how does lady macbeth's character change throughout the play essay

Lady Macbeth Character Analysis

Lady Macbeth is possibly Shakespeare’s most famous and vivid female character. Everyone, whether they have read or seen the Macbeth play , has a view of her. She is generally depicted in the popular mind as the epitome of evil, and images of her appear over and over again in several cultures. She is usually portrayed in pictures as something like a Disney character, a cross between Cruella DeVille and the wicked stepmother in Snow White.

Although she has some of the most bloodthirsty lines in Shakespeare she is not quite Cruella De Ville or the wicked stepmother. The response she gets from the male characters suggests that she is a young, sexually attractive woman and, indeed, in her effort to influence Macbeth, she uses every method at her disposal, including the employment of her sexual charms.

She is usually depicted as a strong, tough woman and, in her drive to induce Macbeth to murder King Duncan, she appears to be that, but, having succeeded, it does not take long for her to crumble and break down, destroyed by guilt, and she ends up committing suicide.

Shakespeare does not have any evil characters. What he has are ordinary human beings, like you and me, placed in situations that challenge and test them. Some of them, like Iago in Othello , have personality defects, but that’s rare in Shakespeare and it’s not the case with Lady Mcbeth.

The challenges that Shakespeare presents his characters with generates different responses from different people. Lady Macbeth’s challenge is that she discovers that her husband has been tempted by an encounter with three witches to do something about their prediction that he will become king. She knows that the king would have to die for that to happen. When she gets a message that King Duncan plans to spend the night with them at Glamys Castle it seems to confirm the thought that they would have to kill him and that this was their once in a lifetime opportunity. That’s the situation into which she has been thrust.

She is as ambitious as Macbeth but she knows that for all his bravery in battle, all his soldierly and diplomatic qualities, he is basically much too soft –“too full of the milk of human kindness” – to take advantage of the opportunity. She makes up her mind to make him do it.

And she is right about his lack of resolve – they talk it over and he tells her that he just can’t do it. She goes into high gear and virtually holds his hand through it. One of her strongest qualities is persistence and she shows it here. Macbeth hesitates, equivocates and falters but she holds firm. She argues the case, she mocks him, bringing his manhood into question, she appeals to his sense of loyalty to her, she takes him to bed, and she finally prevails.

Macbeth kills Duncan in his sleep and from that moment their marriage begins to fall apart. They each fall into their own guilt-trip and hardly speak to each other. As king, Macbeth fears his political enemies and embarks on a reign of terror while Lady Macbeth stays in bed, unable to sleep, having nightmares when she does manage it. While walking and talking in her sleep she gives the game away about what they have done and sinks into a moral, physical and spiritual collapse. When Macbeth is on his last legs, with the rebels closing in, he gets the message that she’s dead. At that point, he says he doesn’t have time to think about it. “She should have died hereafter,” he says. Their partnership in this murderous enterprise has destroyed their marriage.

The promise of strength that we see in her at the beginning of the play is an illusion. What we are seeing is naked ambition and a willingness to act on it without having the resources to deal with the consequences. We see how guilt can eat up your soul and destroy you. We see how hollow ambition is, both in her journey and Macbeth’s. (Read the most significant Macbeth ambition quotes .)

Character attributes

Some significant character attributes of Lady Macbeth are:

Controlling – she understands that her husband doesn’t have the savageness required to murder the king of his own accord, so she manipulates him. She plans out the murder, then takes control of events when Macbeth loses his mind.
Cruel – she is a violent, cold-blooded character who is happy to scheme the murder. She ridicules Macbeth when he doesn’t agree to participate in her violent plans.
Two-faced – she welcomes King Duncan like a friend whilst at the same time planning his murder. She also advises Macbeth to be two-faced.

Erika Sunnegårdh playing Lady Macbeth stands on stage in a blue dress holding a large axe

Erika Sunnegårdh as Lady Macbeth

Top Lady Macbeth Quotes

“I fear thy nature; It is too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness

( act 1, scene 5 )

“To beguile the time, Look like the time; bear welcome in your eye, Your hand, your tongue; look like th’ innocent flower, But be the serpent under’t.”

