Lady+Macbeth

=__The Character of Lady Macbeth __= By Luke Hunter and Conor Meredith = = = = In the play, //Macbeth// by William Shakespeare there are numerous references to sleep. The motif of sleep in //Macbeth// shows the innocence of one’s self. If a person cannot sleep then it is assumed that it is because they have a guilty conscience. In act 5 scene 1 Lady Macbeth is sleepwalks around the castle. //“ I have seen her rise from her bed, throw her nightgown upon her, unlock her closet, take forth paper, fold it, write upon’t, read it, afterwards seal it, and again return to bed: yet all this while in a most fast sleep” ( Act 5 Scene 1 Lines 4-8).// This shows that not even in sleep Lady Macbeth is fully at rest as she is tormented by what she and Macbeth have done. As the play progresses, Lady Macbeth comes to feel more and guilty over the murder of King Duncan. Guilt has taken over Lady Macbeth during act 5 and she is unable to be at rest, it is told to us in Act 5 scene 5 that Lady Macbeth has died.//“The Queen, my Lord, is dead” (Act 5 Scene 5 Line 17).// // “When you durst do it, then you were a man; And to be more than what you were, you would be so much more the man. Nor time nor place did then adhere” (Act 1 Scene 7 Lines 49-52). // This is one of the major turning points in the play as it is where Lady Macbeth questions Macbeth’s masculinity and says that he would be more of a man if he killed the King. This is what finally persuades him to kill Duncan. In Act 1 scene 7 we see how ruthless Lady Macbeth can be. //“I have given suck, and know How tender ‘tis to love the babe that milks me I would while it was smiling in my face Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums, And dashed the brains out, had I so sworn as you Have done to this”( Act 1 Scene 7 Lines 55-60).//
 * Lady Macbeth is known as one of William Shakespeare’s most frightening female characters. She makes her first appearance in act 1 scene 5 when King Duncan comes to stay at Macbeth’s castle. Lady Macbeth seizes this opportunity to persuade her husband to kill Duncan by belittling him and questioning his courage and manhood. Lady Macbeth is shown to be more ruthless, strong and ambitious than Macbeth in the first 2 Acts of the play. During the 3rd and 4th Acts of the play she seems to weaken and become consumed with the guilt of the murder of King Duncan. **

Lady Macbeth is a very frightening woman, this can be shown when she says //“Come, you spirits// //that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex// [|//me//]// here and fill me, from the crown to the toe, top-full of direst cruelty! Make thick my blood, Stop up the access and passage to remorse, that no //[|//compunctious//]// visiting’s of //[|//nature//]// Shake my //[|//fell//]// purpose nor keep peace between The Effect and it! Come to my woman's breasts, And take my milk for //[|//gall//]//, you murdering //[|//ministers,//]

// Wherever in your //[|//sightless//]// substances You wait //[|//on//]// nature's mischief! Come, thick night, And //[|//pall//]// thee in the //[|//dunnest//]// smoke of hell, that my keen knife see not the wound it makes, Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark To cry, “Hold, hold!”(Act 1 Scene 5 Lines 40-52). // This shows us that Lady Macbeth wants to have her femininity taken away from her so that she can be tough enough to do what has to be done. This can help her become more ruthless and go ahead with the murder of Duncan.

Lady Macbeth is a negative influence on Macbeth and she is one of the reasons why he performs the evil deeds that he does. She is a huge reason why Macbeth's character declines and becomes more and more evil throughout the story. Lady Macbeth is a very manipulating and deceitful character who only looked out for her husband’s and her own interests.

__ Character Notes on Lady Macbeth. __

By Laura and Julie

When Lady Macbeth first enters the play, we immediately know that Macbeth trusts her so deeply that he sends her a letter that has thoughts of treason. Him writing her this letter also shows that they are equals in the relationship because he informs her of information that would cost deadly if anyone else was to find out. In this letter, Macbeth tells Lady Macbeth about the witches’ prophecies which tell say that Macbeth will become king.

Because of her love for Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is so dedicated to making Macbeth become king, as foretold in the witches’ prophecies, become true by whatever means necessary that she sacrifices her goodness and calls upon evil spirits to give her the strength and ruthlessness necessary to kill the rightful King Duncan.

“Come you spirits/That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here/And fill me from the crown to toe top-full/Of direst cruelty. Stop up th’ access and passage to remorse” (act 1 scene 5 lines 40-44).

As this scene plays out, she is shown as a headstrong and fearless woman, if not somewhat deceitful in the ways in which she convinces Macbeth to carry out the murder. She reads the letter and her first thought isn’t influenced by moral beliefs but instead influenced by trying to help/ push Macbeth in the direction that will get him what he wants. We can see here the dedication she has to Macbeth through those actions.

She then tells Macbeth that he has to “look like th’ innocent /flower,/ but be the serpent under’t” (act 1 scene 5 lines 65-68) She is trying to make him hold himself together and appear normal, even though he had just committed a heinous crime, and convincing him to go against his normally honest nature and be deceitful. Once Macbeth has killed Duncan, she has to go and cover up the murder to make it look like they had no part of it. She takes the daggers away and smears the blood around the room. She has no problem with entering the room “the sleeping and the dead/ are but as pictures” (act 2 scene 2 lines 50-51). She is shown as a capable person that can keep composed. We see her strength when she acknowledges that she shares Macbeth’s guilt (as symbolised by blood) but that she is far more brave than he is: “My hands are of your colour, but I shame to wear a heart so white.”

Once Macbeth has become king, Lady Macbeth is still there to keep him collected. At the Feast, in act 3, when Macbeth starts to hallucinate about Banquo, Lady Macbeth is there once again to stop Macbeth from breaking down, and does well to cover up his insanity and keeps the truth from being revealed. She makes him appear to be sane for the guest and stops him from giving the past away.

When the time comes to kill Duncan lady Macbeth is very good at looking like the flower by kindly greeting Duncan into her house “all our service/ in every point twice double, and then done double”(act 1 scene 6 lines 15-16). She is being warm and friendly, creating a perfect disguise for her evil intentions.

At the beginning of the play, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are very close, and trust each other with everything. We see this in particular with the way Macbeth addresses Lady Macbeth as “My Dearest Love” (act 1 scene 5 line 56) in his letter to her, but moreover, the fact that Macbeth confides in her the witches prophecies are also a good indication of their love and trust in each other. Macbeth knew that speaking to the witches and acknowledging their prophecies was treasonous, as witches were seen as messengers from hell, but he also knew that their prophecies themselves were treasonous and they went against the Natural Order. By Act Three, Scene Four, Lady Macbeth and Macbeth never appear in the same scene, and this shows that their relationship has been too compromised by their horrid deeds.

Although Lady Macbeth was the more composed of the couple at the beginning, seemingly less affected than Macbeth by the murders, it becomes clear that the guilt is taking its toll. By the end of the play, Lady Macbeth’s mortal soul stands to reveal itself because she can no longer hide the guilt she carries over the murders, and the consequential happenings. She becomes mentally disturbed to the point where she cannot sleep and while sleepwalking, relives the night of Duncan’s murder. She focuses on a spot of blood which she cannot seem to remove from her hands. This is a key symbol of her inescapable guilt.

“Out damn spot!”

The sleepwalking is also a symbol of the toll her guilt is having on her. The fact that she can’t sleep is a way for us to see how she has lost her innocence and that her guilt is so overwhelming that it even affects her in her subconscious. The only escape from her guilt is death, which she brings upon herself by committing suicide.

We learn too that it is a request of Lady Macbeth to always have a lit candle with her, as if she thinks that the light could protect her from the evil which she brought into her own life.