Macbeth is not naturally inclined to perform malicious deeds, but he deeply desires power. After speaking with the witches, he could not stop thinking about what they said. He wanted so badly for the prophecies to become true that he let his wife influence him to do what had to be done to make him king, which began his downward spiral. Macbeth is physically strong and mentally weak, and it is this that is a major factor in the change of his character, whereas Lady Macbeth seems to be quite the opposite of her husband right from the first murder. Lady Macbeth is far more determined than her husband, and using her devious ways is able to convince him into murdering Duncan while assuring him that he will
Shakespeare uses her to show how a controlling person can become submissive due to predominant part of grief and guilt. “So who is Lady Macbeth any ways?” most would inquire. Well she is the wife to Macbeth the main character. During the time era that is story takes place women were shown not to have much say and even less smarts but that is completely contradicted by Lady Macbeth. She is the brains behind in everything in the play.
Lady Macbeth enters and lectures Macbeth in her soliloquy, while insulting him by calling him a coward and insulting his manhood. This scene has a major impact on the outcome of the play. If Lady Macbeth had not insulted Macbeth while Macbeth was reconsidering King Duncan, Macbeth would have never killed Duncan and been crowned King. Banquo and Fleance would never have been murdered, and neither would Macduff’s family. Also, if Macbeth would not have killed Duncan, Malcolm and Donalbain would not have fled, and Macbeth would never have had a chance to become King.
In Act I Scene V, as they plan the murder, it is Lady Macbeth who leads her husband to commit the crime. She believes that Macbeth alone is not capable of murdering Duncan. Macbeth is “too full o’ the milk of human kindness” to commit such a deed. According to Lady Macbeth, there is no ‘illness’ or badness in his personality. He would like to become king but is too kind and decent to murder his way to the throne.
The scene reveals much about the characters including an emotional weakness Lady Macbeth holds when the image of Duncan sleeping provokes thoughts of her father. She therefore does not commit the final act however a part from this she did see herself more fit and appropriate for the job than Macbeth; “Had he not resembled my father as he slept, I had done't”, which again displays her strength and lack of dependence on her husband to do ‘male’ or generally difficult jobs. This is further supported by the jobs she does do, which include drugging the guards and preparing the daggers after Macbeth refuses to, again showing the balance in strength, however one could argue he is of a better morality and therefore stronger in that sense whereas her strength is in the sheer limitless extremity she is
From the start of the story Goneril is working together with her beloved sister against King Lear. The reader may be misguided to believe that at least she loves her sister and she is loyal to her. However, once King Lear is defeated and Goneril finds out that Regan loves Edmund, she forgets about love and loyalty and decides to kill her. Again, the darkness of one’s soul is revealed by Shakespeare’s use of the theme of revenge. One of the minor scenes that can be considered as an act of revenge is the scene where the Duke of Cornwall blinds the Earl of Gloucester.
4-7); having observed her in the short scene with Macbeth after the banquet; and especially in the sleepwalking scene, we are satisfied that the swoon on this occasion is real. Some one very appositely suggests that, had Lady Macbeth adopted this artifice as a means of further averting suspicion, she would, without doubt, have fallen when Duncan's murder was announced to her. The effect would have been greater, and, moreover, knowing nothing of the murder of the grooms, she could not have anticipated this further opportunity. And just here, it seems to us, lies the explanation of this unexpected exhibition of weakness. She knew all about Duncan's murder and was on her guard,
She is first perceived as a weak character who Iago says keeps many thoughts to herself: "She puts her tongue a little in her heart," meaning that many of her most critical thoughts remain unsaid. Even Desdemona has to encourage her to speak. This silence throughout much of the play may be one cause of her drastically changing at the end. Initially Emilia sets out to please Iago without question, as this was her role as an Elizabethan wife, however at the end she speaks against him when she realizes his true intentions. Her change at the end of the play could show that she’s isn’t an outsider, as she now has her own opinion and her own voice like many of the other characters within the play.
This is very bizarre and disturbed behaviour for a Jacobean woman. “Love me? Why…” is said by Benedick when he is duped by the men of the household into thinking that Beatrice loves him, his response is riddled with disturbance. For all his boasting of Act1 “it is certain I am loved of all ladies”; it would look to be that he cannot see why he is loved hence he is disturbed by the feeling. Benedick then says “I will be horribly in love with her”, the use of the word ‘horribly’ continues the banter persona of Benedick.
When having heard an owl, she cries ‘Hark, Peace!’ This remark shows you that she is jittery, as on a normal occasion she wouldn’t have even noticed the owl because based on what we know of her character so far she isn’t the jumpy type of person. It’s also slightly ironic how she calls out for ‘peace’ because you automatically make the connection to god’s peace: whereas the audience all knows she is damned. You also surprisingly see a psychological vulnerability in Lady Macbeth. She tells Macbeth that Duncan ‘resembled my father as he slept,’ and if it weren’t for that she would have murdered him herself. This is wildly contradicting her cold persona.