Macbeth being hesitant and indecisive allows Lady Macbeth to overcome and influence him to do any wicked deed. Lady Macbeth feels her husband lacks the drive and courage to go through with the assassination of King Duncan. She explains, “Glamis thou art, an Cawdor; and shalt be what thou art promis’d. –Yet do I fear thy nature: it is too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness, to catch the nearest way. 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.
Lady Macbeth is constantly ridiculing Macbeth because he is too afraid to kill Duncan, and she even tells him that he might as well be a woman. This is ironic because in this quote, Lady Macbeth says “Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?” (5.1.39), which lets the readers know that she feels guilty. This guilt is what would eventually drive her to madness. Mental madness all due to an attempt to gain and maintain power; power both over their own selves and a run for
In scene 1 act 7, Macbeth leaves the table and attempts to talk himself out of killing Duncan. Macbeth gives himself many logical reasons as why not to commit the murder, such as Duncan just gave him a promotion, why kill the man who just promoted you. But then Macbeth states that if he knew he wouldn’t get caught then he would do it. Then, Lady Macbeth enters the scene, and this is where the murder plan materializes. Lady Macbeth challenges him, saying that he is not a man.
Come, you spirits / That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, / And fill me from the crown to the toe topful / Of direst cruelty!” (I.V.38-34).These lines tell how Lady Macbeth pressure Macbeth to kill King Duncan. If I were to add one ingredient to Lady Macbeth, it would be love. The reason why is that if she really loved Macbeth she wouldn’t pressure Macbeth to kill King Duncan because she would of worried what would of happen to him if he got a caught. If I were to remove a ingredient of Lady Macbeth it would be devotion. The reason why is that Lady Macbeth would not be devoted to make Macbeth king and result of having him to kill people to get
(Macbeth I, v, 26) Lady Macbeth made Macbeth feel bad about himself, by lowering his manhood and bravery. Lady Macbeth deceives everyone so well that people were scared to tell her about Duncan’s death, not thinking she can handle it. “Look like an innocent flower /but be the serpent under it” (Macbeth I, IV, 65-66) this means to look innocent and pure but to be evil on the inside. At first Lady Macbeth is able to keep her cool and not think anything of the deed. Macbeth on the other hand cannot sleep and starts to see things.
After reading Macbeths letter, Lady Macbeth is jubilant to the idea of murdering King Duncan. She begins to come up with a plan in killing Duncan to gain the royal crown. She then fills up with pure evil; she evilly scams Macbeth into the sadistic murder. Lady Macbeth says “Look like th’ innocent flower, but be the serpent under’t” In this quotation Lady Macbeth is demanding that Macbeth should act innocent and not guilty, but beneath the kindness and love, be a devious evil man who won’t let anything between the crown and himself. Shakespeare quotes sentences such as ‘Look like th’ innocent flower’, which suggests that lady Macbeth is comparing Macbeth’s behaviour towards a flower.
Macbeth now kills without thinking or lifting a hair on his arm. This is clear in Act 4 scene 2 when Macbeth sends for the murder of Lady Macduff and her son. This marks the moment of Macbeth’s utter madness, he no longer is killing for political gain or to get rid of an enemy, but simply out of the desire to do harm and evil. However, Lady Macbeth’s guilt drives her to utter madness in a different direction. She now sleepwalks and always has a delusional belief that she has blood on her hands.
Thinking that no one could hurt him probably made him more confident to go on killing sprees without fear of retribution. Lady Macbeth has to take nearly as much responsibility from Macbeth’s downfall as Macbeth himself. Macbeth confesses his evil thoughts to her and she jumps at the chance to bend him to do her will. Once Macbeth decides that he is not going to kill Duncan she starts to convince him that he should. ‘Was the hope drunk, Wherein you dress’d yourself?’ ‘When you durst do it, then you were a man.’ She questions if he is a man or a mouse, if he loves her and says that she is stronger than him.
/ When you durst do it, then you were a man” (1.7.47-49).. She defines manhood as stark aggression to achieve power in any means necessary such as killing Duncan. Macbeth, had compassion for Duncan but due to fear of being demasculinized if he did not act on his ambition results in his submission into temptation. As said from a female, it makes the reverse psychology from Lady Macbeth even more potent due to the preservation of gender roles. As one progresses through the story, Macbeth becomes more emotionally numb and tyrannical, for he then kills Banquo for fear of his intelligence on the murder of King Duncan. Then he kills Macduff’s family out of anger.
The murder was caused only because of his ambition for power and that Banquo poses a threat. Moreover, he now demonstrates that Lady Macbeth now has no more control over him. She has nothing to do with him anymore. From now on, Lady Macbeth is merely used to cover up Macbeth’s crime. In Act I Scene III, Macbeth shows murderous thoughts of killing Duncan.