Through close analysis of Act 1 Scene 5 and Act 5 Scene 1, examine the transformation in Lady Macbeth’s character

Another theme that is mentioned in this scene by Lady Macbeth is milk; "Come to my woman's breasts and take my milk for gall." This is another reference to Lady Macbeth being a woman, and also says that she has produced milk and therefore, we presume, has given birth. The tender emotions linked with children are something that Lady Macbeth wishes the spirits to rid her of, as these emotions will hinder her when she and Macbeth try to kill Duncan. So by taking her milk (a substance that is associated with innocence), the spirits would be removing her maternal compassion. This quote is similar to one made later on in the play by Lady Macbeth, where she is trying to persuade Macbeth to murder the king; "I have given suck, and know how tender 'tis to love the babe that milks me: I would, while it was smiling in my face, Have pluck'd my nipple from his boneless gums, And dashed the brains out, had I so sworn as you have done to this." (Act 1 Scene 7). It seems that the spirits have been successful in removing all Lady Macbeth's compassion by this point, and hardening her against any loving emotions. (Or perhaps this is just an act to convince Macbeth to carry out the killing).

Lady Macbeth asks; "Come, thick night, And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell, that my keen knife see not the wound it makes, Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark, To cry 'Hold, hold!'" As her husband did earlier with the quote; "Stars, hide your fires! Let not light see my black and deep desires." (Act 1 Scene 4), Lady Macbeth is asking for the ability to kill without seeing what she is doing, and without being seen. In an atmosphere of black on black, of dark night darkened with the smoke of hell, Lady Macbeth's knife won't see what it's doing, and neither will heaven. Of course, a real knife has no eyes and God's eyes in heaven can see through night and smoke and all. The knife, then, is a metaphor for something else, perhaps her steely will, and "heaven" for her conscience. In short, she thinks she is a killer, but there is a part of her that wants to close its eyes to what she wants to do.

At this point in the play, the other characters consider Lady Macbeth to be a gracious woman, and Duncan calls her "Fair and noble hostess" (Act 1 Scene 6). Her actions in Scene 5 show us this is not the case, but that she is, in fact, cleverly deceptive and good at manipulating others. She instructs Macbeth in this scene to "look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under 't." These 'false appearances' will be vital if Macbeth and Lady Macbeth want to win the throne without others suspecting them of foul play. Outwardly, Lady Macbeth is the perfect gentlewoman, but inside she is a calculating, cold woman. She seizes the first opportunity to get the throne by planning Duncan's murder for that night, when he is coming to stay; "O never shall sun that morrow see!" Lady Macbeth obviously wants to be heavily involved with the murder, and tells Macbeth to "put this night's great business into my dispatch" and "leave all the rest to me." She wants a sense of power and control over their destiny.

For Lady Macbeth's speeches in Act 1 Scene 5, Shakespeare uses verseform. This is done to show Lady Macbeth's thoughts are structured and logical. Shakespeare uses verseform for the main or important characters in his plays, and uses prose for lowly or insignificant parts. Lady Macbeth's tone in Scene 5 is forthright and demanding, as she is either appealing to the spirits, or to her husband, depending on the point in the scene. Command words like "come," "stop" and "wait" add to the sense of urgency and demand in the speeches.

In Act 5 Scene 1, Lady Macbeth's character has transformed. She sleepwalks, and is haunted by the horror of what she and her husband have carried out. A doctor has been called because of her worrying behaviour. She repeatedly tries to clean her hands, as her gentlewoman tells us, and mumbles about the murders, which seem to torture her with guilt. She thinks her hands are still covered with the blood of Duncan, and yet all her attempts to clean them do not remove the 'blood'; "Out, damned spot! out, I say!" "Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?" All her pleas in Act 1 Scene 5 to the evil spirits haven't prevented her from feeling remorse. Her doubts about herself seem to have been justified - she has been driven mad by the subsequent events. Again, she makes comments similar to those of Macbeth about the 'blood' on her hands, saying; "Here's the smell of blood still: all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand," Macbeth says; "Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather the multitudinous seas incarnadine, Making the green one red." Clearly, the guilt felt for Duncan's murder, represented by his blood, stays with Lady Macbeth and her husband for the duration of the play, and hangs heavily on their minds.

