result in treason which is punishable by death, this shows Macbeth would trust Lady Macbeth with his life.

Macbeth is introduced as a worthy noble gallant soldier, rewarded for fighting bravely on the King’s behalf, whilst Lady Macbeth in her soliloquy asks for evil spirits to, ‘unsex’ her and fill her, ‘top-full of direst cruelty’. Shakespeare also shows her harshness by the use of language where he uses alliteration and sibilance in, ‘murd’ring ministers, wherever in your sightless substances’ and imagery in phrases such as, ‘thick night’ and, ‘dunnest smoke of hell’ to show the severity of her desire to kill Duncan without remorse.

Shakespeare’s vivid use of imagery in Act 1 Scene 7 gives the audience a first clear insight into the mind of Macbeth with his views about the murder of Duncan, as we share his thoughts, troubles and fears in his first opening soliloquy. Macbeth worries about the consequences of Duncan’s death. Religion and the consequences of sin were very important in Shakespeare’s time, he speaks about the natural order of life on heaven and earth being ruined he uses alliteration in, ‘trumpet- tongued against the deep damnation of his taking off.

And pity like a naked newborn babe’ to emphasise the imagery of anarchy in the heavens, he also uses the simile because there is nothing more pure, innocent and helpless than a, ‘naked newborn babe’ and is therefore effective in convincing himself and the audience that murdering Duncan is wrong. The language in this soliloquy is very much emphasised by the religious references, and would have had a great impact on the audience of that time. However, when he tells Lady Macbeth that he will, ‘proceed no further in this business’, he uses practical reasons such as, ‘He hath honoured me of late, and I have brought Golden opinions from all sorts of people,’ Macbeth does this because if he tells Lady Macbeth what he was thinking in his soliloquy, then he perhaps knows and is afraid that she may laugh at him, as Lady Macbeth is the more realistic of the two, she will criticise him for letting his spiritual feelings come between him and the crown.

Lady Macbeth uses different methods of persuading her husband to kill Duncan. Firstly Lady Macbeth says he cannot love her where she says, ‘From this time, Such I account thy love.’ This may have affected Macbeth a great deal, because their relationship is based on a very strong love, and he would not have liked it to be questioned. She then taunts Macbeth's masculinity, calling him a, ‘coward’ and says he has already promised that he would do it, ‘What beast was’t then That made you break this enterprise to me?’. Then Lady Macbeth uses terrible, violent imagery ...

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Lady Macbeth uses different methods of persuading her husband to kill Duncan. Firstly Lady Macbeth says he cannot love her where she says, ‘From this time, Such I account thy love.’ This may have affected Macbeth a great deal, because their relationship is based on a very strong love, and he would not have liked it to be questioned. She then taunts Macbeth's masculinity, calling him a, ‘coward’ and says he has already promised that he would do it, ‘What beast was’t then That made you break this enterprise to me?’. Then Lady Macbeth uses terrible, violent imagery to shock the audience and Macbeth, she says if she had sworn to do something as Macbeth had to this, then she would have, ‘dashed the brains out’ of he baby rather than go back on her word. Here Lady Macbeth is in juxtaposition with the innocent, ‘smiling’ baby, this creates a contrast and a sharp change in imagery, emphasising the wickedness of what she is saying. Macbeth has a practical, cunning and loving wife, perhaps only appearing mean because she wishes for her husband to get what he deserves, the crown. Lady Macbeth views Macbeth as brave and fearless, yet he changes his mind about killing the King, she may see this as a weakness in him. She realises that Macbeth's doubt needs to be overcome quickly and this needs extreme measures. If they delay one night, the chance is gone. Lady Macbeth has the ability to control her husband, she knows how to provoke a reaction in him, and attack his weak spots successfully. In the last line of the act Macbeth says, ‘false face must hide what the false heart doth know.’ This is a statement similar to Lady Macbeth’s, ‘look like the innocent flower, But be the serpent under’t’, this shows that Macbeth has been persuaded into following Lady Macbeth’s deceiving and cunning attitude.

During the murder scene, In Act 2 Scene 2, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are working closely together as a team Macbeth shows his anxiety in his monosyllabic answers to Lady Macbeth, ‘I have done the deed’. It could be said that this is not purely Lady Macbeth, because she admits to drinking something to make her character more, ‘bold’. She loses respect for Macbeth and calls him, ‘infirm of purpose!’ because he carries back the daggers covered in blood, and fears to return them; she supports him by returning them for him. Lady Macbeth is being brave and practical, and tells him, ‘go get some water and wash this filthy witness from your hand.’ When Duncan’s murder is committed, the audience hears ‘the owl scream and the crickets cry’ and know that nature’s cycle of order collapses consequentially. A supernatural atmosphere is brought back from the scenes with the witches, and tension builds, as the audience wait to see if the Macbeths are caught. Lady Macbeth knows that, ‘These deeds must not be thought…so it will make us mad.’ The irony here is that Lady Macbeth’s thoughts are filled with the murder and it eventually forces here to become insane. Macbeth hears voices saying that he will, ‘sleep no more’.

