As the play develops Macbeth becomes more and more corrupt and his crimes and malice increase. He orders the killing of Banquo, he believes that he has not done enough to secure his place on the throne ‘We have scorched the snake, not killed it.’ During the dinner Macbeth is haunted by the ghost of Banquo and the lords at the table begin to think Macbeth is going mad ‘I have a strange infirmity which is nothing To those that know me.’ This is not a good impression to give to the guests as he has just been crowned King. Also in Act 4 Scene2, Macbeth orders the murder of Macduff’s family because Macduff had fled the country and his family was a good way to get back at him.
Macbeth is fooled by the equivocations of the apparitions in Act4 Scene1, He believes that he is invincible at this point ‘That will never be:’. By this point Macbeth is completely trusting of the witches and easily duped. You see Macbeth as being selfish and arrogant to the extremes in this scene ‘Even till destruction sicken: answer me’. Macbeths downfall becomes inevitable from this point on, once Lady Macbeth dies he feels there is no point in retaining kingship and will never be happy again ‘She should have died hereafter; There would have been a time for such a word.’
Shakespeare portrays Lady Macbeth as a powerful character however she is still vulnerable and this is why I find her very interesting. In Act1 Scene5, once she reads the letter from Macbeth she is prepared to sacrifice herself to evil spirits ‘Come you spirit That tend on mortal thoughts! Unsex me here,’. She adds strength to Macbeth’s doubts and uncertainties. Once she finds out that Duncan will be staying the night with them she immediately plans the murder. This tells us that Lady Macbeth has only one goal in mind, to obtain the title of King and Queen for her husband and herself. This proves her to be very determined and that she will stop at nothing to get what she wants.
In Act2 Scene2 Lady Macbeth seizes control of the situation by taunting and making Macbeth feel inadequate as a man ‘Art thou afeared to be the same in thine own act and valour as thou art in desire?’ Also, once Macbeth has committed the murder of Duncan and the guards she takes the daggers because Macbeth has been sloppy. ‘Infirm of purpose! Give me the daggers.’ This tells us that Lady Macbeth wants to take control of the situation and she is angry at her husband for ruining their chance to become King and Queen.
Lady Macbeth defends her husband in Act2 Scene3 and tries to act as if they had no involvement ‘What, in our house?’ Because of this, you can tell that Lady Macbeth is very loyal to the character Macbeth. However, by Act3 Scenes 1 and 2 their relationship has deteriorated rapidly, Lady Macbeth becomes filled with guilt and goes mad. Shakespeare presents their relationship as a role reversal, before, it was Lady Macbeth that had all the dominance in their relationship, now, it is Macbeth that is the dominant one. Macbeth completely disassociates himself with Lady Macbeth, not involving her in any of his plans ‘Be innocent of knowledge, dearest chuck, Till thou applaud the deed.’
By Act 5 Scene 1 I found that Lady Macbeth is a very intriguing character and has turned into a broken character, she is filled with guilt. She never realized how bad the consequences of the murder of Duncan would be, she is haunted by Duncan’s blood ‘Out, damned spot! out, I say!...What! will these hands ne'er be clean?' Lady Macbeth has gone mad and replays the murder back to herself in her mind. Even though Macbeth performed the murders she still believes it was down to her ‘The Thane of Fife had a wife: where is she now?’ However, she is still mortified by Macbeth’s need to kill more people. From this, you can tell that Lady Macbeth is very guilty and shocked by her husband’s attitude and she shows herself to be more compassionate and deeper than she lets Macbeth and the audience believe earlier in the play.
I think that I prefer both characters equally as much. Shakespeare makes both characters easy to relate to and he makes the two characters, Lady Macbeth and Macbeth, reliant on each other. Without one of these characters I don’t think that the other would be that interesting. Shakespeare engages the reader to like both characters by making them nearly as horrible as each other; he makes both characters antagonists that you love to hate. Shakespeare makes both characters go through extreme changes in only a short space of time and shows us, the audience, how power corrupts.