On three occasions during Act 5 Scene 1, Lady Macbeth mentions, in her agitated state, all the murders that Macbeth has carried out. I have already mentioned the comment about Duncan's murder (the "old man"). When remembering the murder of Macduff's family, Lady Macbeth says; "The Thane of Fife had a wife: where is she now?" She also seems to be petrified that Banquo will rise from the dead to haunt her, and to comfort herself says; "Banquo's buried; he cannot come out on 's grave." Lady Macbeth is evidently plagued by all the murders. When Macbeth says earlier in the play; "'Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep' - the innocent sleep." (Act 2 Scene 2), he accurately describes the desperate state of Lady Macbeth in Act 5 Scene 1. Her sleep is not "innocent," but simply a time for her brain to re-live the awful events which have passed. Her genuine fear in this scene is a contrast to the anticipation evident in Act 1 Scene 5, where she is willing herself on. Now, she honestly regrets the murders, but knows "What's done cannot be undone." Her true feelings about the murders are revealed and there is no longer a masking of her conscience, as she wanted before. She now has an understanding of the real meanings of good and evil, and feels much guilt. In Act 5 Scene 1, blood is referred to as an evil, horrid liquid, which clings as a constant reminder of murder and death; "Here's the smell of blood still." This is unlike in Act 1 Scene 5, where blood is viewed by Lady Macbeth as a driving force behind her and her husband's success; "make thick my blood." (Act 1 Scene 5). Perhaps this shift in Lady Macbeth's opinion of blood shows how she now realises the true horror of murder, whereas before she had no first-hand experience of it, and therefore mistakenly judged the act lightly. She thought she could cope with the situation, but even with the aid of the supernatural, it is clear that she could not. Before, in Act 1 Scene 5, Lady Macbeth appealed to darkness to mask the murder from her conscience, like a comforter and protector. In Act 5 Scene 1, Lady Macbeth regards darkness as frightening, not as comforting; "Hell is murky!" This is yet another example of Lady Macbeth being hounded by her guilt; she realises that she is doomed to reside in hell after her death, and darkness is something that reminds her of this terrible fate.

The tone of Lady Macbeth's speech in Act 5 Scene 1 is completely different to that of Act 1 Scene 5. She mumbles, falling over her words, as if speaking before she has thought. She bears all, and does not worry, or even notice, that the doctor and gentlewoman are there. This is very different to Act 1 Scene 5, where her words are carefully structured and deliberate. The speech of Act 5 Scene 1 has no purpose, whereas in Act 1 Scene 5 it was demanding and insistent. Shakespeare cleverly changes his use of verseform into that of prose for Lady Macbeth, as if she was an inferior part in the play. This use of prose shows the audience she is rambling, illogical and mad now. Her words in Act 5 Scene 1 flow as in a 'train of thought,' and phrases are repeated many times, to emphasise her madness; "Come, come, come, come, give me your hand." Sentences are left unfinished and often make no sense; "One; two: why, then 'tis time to do 't."

The doctor makes a very apt comment at the end of this scene; "Unnatural deeds do breed unnatural troubles; infected minds to their deaf pillows will discharge their secrets. More needs she the divine than physician." In other words, Lady Macbeth's invocation of the supernatural ("unnatural") spirits, and her husband's evil actions, have caused her to go mad ("infected minds"). The doctor admits he cannot help.

At the beginning, Lady Macbeth finds strength from the supernatural to entice Macbeth to murder Duncan and to go through with the murder herself. As time advances though, her pretended strength diminishes as she fights the torments of her conscience. Lady Macbeth's attempts to suppress her conscience fail, and blame engulfs and destabilizes her. In the end, she chooses death because she can no longer bear the torments of her guilt. The dramatic transformation of such a pivotal character adds suspense to the play, and also delivers a moral message to the audience (which included King James I, who had a personal interest in witchcraft); that the pursuit of witchcraft, murder and evildoing can only lead to downfall. It also reveals a slightly different view of the "fiend-like queen", showing us that she feels remorse, and is vulnerable to it, like any other person.