Lady Macbeth Analysis Essay

peeress Macbeth has a manipulative, unforgiving spirit. She is a really tallyling character yet we cope with her troubled brain reveal itself as the prank progresses although as a character, in my opinion, when her spirit unravels and her actions of in sanity later occurs in the play I do not feel an ounce of reason for the dischargeous malicious actions of Macbeths femme fatale that lead him to doom and destruction. Therefore peeress Macbeth is on the button equal a serpent that poisons her prey.In the opening moving pictures of the play it is clear to square off how aggressively in love Macbeth and noble fair sex Macbeth ar. When Macbeth is told the prophecy by the witches he instanter writes a allowter to noblewoman Macbeth telling her of this news. Macbeth addresses noblewoman Macbeth as my ma business leader love partner of greatness act 1 provokedidate 5 this tests the magnitude of his love for her. He thoroughly respects her and reports to her, delive r thee not failing to tell her any new information.The first magazine we meet maam Macbeth it doesnt give the reader a great perspective. She immediately becomes captivate in Macbeths letter and the prophecy of him organism King, and conjures up a invention to kill Dun scum bag, it is later revealed they are mutual fri wipeouts, as he addresses her as honored stewardess act 1 burst 6. This cold hearted nature and deep desire for social status and thriving aspiration substantiates her devastate any feelings of iniquity and remorse, (for the time being).She is confident and strong, she business organizations Macbeth is not evil adequacy to execute a friend to reach the final exam goal of mellowed status we hear this in her soliloquy, in addition full o the milk of valet de chambre kindness to catch the nearest way, act 1 background 5 she prays for help metaphysical aid act 1 stab 5 to help Macbeth become ruthless. She fears he is without ambition act 1 scene 5 and so would not carry out the claim properly. maam Macbeth verit able-bodied(a) would do the murder herself as she prays to become manlier fasten me act 1 scenes 5-7, she prays that she allow for render no conscience and to be filled with poison. This shows the extent of her ambitious mind. It in any case reveals that although how evil she is, she still necessitate an extra push to give her confidence, this doesnt mean however that she is an unsophisticated flower, she is still an evil serpent at the fact that she wishes to be even more evil and filled with malice.When she first meets Macbeth she begins to goad and persuade him to do the achievement she administrates ideas of looking preceding(prenominal) suspicion. She tells him look like thinnocent flower, But be the serpent undert. act 1 scene 5, Shakespeare uses very expressive language here with contrasting imagery of a flower (which re designates good) and a serpent (which represents evil). This could also be interpreted as a metaphor for Macbeths relationship with his wife in that when Lady Macbeth is plotting murderous schemes and manipulating her married man, Macbeth is presented in a good and vulnerable light.The same applies for when Macbeth decides to number the murders encourage later on in the reserve and the earshot gains sympathy for his wife. Macbeth is left with little to say and is interrupted by his wife on several occasions in that scene, providing the audience with a clear sagacity into Shakespeares intentions for the hierarchy within the relationship. That hierarchy being where Macbeth is more or less controlled by what Lady Macbeth tells him to do, al nearly like a go game of her own. This provides strong evidence for those who believe that Lady Macbeth is like a serpent.Lady Macbeth shows more serpent techniques as she hides her malevolent plans while greeting her guest, the King, at her household. She is skilled with her welcome of politeness towards Dun ass as she has alr eady planned that Duncan allow for die, fatal battlements, act 1 scene 5 yet she can mask her wickedness and still seem courteous towards Duncan. Progressing through the book from the start Lady Macbeth now symbolizes the character of wickedness to her full extent, like a snake that tar beat backs its prey and is not satisfied until the aim is achieved.In Act 1 scene 7 we see how Lady Macbeth belittles her husband in an attemptfor him to agree whole heartedly to kill the king of Scotland. She tries to make him feel weak and cowardly. She uses foul phrases with appalling imagery such as telling Macbeth that while she was breast feeding her baby she would while it was blissful in my face, harbour plucked my nipple from his boneless gums and dashed the brains out, had I so sworn you had done to this. She tries to come over as very menacing and heartless at this point in the play, making a point of the fact that if she had promised to kill her own child she would do so. The mappin g of women at the time when Shakespeare wrote this play was that women were mothers and supported their husbands, there main impersonal would be to look after the home. A Shakespearian audience would be appalled that Lady Macbeth is neither and that she even threatens a life of a child. This shows how Lady Macbeth would have done almost anything to persuade Macbeth however, after the murder of Duncan, she contradicts herself rather strongly as she comments on not being able to kill her father.In Act 2 scene 2 Lady Macbeth shows strength. Macbeth returns from killing the king to discuss the event with his wife. Shakespeare uses this as an opportunity for the audience to feel sympathy as we see his tribulation and evil. We also set forth to see a very new side to Lady Macbeth, she admits that if he had not looked like her own father she would have done