She immediately forces Macbeth to act on the witches prophecies and murder Duncan in his sleep. Later, when Macbeth becomes uncertain about committing the crime, it is his wife who goads and belittles him guilting him into doing something he does not necessarily want to do. When Macbeth returns with the bloody dagger after killing the King, Lady Macbeth gets angry and calls him a coward, questioning his manhood, again manipulating her husband to get what she wants – the
Macbeth is an extremly complicated character to portray. His personality changes throughout the play beginning as an honurable war-hero and being praised highly by the King; making him Thane of Cawdor even though he was already Thane of Glamis. He then becomes a hesitant murderer, constantly distressed about his situiation ‘I am afraid to think what I have done’ to actively planning the murder of Banquo and showing little contrition for the death of his wife, Lady Macbeth ‘She should have died hereafter’ and becoming responsible for the massacre of Macduff’s wife and children.it is imperative that the actor playing Macbeth understands the intricacy of his character. He must also be able to show the contrast between Macbeth’s character in Act 2 Scene 1 and Act 5 Scene 5, in order to portray Macbeth, the actor must contemplate the mood and tone of what he is saying, his gestures and actions to match a certain phrase or speech. Also his facial expressions are very important.
Lady Macbeth calls on the spirits of darkness and evil to replace her nurturing and feminine qualities with remorseless cruelty. Macbeth is appalled of the thought of killing his king and can think of many reasons for not going ahead with the murder. So Lady Macbeth manipulates him by accusing him of being a coward and unmanly, until he agrees to proceed with the murder. Lady Macbeth presents her plan that when Duncanâs servants are asleep, he will enter Duncanâs chamber and kill him. Macbeth carries out this murder so the third prophecies will be fulfilled.
His decisions are, however, to some extent, made under the influence of Lady Macbeth, who manipulates him in every way to guide him to success. The witches and their prophecies play a significant role in Macbeth’s downfall. Throughout the play, the witches deceive and fool Macbeth by giving equivocal prophecies, evoking his inner desire for power and swaying him to take evil action. They exploit his ambition from the very beginning, telling Macbeth he will be “Thane of Cawdor” and “King of Scotland” without specifying when or how. This, along with the proven credibility of their first prophecy – Thane of Cawdor – awakens Macbeth’s hidden ambition and triggers his desire to fulfill the last prophecy – King of Scotland, giving him the thought of killing Duncan, “Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair” (Macbeth, I,III, 45) and thus, providing the first stepping stone towards his demise.
(1.6.35-38) Her drive behind Macbeth drove him to kill Duncan. However, when Macbeth is initially told that he will become king, he becomes overwhelmed with the idea. After consulting his wife, Lady Macbeth, he comes to the conclusion that he must kill in order to obtain the throne. Soon, his indulgence in power and his habit of killing to
However it can be argued that the word “milk” appears again later in the play this time as something unnatural. Furthermore, Shakespeare uses astonishing, dark language to unmask Lady Macbeth true nature from a devoted wife to a medium who calls on the "spirits" to aid her while she prepares to help her husband murder the king. However, it can be argued that calling on the “spirits” to help her show her weakness as she is but a mere woman. Secondly, Lady Macbeth asks the spirits to "unsex" her. Shakespeare’s usage of the word “unsex me” suggests that she is asking to be stripped of everything that makes her a woman.
This confuses and annoys Macbeth because the three witches said that Macbeth would one day be king. So, Lady Macbeth, thinking only of her and how much she wants the power, tricks Macbeth into thinking that he would be the only one gaining power and killing Duncan wouldn’t be beneficial to her at all. Macbeth agrees to murder Duncan; but, as the time to kill Duncan comes nearer, Macbeth starts having second thoughts about killing Duncan and is beginning to back out of completing this task. Lady Macbeth does not like this and starts to call him a coward and questions him by asking if he is afraid to act the way he wants to. She goes on to say that if she were him, she would follow through with her promise “I have given suck, and know how tender ’tis to love the babe that milks me.
She is far from a passive participant as seen by her actions. Throughout “Macbeth,” Lady Macbeth serves as the driving force behind Duncan’s murder. In one of her first immoral acts, Lady Macbeth begins to plan Duncan’s murder when she receives the witches’ letter, but she is concerned that Macbeth lacks the will to murder. After reading the witches’ letter that prophesizes Macbeth’s coronation, Lady Macbeth is overcome with ambition to take the throne. Lady Macbeth is willing to do anything to make this prophecy a reality.
Although, Macbeth takes the dagger and kills King Duncan, Lady Macbeth was the one who planned to kill him that night and frame his guards. I believe that Lady Macbeth played a huge part in the murder of King Duncan. Macbeth was ambitious about becoming King, yet, at moments he felt uneasy about the idea of murdering Duncan. Lady Macbeth convinced him otherwise challenging his manhood and planning the murder to the finer details. Lady Macbeth went to great measures to make sure Duncan was killed; she even called upon the evil spirits to aid her.
In the play Macbeth is persuaded by Lady Macbeth to kill Duncan in order to get the “ornament of life,” which would be taking the thrown. Before the murder of Duncan Lady Macbeth says that, “Glamis thou art and Cawdor; and shalt be what, not without ambition, but without the illness that should attend it,” in order to show that Macbeth must turn to murder as a way to gain power after Macbeth has heard the predictions of the weird sisters. Lady Macbeth explains that murder is the answer to the obstacle of Ducan, but she fears that Macbeth is much too kind to do such a thing. Because Macbeth is a genuine person, Lady Macbeth must manipulate him into the murder to achieve power for her and her husband. Lady Macbeth makes Macbeth look vulnerable which makes Macbeth feel pressured into the killing of Duncan.