Lady Macbeth: The Queen Of Deceit

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Lady Macbeth: The Queen of Deceit The Shakespearian play Macbeth is filled with violence, conflicts, and mysterious environments. Many intriguing and intelligent characters litter the plot, grabbing viewers, or readers’ interests and carrying them into the story. Perhaps the most interesting and deceitful of characters is Lady Macbeth. When Lady Macbeth is first introduced, she is powerful and courageous, but as the plot progresses, readers witness her plummet to a horrifying demise. Throughout the plot, she transforms from a courageous woman, to a rash murderer, and finally leading to a guilt-driven suicide. Strong-minded, fearless, and intellectually powerful are just a few of the terms that can be used to describe Lady Macbeth at the beginning. She was the mastermind behind the killing of Duncan, which led to the downfall of Macbeth as well. Her cunning plan to end the king’s life was nearly flawless; she had planned how to frame someone else for the deed and composed the perfect alibi. This plan triggers understanding of her intellectual level, which is far higher than where the other characters of the play expect her to be. She does not carry out the act of killing for one simple reason, she sees her father when she looks at the sleeping Duncan and cannot bring herself to kill him. “Had he not resembled / My father as he slept, I had done ’t,” Lady Macbeth confesses (2.2.13-14). This demonstrates that she has some compassion and respect for human life. Macbeth carries out the act after Lady Macbeth challenges his ‘manhood’ in saying “When you durst do it, then you were a man; And, to be more than what you were, you would / Be so much more the man” (1.7.49-51). When the dazed and blood-covered Macbeth emerges, Lady Macbeth is slightly angered with her husband’s incompetence but quickly rushes off with the bloody daggers to frame the two servants. Upon her
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