Lady Macbeth

Macbeth

Act 1: displays fierce ambition

"that I may pour my spirits in thine ear, and chastise with the valour of my tongue"

• she dedicates herself to removing all that stands in his way to the crown
• she is ambitious for herself but also for her husband

Act 1: unscrupulously evil

"come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here"

• she longs to deny her human nature and purge her femininity
• she wishes to eliminate any feelings of compassion or remorse that might lessen her resolve

Act 1: skeptical and belittling

"too full o'th' milk of human kindness"

• she is perceptive and understands her husband to be ambitious, but lacks ruthlessness to achieve such
• she speaks of him rather condescendingly, despite having great loyalty to him as she wishes for him to be king, selfishness in her ambition, single minded

Act 1: persuasive

"look the innocent flower, but be the serpent under't"

• Lady Macbeth urges Macbeth to reconsider treachery insisting that it will bring him everything he desires, insists that deceit is easy
• metaphor of dangerous and cunning serpent depicts the ruthlessness but cleverness Macbeth will need to possess to carry out the deed

Act 1: manipulative, degrading

"when you durst do it you were a man"

• emasculates Macbeth and gaslights him into believing murdering Duncan was his idea when in reality it was her who suggested it
• his conscience is defeated by his wife's expression of his unmanly nature and commits the murder
• incessant beration

Act 1: violent, ruthless

"and dashed the brains out, had I sworn as you have done this"

• violent image reflects the vicious, perverse woman she is
• she speaks of doing unspeakable, and brutal acts, yet she never actually follows through, hypocrisy, cowardice

Act 2: selfish, cowardly

"had he not resembled my father as he slept, I had don't"

• retains a sliver of humanity
• she is unwilling to put herself in danger of being caught but is happy to reap the rewards that come with it
• she pressures Macbeth into committing an act she herself would not be inclined to do

Act 2: collected, composed

"my hands are of your colour; but I shame to wear a heart so white"

• Lady Macbeth shares the burden of the murder with Macbeth, but carries it better
• once again, she shames him for being weak
• she rejects her humanity and is firmly in control of her emotions as she shows no remorse

Act 2: clever and alert

"Help me hence, ho!"

• Lady Macbeth causes a strategic diversion to draw attention away from Macbeth as she is afraid he is overly emotional and will betray himself

• potentially overwhelmed by own sense of guilt after the events of the night

Act 2: exploits femininity

“the repitition, in a woman’s ear, would murder as it fell

• ironic, as she is considered too weak to hear such gruesome things, when in reality it was her who orchestrated and was an accessory to Duncan’s murder

• she is underestimated due to being a woman and omits any sense of suspicion, capatilising on the misogyny of men

Act 2: plays part of gracious host

“we rest your hermits”

• her steadfast facade of gratitude and humility allows her to go unnoticed

• she deceives the men, and uses the marginalisation of women to her advance

Act 3: lack of contentment

"nought's had, all's spent, where our desire is got without content"

• she reflects on whether or not the power and throne they now have was really worth it, as in return they now feel fear and insecurity

Act 3: preserves Macbeth’s public image

“What quite unmanned in folly?”

• undermines manhood again in an attempt to draw his attention back to the banquet at hand

• tries to calm him and bring him back to reality, saving him from incriminating himself

Act 5: guilt exacerbated by isolation

“Out, damned spot! Out, I say!”

“What, will these hands ne’er be clean?”

“all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand”

• inability to grapple with guilty conscience is amplified by her isolation, as she is unable to share the mental load of the regicide with Macbeth

• her tumultuous thoughts overwhelm her in her seclusion, exposing her emotional fragility and susceptibility to remorse, shame

• compulsive hand washing depicts a haunted mind, the eternal blood stains on her hands are a physical manifestation of her trauma and guilt

Act 5: combats darkness of her mind

“she has light by her continually, tis her command”

• she clutches a lambent candle, a feeble attempt to stave off her guilt and fear

• she becomes incapacitated by the guilt which plagues her mind, deranged, resulting in the disintigration of her mental stability, she has succumbed to the frailty of the human mind

Act 5: memory of the evil and twisted woman

“of this dead butcher and his fiend-like queen”

• referring to Lady Macbeth in this way alludes to her association with evil spirits, and her request for them to violate her human nature

• her ruthlessness, and willingness to do anything for the sake of her and her husband’s ambition