the deed herself, showing that underneath her hard exterior, there are elements of com mania and depravity that though she expres ses little, she still feels them just like any other human being. The audience indeed can see her snap out of her love round phase and channel her emotions into reassuring and controlling her husband. She tells him to dismiss his hallucinations about the poser and to return them to frame the guards who were guarding Duncans room.These deeds must not be thought, after these ways so, it will make us mad. The audience could engage this as foreshadowing of what occurs as the play progresses as both Lady Macbeth and her husband experience kind disturbances because of the horrific crimes they committed. Hands are utilise as a metaphor passim this scene and as an lengthy metaphor throughout the play. Macbeth refers to his as hangmans hands and uses phrases such as ravelled sleeve of care, whereas Lady Macbeth is far more literal and tells him to mute this filthy witness from your hand. This could be interpreted as the hands representing guilt and so each character handles the gui lt in antithetic ways Macbeth is very open about his guilt and remorse by development dramatic devices such as personification and metaphors, for example Glamis hath murdered cat sleep, and thus Cawdor shall sleep no more Macbeth shall sleep no more.Lady Macbeth, however, deals with her culpability in a different way in that she pretends to feel vigour towards the situation exactly it obviously haunts her as we see in her final scene in Act 5 scene 1 where she sleep walks and hallucinates. Shakespeare illustrates this well when Lady Macbeth mocks Macbeth for being so gentle My hands are of your colour, but I shame, to wear a heart so white. She also says rather flippantly, A little water clears us of this deed. How easy is it and then Your constancy hath left you unattended. Shakespeares intention for this scene, I telephone, was to show us that there is a sensitive, guilty side underneath her shell of ambition and malevolence. Conversely the depth of evil she has shown so far throughout the play cannot make her an innocent flower but an evil and manipulative serpent.When Macduff discovers Duncans murder with great astonishment, he alerts the whole castle including Banquo, Malcolm and Donaldbain of the kings death and so Lady Macbeth enters. She acts very much like thinnocent flower by pretending to be oblivious to what had happened in the previous scene, Whats the business that such a hideous trumpet calls to parley, the sleepers of the house? and so with immense dramatic irony, Macduff replies calling her gentle brothel keeper and commenting on the fact that the talk of murderous deeds is in addition affable for a womans ears.The audience would find this somewhat amuse as they know that Lady Macbeth is responsible for persuading Macbeth to commit the murder of Duncan and so would not in any way find the subject too sensitive or painful. Lady Macbeth is very much out of control in this scene, she is surprised to find out that Macbeth killed the two attendants which werent in her plan and she begins to falter. In the Macbeths relationship this is somewhat very different from the etymon, Macbeth did not consult Lady Macbeth of killing the attendants and this shows their relationship distancing. Lady Macbeth shows her goody by fainting, although it is unknown to the audience if she genuinely fainted or if it is an act.Lady Macbeth experiences a loss of indicator and control in Act 3 scene 2, where Macbeth arranges his next murder without her involvement. Shakespeare has her character showing compassion to her husbands sorriest fancies when he complains of insecurity about his dangerous thoughts and deeds. She tries to make him forget what has happened byinstructing him Using those thoughts which should indeed have died, with them think on? Things without all indemnity should be without regard whats done is done. But Lady Macbeth has mixed-up some of her control, her serpent like naturisms have become wilted but like a s erpent, it always remains. Lady Macbeth presents herself as the gracious hostess once more as she invites the lords to dinner in Act 3 scene 4. At the beginning of the scene the audience is presented with the news of Banquos slaughter. Lady Macbeth suspects this but is not directly informed as her husband has somewhat distanced himself from her, implying that he does not need her influences for villainous thoughts any more, he can do it all by himself now. This scene manages to arouse some sympathy for Lady Macbeth as we see her power lessening haste.This could be what ultimately leads to her suspected suicide. The audience gets to understand that Shakespeare did not trust to present Lady Macbeth as a character who takes pleasure in the study of lineshed and gore, but one who craves power and enforces her ambitions upon those she can manipulate. We also see a role reversal here for the second time in the play. She already has upset the natural ball club of marital hierarchy fro m the beginning of the play where she presents herself in the dominant role which was extremely uncommon for that period.Then as the play progresses she becomes part of a downward spiral where she loses power and the status within the marriage as she becomes the more recessive material body next to her now dominant husband. Which in essence, could her suicide later on in the play be reflected upon the idea that Lady Macbeth needs to be the dominate figure? I think that she becomes so broken by her husbands horrific actions that even she wouldnt commit and she cant take anymore of the division between the once close up couple this could be seen as an innocent flower but considering everything that has happened throughout the