When Lady Macbeth says “Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be /What thou art promis'd: yet do I fear thy nature / Is too full o' the milk of human kindness” (I, v, 14-16), we see how she considers Macbeth too kind, to prone to letting his conscience take over that she asks the evil spirits to enter her, so that she will be able to achieve what she fears he husband will not. Lady Macbeth thinks that gentleness is weakness. When she says Macbeth is "too full o' the milk of human kindness” (I, v, 16), she means that he will back out of murdering Duncan for reasons of loyalty and common human decency. On the other hand, Lady Macbeth is calm and rational with the idea of committing treason. Her character is shown in Act I, Scene 5, just after she receives Macbeth's letter, and before Duncan and Banquo arrive at the castle.
The Witches' prophecies for Banquo was what led to his death. They prophesied that Banquo would be live happier than Macbeth. They also stated that Banquo's descendants would become king but he would not be. When Macbeth became king this prophecy became a potential threat and led him onto murdering Banquo. Lady Macbeth had no responsibility in this murder.
The witches are being sneaky here to give Macbeth the illusion that he cannot be harmed. Macduff eventually kills Macduff. Does Macduff, who is not born of woman, (his mother passed before he was born) kill Macbeth because of fate? Maybe he does but why does Macduff want to kill Macbeth anyway? Macbeth killed the king and took the throne, so there is an apparent reason that it was Macbeth?s choice.
She is a very loving wife, who would do anything for her husband. Lady Macbeth is ambitious and it showed when she was determined to kill the King for her husband to have the throne. When Macbeth had second guesses about the murder, Lady Macbeth questioned his love for her, and their relationship. She knew that he wouldn’t want to go through with the murder, so she manipulated him into getting back on track. “That made you break this enterprise to me?
This also points to how unintelligent Macbeth really was. This is true for Lady Macbeth as well, as she convinced Macbeth to follow through with the plan, even with Macbeth doubting himself so much. I don’t think anyone could have predicted how Lady Macbeth and Macbeth both responded to Duncan’s murder. In committing the murder, Macbeth became king, but he would also become a nervous wreck that could be executed at any
Thou wouldst be great; Art not without ambition, but without the illness should attend it” (I.v.15-20) With this, she realizes that Macbeth is to laid back or nonchalant when he is not on the battle field. She calls him out on being a coward and not being able to satisfy her sexual needs as man or husband. Furthermore, because of her lack of faith in Macbeth due to his lack of ambition, I believe, “That with hath made them drunk hath made me bold: what hath quench’d them hath given me fire”(II.i.1-2), this statement proclaimed by Lady Macbeth that it was the desire for power and greed behind Lady Macbeth, not Macbeth, that caused the assassination of King Duncan. It was Lady Macbeth with the direct motive because she was blinded by the potential of riches and the ironic purity of such a social status. Both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth each came to a focal point on how to respond to the forces of fate.
The witches then manipulate him to believe he is immortal by telling him “laugh to scorn the power of man, for none of woman born shall harm Macbeth.” (Act 4, scene 1 lines 86-88). This lead Macbeth to his downfall because he believes no on can harm him. The witches know this is not true but use their power of control to let him create his own tragedy. Although the witches do not directly kill anyone, they use their power over Macbeth to manipulate him into believing his throne is in danger of being over taken. Macbeth desire to be king causes him to believe the witches for their prophesies have come true before.
I have given suck, and know(60) 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 dash'd the brains out… (Act 1, Scene 7, p. 24) She describes nursing a baby and then bashing its brains in. Not a pretty picture, and certainly not the product of a stable mind. Finally, Lady Macbeth’s instability really comes out after she sees the consequences of her actions. She basically loaded her husband like a weapon and pointed him at Duncan. She also created a monster, because he goes on a murdering rampage to secure his place.
In this quote Lady Macbeth is thinking about the witches prophecy and how she can make it come true. She states that she will control Macbeth with her words and she will convince him to do what she says; like killing Duncan. This shows that Macbeth’s main action (the killing of Duncan to become king) was based on what he was told by the witches and what Lady Macbeth told him after he told her. Another case in which Macbeth is acting upon the witch’s prophecy is when he wants to murder Banquo. When Macbeth talks to the murderers and even a bit before he says, “It is concluded: Banquo thy sol’s flight, / If it find heaven, must find it out tonight.” (3.1.141-142).
However, once Lady Macbeth heard that her husband had been fortuned to be king in the future, her lust for greed, and selfishness drove her to insist that her husband take action immediately to seize the opportunity to become King of Scotland. Lady Macbeth believes that Macbeth is too soft, which can be seen by the use of the metaphor “It is too full o’the milk of human-kindness” (1, V, 15). This refers to the milk that a baby drinks, thus she compares Macbeth’s innocence to that of a baby. In turn, Lady Macbeth resolves that she must mislead Macbeth and provoke him to agree upon the murder of Duncan. Ultimately her apparent success comes about as she challenges his manhood during the discussion of murdering Duncan, “When you durst do it, then you were a man” (1, VII, 49).