What reaction does Macbeth's letter produce on Lady Macbeth and how does she assure him that she would take charge of the business? What do you learn about the character of Lady Macbeth from her conversation with Macbeth?
In the literature Macbeth, Macbeth was tempted by the prophecies prophesied by the witches. If Macbeth were never to tell his wife of these prophecies nothing would have happened. However he did tell his wife of this incident in a form of a letter, beginning with the sentence 'my dearest partner of greatness' to show his amount of trust in his wife, Lady Macbeth. Even though Macbeth describe the prophecies as 'the perfectest report' he had no intention to go forward with achieving it. In truth only one person is responsible for the entire corruption of Macbeth's mind, his wife.
Lady Macbeth immediately understands the full implication of her husband's letter and her response is direct and uncompromising: her husband must be what he has been promised. No niceties of conscience or loyalty seem to assail her, and it is noticeable how she overwhelms her husband when he appears greeting him with 'Great Glamis! Worthy Cawdor! Greater than both, by the all-hail hereafter'. It is also interesting to reflect how she instantly taps into the spirit world, and she literally does invoke spirits to possess her body, 'Come, you spirits'. After hearing the news of the king will be staying overnight, she exults and invokes demonic spirits to harden her own resolve and the destroy any weakness of pity. The point about her 'unsex'ing and her 'woman's breasts' no longer being used for milk but murder, bares a curious parallel with the ambiguous sexuality of the witches themselves. It is as if, at this level of evil, one abandons being either male or female - one is a neutral, 'it'. She goes to the extreme to make sure that the deed is done, as the only failure she wants to escape would come in the form of fear.
In the literature Macbeth, Macbeth was tempted by the prophecies prophesied by the witches. If Macbeth were never to tell his wife of these prophecies nothing would have happened. However he did tell his wife of this incident in a form of a letter, beginning with the sentence 'my dearest partner of greatness' to show his amount of trust in his wife, Lady Macbeth. Even though Macbeth describe the prophecies as 'the perfectest report' he had no intention to go forward with achieving it. In truth only one person is responsible for the entire corruption of Macbeth's mind, his wife.
Lady Macbeth immediately understands the full implication of her husband's letter and her response is direct and uncompromising: her husband must be what he has been promised. No niceties of conscience or loyalty seem to assail her, and it is noticeable how she overwhelms her husband when he appears greeting him with 'Great Glamis! Worthy Cawdor! Greater than both, by the all-hail hereafter'. It is also interesting to reflect how she instantly taps into the spirit world, and she literally does invoke spirits to possess her body, 'Come, you spirits'. After hearing the news of the king will be staying overnight, she exults and invokes demonic spirits to harden her own resolve and the destroy any weakness of pity. The point about her 'unsex'ing and her 'woman's breasts' no longer being used for milk but murder, bares a curious parallel with the ambiguous sexuality of the witches themselves. It is as if, at this level of evil, one abandons being either male or female - one is a neutral, 'it'. She goes to the extreme to make sure that the deed is done, as the only failure she wants to escape would come in the form of fear.