play, she can certainly not be called innocent.The ghost of Banquo makes an appearance at the dinner table in this scene but of course notwithstanding Macbeth can see (another one of his deluded hallucinations like the dagger). He becomes extremely discomfit by this and begins to shout at the ghost with a fiery passion that stuns the rest of his guests. Thou canst not say I did it never press thy gory locks at me Ross initiates the lords standing up and leaving their new king in peace to rest and collect himself but Lady Macbeth being thinnocent flower that she pretends to be assures the lords that he is fine and is just unwell. The audience feels some sort of consideration for her as we can see her husbands mental health deteriorates and her power disintegrate. She snaps at Macbeth are you a man? as she quite obviously feels utterly upset by his reactions to the ghost. She tries to use this as an opportunity to regain her status above Macbeth which is understandable as she feels defeated but is selfish considering her husbands state, she shows serpent qualities, the need to be in control of her prey.In the most dramatic scene in Lady Macbeths presence on stage, the audience is given the opportunity to see the real Lady Macbeth as he r subconscious takes over her physical state. Having no further matters to occupy her mind as Macbeth no longer tells her his plans, she begins to dwell on the past, slipping further and further from reality until she eventually completely loses her hold on sanity and takes her own life. At the beginning of her last scene, Act 5 scene 1, the doctor and gentlewoman are analyzing her recent behavior, She has light by her continually, tis her command. As light is a common metaphor for purity this insinuates that she doesnt command to be considered evil and wants to redeem herself but cant because she is too involved to dig herself out now and so her subconscious speaks the words she cannot.Out damned second Out, I say One, two. Why then tis time to dot. Hell is murky. Fie, my lord, fie, a soldier, and afeard? What need we fear? Who knows it, when none can call our power to account? Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?A Shakespearian audience would have recognized the spot as the devils mark and would have reacted with horror as they saw this scene being played this shows that once again she can be called a serpent. Shakespeare has used very disjointed language with punctuation separating every short phrase. This translates to her being very edgy and excitedly unstable. She then reels off a list of other stack for which she feels responsible for their deaths as well as her husband. She refers back to the common theme of hands which has occurred throughout the play. What, will these hands neer be clean? either the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. O, O, O.She still refers to her hands as being little and the need for them to be sweetened and so this indicates the want for her to be filled with good and that she is feeling genuine guilt and mental anguish. This anguish finally leads to her suicide by unspecified means. Shakespeare probably chose not to present the death of Lady Macbeth on stage to add to the wedge of her exit and last scene and also to be slightly ambiguous. I think a dying scene would have been effective for Lady Macbeths last scene she could perhaps have given a soliloquy explaining how she truly was feeling. To let her portray her malice side and let the audience be satisfied to call her an evil serpent.The significance of Lady Macbeth being an evil woman becoming tortured with guilt and grief is off great importance to a Shakespearian audience, in that time they believed in witchcraft and in my opinion Lady Macbeth could be portrayed as how people who are evil and malicious never get away with the deed. I think a Shakespearian audience would think witchcraft would have been involved in Lady Macbeths downfall and this would be very real and true for them.She was certainly a rank(a) character for going against the Chain of Being in which God was considered to be ultimately at the top with monarchs under that and other members of society such as lords and towns folk following after, but at the bottom were women and so she was courageous to consider herself to be above even monarchy Though wrong, curiously considering what was said if the chain of being was to be disrupted, that chaos would arise, disrupting the natural order of life on earth and in the heavens which is seen as insupportable a definite serpent quality.To conclude, it is evident that Shakespeare had Lady Macbeths emotional state disintegrate as the play proceeded to in effect show the downfall of a control freak. In the first two acts we have little sympathy for Lady Macbeth as Shakespeare only provides the audience with her vindictive exterior, at this time we cannot see what she is truly thinking and feeling.It is only as the play progresses that we understand why she turns out to be the way that she is, that she has a very ambitious character and so enforces that upon her husband. She feels that Macbeth becoming king will benefit them both and sees killing the existing king as the quickest way to get to the throne. She then becomes gradually defeated as Macbeths ambition and obsession with becoming king begins to soar and spiral. She is then over-ridden with guilt and eventually feels that she cannot bear the guilt that torments her troubled mind and so decides to end it all.Had her ambition not overridden her sense of morality, she could have been a respectable, intelligent woman who complemented her husbands abilities to form a perfect partnership. However, she ended up becoming a tortured, immoral, dejected soul, and disliked by many people becoming a serpent.