The Witches appearance in Act 1, Scene 1, sets the tone for the rest of the play. Their words ‘fair is foul, and foul is fair’ establish a sense that nothing in this play is what it seems to be. Their sinister words echo throughout Act 1, Scene 2, when it becomes clear to the audience that Duncan, King of Scotland, has been betrayed by two Scottish noblemen, Macdonwald and the Thane of Cawdor. Duncan is appalled by Cawdor’s betrayal – ‘No more that thane of Cawdor shall deceive our bosom interest’ – and orders ‘his present death’. He then orders that ‘brave’ and ‘noble’ Macbeth should be
She is far from a passive participant as seen by her actions. Throughout “Macbeth,” Lady Macbeth serves as the driving force behind Duncan’s murder. In one of her first immoral acts, Lady Macbeth begins to plan Duncan’s murder when she receives the witches’ letter, but she is concerned that Macbeth lacks the will to murder. After reading the witches’ letter that prophesizes Macbeth’s coronation, Lady Macbeth is overcome with ambition to take the throne. Lady Macbeth is willing to do anything to make this prophecy a reality.
At the start of the play Lady Macbeth responds to the letter by being intrigued and exited. This shown by Lady Macbeth saying “too full o’ the milk of kindness”, this shows that she wants too be queen and fulfil the prophecy but she thins that Macbeth is too weak. This shows her being open to the proposition of killing disturbs her. She implies that she doesn’t want to be a woman when she says “unsex me here” this implies women have no power and she will do anything to get what she wants Shakespeare put her character the play to emphasise this and
In Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth, Shakespeare uses the events of the tragic downfall of a man to demonstrate the significance of external influences and forces on the mindset and decision-making of an individual. There are many factors that caused the deterioration of Macbeth including the manipulation of his character by his ambitious wife, the three witches as well as his own internal desires. Lady Macbeth can be seen as the most influential character, manipulating Macbeth into committing unspoken acts to become king that would satisfy her lust for power. Macbeth did not personally have enough ambition to take the throne or plot to take action to personally give himself an opportunity to take the throne. 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.
Macbeth is an extremly complicated character to portray. His personality changes throughout the play beginning as an honurable war-hero and being praised highly by the King; making him Thane of Cawdor even though he was already Thane of Glamis. He then becomes a hesitant murderer, constantly distressed about his situiation ‘I am afraid to think what I have done’ to actively planning the murder of Banquo and showing little contrition for the death of his wife, Lady Macbeth ‘She should have died hereafter’ and becoming responsible for the massacre of Macduff’s wife and children.it is imperative that the actor playing Macbeth understands the intricacy of his character. He must also be able to show the contrast between Macbeth’s character in Act 2 Scene 1 and Act 5 Scene 5, in order to portray Macbeth, the actor must contemplate the mood and tone of what he is saying, his gestures and actions to match a certain phrase or speech. Also his facial expressions are very important.
Macbeth is at first skeptical of the witches’ claims. Lady Macbeth’s aggressive persuasion forces him to fulfill the prophecies. Lady Macbeth challenges Macbeth's masculinity by aggressively pursuing the prophecies, and taunting him saying “When you durst do it, then you were a man”(Shakespeare, 366). This forces Macbeth to act according to the will of Lady Macbeth to establish his dominance. Lady Macbeth calls upon the spirits to aid her in her plot to overcome her husband's reluctance and force him to kill Duncan.
Guilt is constantly seen throughout the play Macbeth driving the characters to question their morals. To the responder it appears that Lady Macbeth is the driving force behind the initial killing of King Duncan influencing her husband Macbeth to commit the evil deeds by threatening him with his man hood by saying “when you do it, then you are a man”. Her tone portrays her dominant nature and her hunger for authority and demonstrates to the responder her strength as a character. However her over confident traits and clear and concise thinking is diminished once the guilt of the crime poisons her conscience. This is demonstrated by her imagining her hands stained by blood and her constantly trying to clean the “damned spot” away and rid her sole of the guilt.
Hamlet reveals his disgust towards her marriage to his uncle, describing it as morally offensive, “incestuous” and he admonishes his mother’s weaknesses, saying “frailty thy name is woman”. • It is strongly suggested that Gertrude is an adulteress, weak and easily persuaded by physical love and Hamlet feels disappointment, anger and betrayal towards her. In turn, she seems to regret her actions at pivotal points in the play. She realises that it is HER behaviour that has altered her son’s perception of the world and she expresses this aloud to Claudius. She realises this, especially in the ”Closet scene”, when Hamlet “speaks daggers” to her regarding her relationship with Claudius.
Language is used by Shakespeare in a number of ways throughout the play to present the changing character of Lady Macbeth. Instantly Lady Macbeth is introduced through her language and actions to the audience as a powerful key figure. Firstly, charming and devoted to her husband later driven only by ambitious which is her downfall. My essay will focus on these devices of language: metaphors, imaginary, symbolism to answers the question set. Shakespeare use of language shows that her devotion towards her husband is short lived as she soon comes across as being annoyed that her husband Macbeth isn't quite "man enough" to do what it takes to be king.
While Shakespeare makes Macbeth appear as a loyal and honourable soldier, at the same Macbeth portrays a sense of conflict within himself as he contemplates murdering Duncan in order to become king. This dimension to his character first becomes apparent during his first encounter with the three witches. When they were about to leave, he says ‘Stay, you imperfect speakers. Tell me more’ and ‘Speak, I charge you’. These strong, almost desperate commands suggest that he is intrigued by the prophecy told by the witches and wants to know more.