When more murders are committed, Macbeth starts to hide things from his wife, he orders the death of Banquo, his best friend, without telling her, this marks the point of deterioration in their relationship, their trust and loyalty has gone. It seems as if Macbeth would do anything to keep the crown, including becoming a greed driven, secluded, person. When Lady Macbeth asks her husband, ‘Why do you keep alone?’ she seems concerned for her husband as his guilt is making him withdrawn, another interpretation could be that Lady Macbeth may also be feeling isolated, and wishes to be in control of their relationship again. Macbeth’s response to her inquiries is, ‘Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck’, this shows Macbeth being more assertive, taking charge and comforting her, although acting alone puts extra pressure on him and on their relationship. This is in contrast to their previous roles where Macbeth depended on Lady Macbeth for almost everything.

The banquet scene is the Macbeth’s first ever appearance as a royal couple it is part of traditional regal life, it is crucial they appear as a loving couple and Macbeth as a good host and a powerful King, before the banquet Macbeth had ordered the death of his best friend, killed a respected King and had not been sleeping for days. When Macbeth hears the news of Fleance’s escape it throws him into a state of panic, he feels, ‘cabined, cribbed, confined, bound in To saucy doubts and fears’. Then when Macbeth returns to the table to take his seat the ghost of Banquo, appears to haunt him, perhaps this was a supernatural occurrence, when the ghost arrived, or it may have been Macbeth’s mind conjuring him up, where his guilt and worries take a form which he can fight like the soldier he is, the vision may also be due a lack of sleep for days. Macbeth’s first reaction to the ghost is fear he cannot understand how, ‘That when the brains were out, the man would die, And there an end; but now, they rise again,’ Lady Macbeth jumps to his defence again and says, ‘keep seat…he will be well again’ she questions his manhood as she did before saying, ‘are you a man’ this time it does not have the same affect on Macbeth as he answers back, ‘Ay, and a bold one,’. The banquet represented the state of the kingdom, Lady Macbeth and Macbeth’s relationship and Macbeth as a good King, it is therefore ironic that the feast ended with the guests departing after Lady Macbeth told them to, ‘go at once’. The banquet in Lady Macbeth’s eyes was a complete disaster, as Macbeth had, ‘displaced the mirth, broke the good meeting, With most admired disorder’. When Lady Macbeth and Macbeth are left alone Macbeth tells her that he will see the weird sisters again, at this point, he puts his faith in the supernatural and his marriage is no longer the source of his strength.

In Act 5 scene 1 of the play, the audience witness Lady Macbeth’s very moving sleepwalking incidents. Here it is very easy to feel pathos for Lady Macbeth, as she enters the room carrying light, a candle, which represents innocence, she is unable to submerge the guilt, which surfaces in her unconscious, Lady Macbeth is so distressed it is hard for the audience to see her as a wholly evil character. She always instinctively saw herself as part of a couple, Macbeth has gradually broken away from her, leaving her completely isolated in her chamber, she desperately desires their former closeness, she has no one to confide in as only her and Macbeth shared the secret which drove her insane, this is reflected in her sleepwalking as a troubled mind cannot sleep. Lady Macbeth also seems horrified by Macbeth’s continues killing, she says, ‘The Thane of Fife had a wife; where is she now?’ this is a child like rhyme, which also brings out her innocence, she seems devastated by the slaughter of Lady Macduff and her children. When Macbeth hears of his partner’s death, he seems suddenly fatigued, he says ‘She should have died hereafter’, His reaction is strange - very quiet, subdued and thoughtful, he perhaps knows he will die soon also.

The one major change that does happen in their relationship is the reversal of roles. It is clear that Lady Macbeth takes the lead at the beginning, and this comes through again in the banquet scene. However, she becomes increasingly ineffective as the madness starts to take hold, and after the death of Duncan, Macbeth takes the lead in the murders, which follow. Lady Macbeth possibly only pushed Macbeth into the murder, because it was the only way she knew how to support her husband, as women had very little roles in life, she only wanted him to achieve what he deserved and wanted, she also wanted to share his success, and be a part of it.

Macbeth’s character degenerates at the same pace as his relationship to Lady Macbeth, perhaps because his character is linked to and depends on their relationship as Lady Macbeth makes up a part of him, which is why when Lady Macbeth dies, a part of Macbeth dies with her. Macbeth somewhat unwillingly kills Duncan for personal gain; then he has to kill Banquo, his closest friend, to maintain that position, showing how important kingship has become to him. By the time he faces Macduff he is a very desperate and dangerous man, quite different from the character we thought we knew at the beginning. Macduff is his bringer of destiny, as he takes revenge for his wife and children’s murders and kills Macbeth. There can be no doubt that their love remains strong throughout the entire play, perhaps it could be said the love between the two was so strong Lady Macbeth's breakdown is caused by her concern for her husband, and his personality collapse than any regrets about the murder. When she dies he is totally alone and that is when he meets his final tragedy. Macbeth feels sure he will never attain peace - either in this world or in the next, for he has murdered, now his sleep will be forever disturbed.