But, she is afraid of his personality ‘too full o’th milk of human kindness’ and decides to take matters into her own hands. This is also the scene where we hear her first famous soliloquy which is ‘unsex me here’ when she calls on the evil spirits. Really, she wants to be the same as the three witches, but because of who she is, she has to repress all her inner feelings and her conscience in order to carry on with her plan to murder Duncan. She has to be two-faced. When Macbeth returns later in the scene, she immediately pounces onto him and tries to persuade him to murder the King and she says it in a very manipulative way.
That is a step on which I must fall down, or else oerleap for in my way it lies. Stars hide your fires, let not light see my black and deep desires.” When Lady Macbeth receives the letter from her husband about the witches prediction she also realises that Duncan must killed. She thinks that Macbeth deserves to be great but also believes he is too noble to do such a thing. “Yet do I fear thy nature It is too full othe milk of human-kindness to catch the nearest way. Thou wouldst be great art not without ambition, but without the illness should attend it.” This shows that Lady Macbeth simply brings out the murderous butcher within Macbeth which was always subconsciously there with his ambition for glory.
With the witches’ prophecies mulling over in his mind, and knowing that he was not the successor of the throne, he knew he had to take matters into his own hands. With the support and persuasion of Lady Macbeth, he kills King Duncan and gains his kingship. When Banquo makes his vow to find out who killed Duncan, Macbeth knew he had to silence him. After Macbeth is named king, he seeks out hired murderers to kill Banquo and his son, Fleance. Macbeth does this because he is afraid that Banquo will get in the way of his new title and Fleance, because he is prophesied to be king.
Throughout the play Lady Macbeth is the driving influence behind Macbeth and the immoral path that he chose to follow. To put it simply Lady Macbeth started the rot and persuaded the hesitant and indecisive Macbeth to “be a man” and do the deed of killing Duncan. Macbeth initially decided to “proceed no further” in the matter of killing Duncan because he had been kind to him of late bestowing the position of Thane of Cawdor on him. She responds to this by saying that if he can lose his ambition so readily, his love for her must also be changeable. Then she insults his masculinity and questions his courage.
Greed is the sin that causes Macbeth to commit murder; killing Duncan to secure the crown for his taking. Macbeth continues to make decisions based on what the witches tell him will come true. The witches’ prediction that Banquo will father a line of kings for Scotland motivates Macbeth to kill him for the same reasons at Duncan, to secure the crown. These actions played out by Macbeth are due to prophesy’s he has been told, but he is still responsible for the actions he has made. Along with greed, Macbeth’s actions are caused from his fear of losing the
A way we learned about the ruthless Lady Macbeth from the quote on Act 1 Scene V, page 312, line 16-17 “What thou art promised. Yet do I fear thy nature; It is too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness.” This quote is Lady Macbeth during her soliloquy is saying that Macbeth is to nice to become king even though he just cut threw an army and cut a man open. If this is too nice for her this means she must be a really nasty person which will rub off on Macbeth and make him do things he will not want to do like kill the king and price so he will become king. Then there is a quote that tells about Lady Macbeth and Macbeth’s relationship Act 1 Scene V, page 312 lines 11-12 “My dearest partner of greatness.” Lady Macbeth reads this is Macbeth’s letter to her and it makes her seem like she is equal as him. Also Macbeth seems further in the play to listen to what Lady Macbeth says and will obey her or be tricked by her into doing what she wants.
She uses her womanhood to portray her innocence but it is then exposed by her soliloquy that she wishes the spirits “unsex” her, leaving Lady Macbeth only with mortal thoughts. Macbeth also utilizes the darkness to allow him to understand and accept his own desires. Soon after hearing the witches’ first prophecy, Macbeth is told the Thane of Cawdor was executed and he will be the replacement. He is excited by the news and Macbeth and Banquo discuss the logic and certainty of the witches, “…And oftentimes to win us to our harm, the instruments of darkness tell us truths, win us with honest trifles to betray in deepest consequence.” Banquo believes that the witches are tied to the devil and would tell half-truths in order to win them over to the dark side. Macbeth wonders if the next prophecy, that of king, would simply fall on him or if he would have to perform a dark deed in order to gain the crown.
| it could weaken all of Scotland | c. | the king’s sons would kill him | d. | Lady Macbeth has misgivings | ____ 6. The play’s first act includes all of the following events except a. | an invasion | c. | a coldblooded murder | b. | an order of execution | d. | some treacherous plotting | Extra Comprehension The questions below refer to the selection "The Tragedy of Macbeth, Act I." ____ 7.
When she says "Come you spirits that tend on murderous thoughts, unsex me," and "make thick my blood, stop th'access and passage to remorse," she is already calling on evil spirits to take away her feminine nature, and to stop her feeling any pity, remorse or compassion; Lady Macbeth is determined to assist Macbeth in murdering Duncan. From this early point, it is already evident that she is contemplating, and intends to take part in a murder so that her husband could have the status he had always wanted, but had been too weak to obtain. When Macbeth enters, Lady Macbeth replies: "O never shall sun that morrow see." When Macbeth informs her Duncan will be leaving the following day. Here, she blatantly reveals that she intends to murder Duncan, saying he won't live to see another day.
Lady Macbeth Looks: Observations -serious -ambitious -leader in the relationship Text Support - "not lose the dues of rejoicing, by being ignorant of what greatness is promised thee" Actions: Observations -convinces Macbeth to kill King Duncan -says she'll sabotage the servants so it'll look like they killed him Text Support - "But screw your courage to the sticking-place, and we'll not fail…" - "If he do bleed, I'll gild the faces of the grooms withal, for it must seem their guilt" Speech: Observations -Lady Macbeth doesn't care about the death and easily had the ability to get over it Text Support - "a little water clears us of this deed: How easy is it then" Thoughts: Observations - Personally I believe that Lady Macbeth didn't regret anything that she has caused. I think she views her husband as not capable of fulfilling the deed or cowardly and that she basically initiated the conflict and ran the relationship. She did not want to be the same way as Macbeth, she wanted to be better. Text Support - "My hands are of your color, but I shame to wear a heart so white." Interactions: Observations -She wants and expects Macbeth to go through with killing King Duncan, but is upset when he responds with he can't.