Macbeth is the sole starter of the plot, he realises that it may be a long time until the King would die and this poisons his brain as to thinking that if he murdered the king this could speed up the whole process. He has the intentions but does not believe he could carry them out, ‘I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition, which o’er-leaps itself and falls on the other. He likens it to a horse that tries to jump over a fence which is too high and falls over the other side, meaning that he has the intentions but he isn’t sure whether he can act them out.
Lady Macbeth has no doubt that has the necessary strength to commit the treason as she says ‘I would, while it [baby] was smiling in my face, have plucked my nipple from its boneless gum, and dash’d the brains out….’ This shows that if she promised to kill her own baby she would do it, so Macbeth can not have second doubts about killing the King.
Macbeth starts to think that maybe it is a bad idea, as he is Duncan’s loyal subject and it would be wrong to murder him ‘Commends th’ingredience of our poisoned chalice. To our own lips. He’s here in double trust’ this shows that he is not sure about killing the King, he says that the king is there believing that only good will come of their meeting. Macbeth also thinks about how it would be if the tables were turned and they had to drink out of their own chalice and be murdered. He also says ‘We will proceed no further in this business. He hath honoured me of late’. Macbeth says that they shall not continue any further with the plot as Duncan has put too much trust in Macbeth and presented him with his new Role. Lady Macbeth tries to turn his point of thinking around by saying ‘Art thou afeard to be the same in thine own act and valour’. Lady Macbeth asks Macbeth if he is afraid as her in her act, she persuades Macbeth to continue with the murder.
Lady Macbeth knows that she has the ability to kill King Duncan; she believes she could even do it without any pity or guilty, she also knows that she can be evil and unkind and to make it worse she is proud of all of it. I think Lady Macbeth reminds me off the devil they both have a heart of stone and are proud of it.
Although it was Macbeth’s idea to kill King Duncan and it would seem that Macbeth would be the one who would get more out of it, it was however Lady Macbeth who took over the lead role of planning everything and taking it all in her own hands. ‘Leave all the rest to me’ this shows that Lady Macbeth clearly is confident and thinks that she is capable of planning the murder and if needed to finish it off.
After Macbeth’s letter Lady Macbeth makes a speech in this speech she is worried for Macbeth as she thinks that he is too nice and would not be able to take the throne quickly enough, ‘Yet do I fear thy nature, it I too full O’th’milk of human kindness to catch the nearest way. Lady Macbeth is determined for Macbeth to become King, she also says ‘What thou wouldst highly, that wouldst thou holily; wouldst not play false, and yet wouldst wrongly win.’ Here she is saying if he was to commit treason he would get to the throne although he is cheating and after he would gain the rewards. The last part of her speech centres around how Lady Macbeth wants her husband too return quickly so that she can talk to him and get him too see her way of thinking. It’s her intention to persuade him to get rid of the obstacles that stand between him and the crown because his fate as King has been foreseen by the Witches. ‘Hie thee hither, that I may pour my spirits in thine ear and chastise with the valour of my tongue all that impedes thee from the golden round, which fate and metaphysical aid doth seem to have thee crowned withal.
In conclusion it is my opinion that the more ambitious is Lady Macbeth because she seems to be the most cunning, she plans ahead, she manipulates Macbeth in his moments of doubt and she seems devious and ruthless in her pursuit for the crown. Macbeth is the puppet and Lady Macbeth is the puppeteer, an example of this is when she persuades Macbeth to carry out the murder of King Duncan. He actually kills the King, covers up his body and plants the evidence on the King’s servants, while Lady Macbeth awaits his news. She clearly is the brains and the stronger one in the partnership and therefore is the more ambitious.
By James Robertson 9T
