Lady Macbeth

Lady Macbeth can be viewed as an antagonist because of how she manipulates and drives her husband (Macbeth) to murder despite his worries. Or she could be viewed as a tragic heroine, starting in a position of glory and ends up falling from grace due to an error of judgement and poor decision making.

ACTIONS IN THE PLAY

• 1.5 After receiving a letter from Macbeth that tells her of the Witches’ prophecies she’s determined to make Macbeth King

• 1.7 She worries Macbeth is too tame and hesitant to do it himself so she mocks him and tempts him until he gives in.

• 2.2 After the murder she grows more anxious, she becomes left out of Macbeth’s actions and plots

• 5.1 She’s so broken by grief and guilt she commits suicide.

DECEPTION & DUPLICITY (appearance vs reality)

One of Shakespeare’s messages is that people can be deceptive and untrustworthy, like how people plotted the assassination of King James I. A good example of deception is Lady Macbeth.

Part of Lady Macbeth’s role is that she causes chaos (like the witches), she uses her powers of manipulation all the time. She exploits her duplicity between a traditional wife and a powerful woman to get away with her actions, she uses Jacobean prejudice and their gender stereotypes to her advantage.

She tells Macbeth multiple times to put on a facade in front of people to get away with murder, but unfortunately she underestimates her own remorse.

Lady Macbeth’s manipulation of appearances is the connection between her and the witches. Both their identities are ambiguous. For Lady Macbeth, her appearance is feminine, but according to her spells she’s full of poison and cruelty.

Some may say that as the play unfolds her sense of self deteriorates. All her suffering and hallucinations could be side effects of her fragmented self, she’s manipulated her identity so much that she’s no one at all.

INTERPRETATIONS OF HER CHARACTER

What’s her motivation?

Some say Lady Macbeth wanted Macbeth to be King because traditionally wives were very supportive of their husbands careers and aspirations. Perhaps it was a demonstration of her love for Macbeth and how she wants him to succeed.

Others say that her motivation is rooted from her own ambition, as a woman her position and power are limited, but if she were Queen. She could have so much power and endless benefits. Also as Lady Macbeth has no children and supposedly “lost her purpose” as a woman, the role of queen could be compensation.

Is she a femme fatale?

This term refers to a woman who’s mysterious and seductive, she uses her charm to entrance men and lead them into danger. Typically femme fatales are villains and create a sense of unease for other characters and the audience. Their common traits include heightened sexuality and rejection of motherhood. By rejecting motherhood these women become threatening as they deny a man his ability to leave a legacy. Overall the key aspect of a femme fatale is to use her beauty to exploit men for her own goals. Shakespeare uses this archetype when Lady Macbeth uses her power of Macbeth to get her own way, her ulterior motives. This ends with Macbeth’s death, and so Shakespeare uses Lady Macbeth’s character to display the dangers of unrestricted female ambition and power.

Is she like Eve?

This archetype of a “Fall” is linked to the concept of a tragic hero. Commonly, a woman is held responsible for the fall of an honourable man.

The most famous example is Eve, Satan disguised as a snake tempts Eve into disobeying God, and later convincing her husband to do the same. They both lost their innocence and were expelled from paradise. Lady Macbeth’s story has many parallels with this tale. With this some may interpret Lady Macbeth as the root of Macbeth’s evil

SUBVERTING JACOBEAN GENDER STEREOTYPES

MARRIAGE

Within her marriage she’s a dominant figure with a clear identity and purpose, outside of it, she’s viewed solely as Macbeth’s wife and a good host

MOTHERHOOD

In the play she tries to banish all her reproductive organs, rejecting the role of a mother.

GENDER

If we see Lady Macbeths' unsexing as successful, losing her feminine identity she becomes disturbing to the audience, she’s lost her humanity. Shakespeare gives her multiple soliloquies which is usually for male characters only. Shakespeare introduces her as the dominant one in the marriage, instead of being idiotic or weak she’s smart, cunning and bloodthirsty. She easily embraces the supernatural in order to achieve her goal. This makes her unrelatable to the Jacobean audience, almost supernatural.

In Jacobean times just Lady Macbeth’s subversion of femininity was enough evidence to label her a witch, her power is seen as unnatural and so linked to the supernatural. She’s the one who plans in their marriage, some may see her as the ‘creator’ of Macbeth’s evil.

Shakespeare, through Lady Macbeth’s character explores the idea of powerful women being dangerous and unnatural. The only way for a woman to obtain power and strength is through evil or the supernatural. Her character allows Shakespeare to examine gender roles, marital relations, and the division of power in Jacobean society

AMBITION

Lady Macbeth’s ambition is much more intense and violent that Macbeth’s. There is no hesitation, she immediately decides to pursue Macbeth’s potential Kingship. She craves power and protection, her whole life her potential has been weighed down by the fact she’s a woman. With the power of the spirits she achieves her goal despite having to destroy natural order, ruin her morality and innocence and harming others, her ambition overpowers all of it.

Her ambition causes her hopes of salvation to disappear.

GUILT

Guilt and remorse are the cause of Lady Macbeth's downfall and death. Unlike Macbeth - with numerous enemies, her enemy is her mind.Shakespeare uses regret as a destructive consequence for Lady Macbeth, her insanity and torment she feels from her part in Duncan’s murder is her punishment.

At first, Lady Macbeth shows no signs of remorse, she’s convinced washing the blood off her hands will cleanse the both of them of their deeds, they aren’t going to face any lasting consequences. She fails to anticipate the psychological consequences from the murder and how they will affect her beyond that night. She constantly represses any morality. However there are signs that Lady Macbeth isn’t as tough as she appears, she never refers to the murder for what it is but instead uses euphemisms like ‘deed’ or ‘great business’. This could imply that she is unable to confront reality.

Later on she’s sleepwalking and washing her hands in the night. Shakespeare uses this to present how guilt persists beyond physical evidence.