With Particular Reference to Acts I and II, Explain why Lady Macbeth would be such a Horrific Character for Shakespeare's Audience.

        Her talk of killing the king would have gone against natural order, which was the order that God was at the top and the king was next in the chain of power. This regicide would have appalled the audience and especially King James I who the play was mainly written for and deeply believed in the divine right of kings.

        When Duncan arrives at Inverness he calls Lady Macbeth an “honour’d hostess” (act 1, scene 6, line 11), which is dramatic irony as the audience knows of Lady Macbeths plans to kill Duncan but he is oblivious to this fact. After the banquet Macbeth begins to have doubts about his plans to kill Duncan because he knows that this would be the wrong thing to do and his conscience would be in turmoil. Lady Macbeth however with her ruthless ambition convinces him to do it and she says that if she made a promise and went against it she would pluck her baby from her nipple and “dash’d the brains out” (act 1, scene 7, line 57). This goes against her maternal instinct again and it also shows that the supernatural forces are listening to her and taking away her femininity. Also in this scene Lady Macbeth challenges her husband’s manhood, which would have been a great insult to any man of the time.                                 To alter favour ever is to fear". Lady Macbeth says this to Macbeth. Lady Macbeth is saying that if you change your mind, you had better watch out!                                                                               In Act 2 Scene 2 Lady Macbeth has prepared for the murder and waits for Macbeth. In the Beginning of Scene 2, she has different moods. "That which hath… made me bold". She sounds bold and courageous when she says that. The next line she says is "What hath quench them hath given me fire, Hark! Peace", she is startled from outside noise.                                                                                                    When Macbeth has returned from the murder and Lady Macbeth is worrying. Macbeth then tells his wife that he has done the deed. Lady Macbeth then shows a weaker side of herself when she gives her reason for not killing Duncan herself she says, “ had he not resembled my father as he slept” (act 2, scene 2, line 13).        Lady Macbeth later says to Macbeth " These deeds must not be thought, after these ways, so, it will make us mad. This is ironic compared to what happens to her at the end of the play when she goes mad. After she has returned the daggers to the bedroom she points out that they both have bloodstained hands by saying, "My hands are of your colour, but I shame, to wear a heart so white" (act 2, scene 2, line 67-68). She makes Macbeth feel that they are both equal to blame for the murder of Duncan. Lady Macbeth is trying to straighten out Macbeth although he is still quite fearful.              Lady Macbeth does not reappear until Act 2 Scene 3. In this scene Macduff is appalled by Duncan's death Lady Macbeth is told of Duncan's death but says "What, in our house?” She seems puzzled but not at all shocked. She does not show feelings of what a natural woman would do. The only other woman we have to compare to Lady Macbeth is Lady Macduff in act 4, scene 2. In this scene lady Macduff is talking to her son in a motherly way that one would expect from a mother unlike lady Macbeth who talks of bashing her baby’s brains out.                                                                                 In Act 5 Scene 1, we see Lady Macbeth again, but this time she has been through different moods. Lady Macbeth's waiting gentlewoman has called in a doctor to view Lady Macbeth's actions in her sleepwalking. She speaks of references concerning Duncan and Lady Macduff’s deaths. Lady Macbeth refers to her hands that seem to have specks of blood by saying, "Out damned spot, out I say!” She seems haunted by what she has done. The doctor tells the gentlewoman to call on a priest rather than a doctor and to keep a close eye on the quickly maddening Lady Macbeth. This is the last we hear of her in the play Macbeth.