She then goes on to say ‘chastise with the valour of my tongue.’ This show that Lady Macbeth will use her bold words to get Macbeth to agree with her. ‘Chastise’ connotes that Lady Macbeth will shape Macbeth in to what she wants and make him obey her commands of killing Duncan. This gives insight in to the value Macbeth has for his wife’s opinions and the control she has on him. Later on in the play when Macbeth no longer wants to commit the murders, Lady Macbeth is outraged and mocks him, her leverage being his manliness. She questions his manhood and calls him a coward: ‘When you durst do it,” she says, ‘then you were a man.’ Lady Macbeth ridicules him, stating once he kills Duncan, he is then redeemed a man.
Throughout the play we can see that she has a strong influence on him and is a primary cause for increasing Macbeth’s passion to gain the crown from Duncan. Lady Macbeth’s words to her husband as well as her many powerful speeches show us her great desire to become Queen. Because of this desire she persuades Macbeth to murder Duncan as well as begin his reign of reign of terror. In the earlier acts of the play we can see that Lady Macbeth dominates her husband, giving the impression that she definitely “wears the pants” in the relationship. You first see Lady Macbeth portray her power when she successfully plots Duncan’s death, manipulates her husband by questioning his manhood, and takes action on her goal to become Queen of Scotland.
“Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts.” She tells him to hurry home so that she can poison his mind. “Hurry home, so I can poison your mind”. At this point the audience is introduced to both Macbeth’s and Lady Macbeth’s ambition and determination and also shows the audience that Lady Macbeth is evil and manipulative. They understand each other very well even though none of them mention murder. Lady Macbeth offers her husband advice and instructs him on one or two things about hypocrisy while she herself manages the events of
In the play Macbeth, Lady Macbeth plays a very large role in manipulating and persuading her husband to secure the throne of Scotland for them. She tries in every way she could and I’ll be exploring how she changes throughout the play in this essay. Lady Macbeth first appears in Act 1 Scene 5, where she is reading a letter sent by her husband, Macbeth, who is away fighting as a General in King Duncan’s army. The letter tells of three weird sisters or witches saying that Macbeth would become Thane of Cawdor and later he would become King. As one of the prophecies turn out to be true, Macbeth does become Thane of Cawdor for his valiant efforts in battle, Lady Macbeth believes that Macbeth would become King, naturally, and starts to make plans on how to get the throne of Scotland for her husband and for herself.
5. What role do women play in Macbeth? Are they responsible for Macbeth’s demise? In the play Macbeth, the women in Macbeth’s life play an important role in is demise. In Act I, Scene III, when Macbeth first comes upon the three witches, he is told of his future to become Thane of Cawdor, then King, upon which mention, Macbeth begins to plot of how he is to become King.
(Act 1 scene 3 and 4) Macbeth and Banquo meet with the witches and they give two prophecies, that Macbeth will become Thane of Cawdor and later on king. When the first prophecy is fulfilled (he is thane of Cawdor), he realises that the king’s son (Malcolm) is in the way for the second prophecy to take place. From then on Macbeth does everything to make sure the witches’ prophecies take place. This puts the witches in a place of power, which is uncharacteristic for women of this time. The relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth is very complex.
Macbeth hatches the plan, as he is in conversation with Lady Macbeth, he states, “When we have marked with blood those sleepy two”. Sleepy contains connotations of vulnerability and no use of self-defence, therefore meaning that the guards are helpless moreover Macbeth planning to frame them whilst at this vulnerable stage, infers the tyranny within. Aristotle’s theory on a Tragic Hero states that persuasion soon follows the self-indulgent of greatness. In this instance, his own wife, Lady Macbeth, convinces Macbeth to kill his best friend, Duncan. She insults his masculinity greatly, by calling him a coward.
Albeit Macbeth may seem as a strong and independent character his actions are substantially influenced by the female characters of the play. In addition, the leading female characters of the play are essentially portrayed as evil and their actions lead the play’s tragic development. The premise of the play is revealed at the very beginning of the play. The three witches awaken Macbeth’s ambition when they call him “thane of Glamis, thane of Cawdor and king hereafter” (I.iii. 48-50) and present the main characters and their relationships.
From the beginning of the play, Banquo is seen a Macbeth’s closest friend. In the start, Macbeth and Banquo are loyal, honourable and impressive warriors in the king’s army. Later in the play we see Banquo as being a contrast to Macbeth as Macbeth’s ambition and selfishness takes over. Banquo and Macbeth’s friendship is challenged on their encounter of the ‘weird’ sisters. The witches promise kingship to Macbeth by which Banquo is eager to find out his future.
Although at the beginning of the book he is courageous and noble his reaction to the witches’ pronouncements emphasizes his great desire for power and prestige. The captains report of Macbeth is important to the reader at the beginning of the play because it is the first impressions that one of the characters from the play gives of Macbeth .In Act 1 Scene 2 the report told of Macbeth's actions in the battle against the traitor Macdonwald, the Captain described Macbeth as noble, fearless, and brave in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds; ‘For brave Macbeth—well he deserves that name- Disdaining fortune, with his brandish'd steel, Which smoked with bloody execution, Like valour's minion carved out his passage Till he faced the slave;’ Likewise in Wuthering heights, Lockwood's perception of Heathcliff is important to the reader because his impression is the first one we are given. He first calls Heathcliff a ‘Capital fellow’ However when reading their conversations and Lockwood’s descriptions we see him as being cold, rude, and anti-social therefore leading us to the conclusion that he dislikes the company of others. Heathcliff is portrayed completely differently at the beginning of Wuthering heights than Macbeth is at the beginning of Shakespeare’s play. We see that the Captain boasts of Macbeth’s courage and talent and we