Lady Macbeth knows that she cannot go through with the Murder of Duncan with the level of femininity that she holds. So to do this she immediately taps into her into the spiritual world and basically asks the spirits to induce spirits to posses her body. The imagery that is used in this part of the text is very vivid and detailed. She basically asks the spirits to take away her femininity: “Come to my women’s breasts, And take my milk for gall”. To me this part is very interesting because in a way it bares a curious parallel with The Witches. I construe this to mean that at the level of wickedness that she desires, she abandons being male or female but becomes ‘it’. This is a big sacrifice to do for a husband and would she really do it if she didn’t love him?
When Macbeth enters the scene they do not directly talk about killing Duncan. I interpret this as again the extent of their relationship. They know each other so well that they can in a way read each other mind. Although when Macbeth enters the scene he says little it is clear to the reader that he has already though of the murder. We ca already tell the lack of confidence that Macbeth has in the matter but it is Lady Macbeth’s confidence that draws him along. This is maybe what drives their relationship but I also think that part of the strength is that they are a good team. We see here that Lady Macbeth is the imaginative one where as Macbeth is the practical person. We see this predominantly when Lady Macbeth tells Macbeth what to do and what not to do: “Only look up clear; to alter favour is to fear.” As the reader we know that Lady Macbeth doesn’t have the physical strength to carry out the murder. So she organises it but she tells him he will have to go ahead with it. Some readers at this point portray Lady Macbeth to be telling what her husband to do and she wants to just kill King Duncan for no reason. However I feel that that she is only doing what her husband has wanted for the whole of his life and he knows this. To fulfil his dream she has to take control of the situation as he does not have the mental strength to carry out and plan the murder. She knows this and therefore goes ahead with the planning: “Leave all the rest to me.”. Again I feel that this shows us how much the Macbeths actually know each other.
In Scene 6 we see the mental weakness that Macbeth holds. This is obvious when Duncan enters the castle and is greeted by Lady Macbeth. We could tell that Macbeth is already failing to hold thins together because as it was Macbeth’s house he should be the host. Lady Macbeth is a complete contrast to Macbeth and has all the confidence to greet their guests and pull off an excuse for the reason why Macbeth isn’t there. The main importance in this chapter is the fact that already we are seeing the difference in personality between Lady Macbeth and Macbeth just by the thought of the Murder.
At the beginning of Scene 7 Macbeth speaks in soliloquy. This means that we can see how Macbeth actually views the matters. Macbeth debates the pros and cons of murdering Duncan. However, it is obvious that Macbeth is more scared of the consequences not just on earth but he feels more strongly about the denial into heaven at this point. There are many reasons why he shouldn’t kill his King but he feels very strongly that every action has a consequence and that it will rebound on him: “return to plague th’ inventor.” Macbeth feels the only justification for the murder is his vaulting ambition.
When Lady Macbeth enters he doesn’t ask whether they shouldn’t go ahead with the murder but actually tells her. I feel that this bit and the next bit shows us a very important part of their relationship. In the time that the play was set women had no rights not over even their children. However, Lady Macbeth plays such a big role in their relationship that she is scornful of her husband and actually tells him what to do. Although she doesn’t directly say this she says it in a much more unpleasant way that is a lot more insulting towards Macbeth. She uses a number of methods as she knows her husband so well she knows exactly where to hit him.
Lady Macbeth comments on how his manhood and courage are at stake and also accuses him of a lack of love for her; “and live a coward in thine own esteem”. When Macbeth starts to argue and gives reasons for his cowardice, Lady Macbeth basically changes her method of persuasion and uses shock tactics to persuade him. She uses extremely powerful imagery to overwhelm Macbeth into submission: “plucked my nipple from his boneless gums, and dashed the brains out”. Immediately after this quotation we can tell that her violence has prevailed and then she starts to outline the plan upon which he agrees to.
Some critics see this scene to show Lady Macbeth overruling Macbeth because she purely wants to kill the king out of spite. I feel that this is a very inaccurate view and Lady Macbeth is being so violent for the love of her husband. I know that she questions the strength of their love but I feel that this scene shows us the strength of their relationship and the lengths they would go for each other. The reason that I think Lady Macbeth uses such violent imagery and questions Macbeth’s masculinity is because of his vaulting ambition. She purely wants to see her husband get what he has always wanted and what he has been promised. I am sure that if Lady Macbeth didn’t love Macbeth to the extent of what some critics say she would not try and persuade Macbeth. For if they got caught they would be killed for treason and death I a big sacrifice for someone you do not love.
In Act 2 Scene 2 we start to see a different type of relationship between the pair.
