Macbeth’s aside on page 21 is after he finds out Duncan is passing the throne down to Malcolm. Because of the witches prediction, Macbeth wants what he has been promised. In the aside Macbeth schemes to himself about how to achieve the throne for himself, he has evil ideas for Duncan and he does not wish for them to be seen from the surface: “Stars, hide your fires, Let not light see my black and deep desires”.
When Macbeth and Lady Macbeth first exchange in the play, Lady Macbeth almost immediately appears the more dominant character in the relationship. She seems to know Macbeth’s character very well and is aware of his weaknesses and what she must do to help Macbeth with his ambition. My initial opinion of Lady Macbeth is that she is quite a strong, manipulative character.
On page 33 Lady Macbeth taunts Macbeth by saying he is a coward by his own ambition, she compares him to a cat who wants the fish but is afraid of the water - “like the poor cat i’th’adage”. I think that by taunting Macbeth, Lady Macbeth wishes to gain more control over him, this makes her seem more cruel but clearly the more dominant character. She was also taunting Macbeth by saying that you must be ruthless and she gave an example of how she would kill a completely innocent baby if she had sworn to. This shows how much Lady Macbeth understands Macbeth’s character and how she has to push him to achieve his goals.
In act 2 scene 3, on the discovery of Duncan’s dead body there is much panic at Macbeth’s castle and Macbeth acts as innocent as he can to prevent suspicion. Macbeth expresses his love for the king to do so. Lady Macbeth aids her husband by fainting to draw attention away from Macbeth, this shows great teamwork and loyalty for each other.
On page 75, when Macbeth is king, you can see a change in the relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. On Line 3-4 Lady Macbeth says “Say to the king, I would attend his leisure for a few words”, which is basically showing Lady Macbeth asking to see her husband. This indicates to me that the king does not consider his wife as close or important to him as he did at the beginning of the play.
Also on page 75 Macbeth’s speech about scorching the snake demonstrates Macbeth’s fear and guilt of the murder. He explains how he thinks it would be better to be dead than to have the nightmares he shares with his wife and the regret of his murder. Lady Macbeth comforts him in this matter and tries to divert his thinking. I think this shows that there is more of a one way relationship forming here - where Lady Macbeth cares much for her husband but he is troubled with other matters and has no time to care for his wife.
Act 3 scene 4, at the banquet Macbeth has a hallucination of Banquo’s dead corpse that no one in the room can see. This highlights Macbeth’s fear and insecurity in his doings, it could be a real ghost or some kind of hallucination maybe caused by the witches. Macbeth makes a big scene out of his sighting and worries many at the banquet, this is were Lady Macbeth stands in to protect Macbeth from criticism and embarrassment. This is the last time she aids Macbeth in the play as their relationship declines further, infact this is the last time they see each other in the play.
Macbeth is worried about the future of his reign and insecure about someone finding out the truth. He goes back to the witches to learn about the future for him, they summon the apparitions to grant Macbeth’s wishes. They say that he should beware Macduff and they also say “none of woman born shall harm Macbeth”. This puts great confidence in Macbeth but also leads him to consider the murder of Macduff.
By act 5 scene one, we can see Lady Macbeth’s mental state of mind deteriorating due to the trauma of so many murders by her husband and her responsibility for Duncan’s murder. I also think this is occurring because it is as if Macbeth has pushed his wife aside to make space for what he considers more important things. The Gentlewoman in that scene explains to the doctor how Lady Macbeth is constantly washing her hands, this ritual that she performs is a metaphor for her guilt - washing Duncan’s blood off her hands.
When Macbeth discovers the death of his wife in act 5 scene 5 he does not show any sympathy or emotion towards her. The third apparition told Macbeth ‘Fear not, till Birnam Wood do come to Dunsinane’ and it was coming. So Macbeth is, however, quite annoyed with Lady Macbeth, having chosen such a bad time to die - ‘She should have died hereafter’.
Conclusion
I believe the main reason for the decline of Macbeth’s and Lady Macbeth’s relationship was the fact that Macbeth was over occupied with too many other things whilst he was king to actually care about the well being of his wife. Act 5 scene 5 is a prime example, where Macbeth is too afraid of the witches predictions coming true to care about the death of Lady Macbeth. I think Macbeth has too weak a mind to be king by such evil crimes and maintain a steady relationship at the same time. He loses his mind and his wife because of his ambition and weak mind.