“ The raven himself is hoarse That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan Under my battlements”

“Come, you spirits That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,

“Would’st thou have that Which thou esteem’st the ornament of life, And live a coward in thine own esteem, Letting “I dare not” wait upon “I would,” Like the poor cat i’ th’ adage? “

( act 1, scene 7 )

“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.”

“ Out! damned spot! “

( act 5, scene 1 )

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Common Questions About Lady Macbeth

Is lady macbeth a true story.

Although Shakespeare used the names of real historical people in writing Hamlet, the events of the drama are mostly made up. So in that sense, Lady Macbeth is not a real character. There was an 11th-century Scottish king named Mac Bethad Mac Findlaich . Presumably, he had a wife but we know nothing about her.

What kind of character is Lady Macbeth?

Lady Macbeth is ambitious. She is manipulative and uses several techniques of a skilled manipulator to entice Macbeth into the murder of Duncan. Usually thought of as a hard, ruthless woman, she is, in reality, soft. Not long after the murder, unable to cope with her guilt, she falls apart and loses all sense of herself.

What happens to Lady Macbeth?

Lady Macbeth tries to prop her husband up as he descends into a guilt-ridden hell but she soon falls victim to the same condition. Her whole life literally becomes a nightmare, in which she relives the event that has brought her condition about. Her life becomes unbearable and she commits suicide.

Who does Lady Macbeth kill?

Lady Macbeth does not personally kill anyone. She conspires in the murder of the king, Duncan, though, and actively encourages Macbeth to kill him. It is Macbeth who does the actual killing. Lady Macbeth plays no part in the many further killings that Macbeth engineers. Soon after the killing of Duncan the two don’t even talk to each other.

What made Lady Macbeth go crazy?

Lady Macbeth is partly responsible for the kind of killing that was taboo in Mediaeval Scotland – murdering one’s king, murdering one’s relative and murdering a guest in one’s house. In killing Duncan the couple did all three. She begins to have nightmares about the murder and, in particular, the blood on her hands, which she can’t get rid of no matter how hard she scrubs. That drives her to suicide.

How does Lady Macbeth feel after the killing of Duncan?

Once Duncan is killed Lady Macbeth is pleased that her ambition to be the wife of a king has been achieved, but that feeling very soon turns sour as guilt begins to eat away at her. She then she has feelings that she can’t live with, and ends up killing herself (one of 13 suicides in Shakespeare’s plays ).

Is 2016 film Lady Macbeth based on Shakespeare’s Lady Macbeth character?

No. Lady Macbeth is a 2016 British film based on Nikolai Leskov’s novella Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District , and starring Florence Pugh.

Home — Essay Samples — Literature — Macbeth Power — Lady Macbeth Character Analysis in Macbeth

Lady Macbeth as a Powerful Female Character in Shakespeare's Macbeth

Categories: Character Macbeth Macbeth Power

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Published: Nov 19, 2018

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Introduction, the power of lady macbeth, works cited.

Bradley, A. C. (2008). Shakespearean tragedy: Lectures on Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth. Penguin Classics.
Cavell, S. (2005). Disowning knowledge in seven plays of Shakespeare. Cambridge University Press.
Garber, M. (2010). Shakespeare's Ghost Writers: Literature as Uncanny Causality. Routledge.
Greenblatt, S. (2018). Tyrant: Shakespeare on Politics. W. W. Norton & Company.
Howard, J. E. (2003). Shakespeare's art of oratory: Unpacking the power of persuasion in Macbeth. College Literature, 30(2), 112-130.
Johnson, C. (2015). Lady Macbeth and the Daemonologie of Hysteria. Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies, 45(2), 341-364.
Kliman, B. (2008). Macbeth. Infobase Publishing.
McEachern, C. (2013). Spenserian ambiguity in Macbeth. Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies, 43(2), 353-369.
Robinson, T. (2017). Power in Macbeth. The Online Journal of New Horizons in Education, 7(3), 14-21.
Shakespeare, W. (2010). Macbeth. Simon and Schuster.

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how does lady macbeth's character change throughout the play essay

Lady Macbeth as Powerful

The essay below uses this simple structure:, an introductory paragraph to summarise an answer to the question, one paragraph about the extract, one about the rest of the play, one about context., lady macbeth:, the raven himself is hoarse, that croaks the fatal entrance of duncan, under my battlements. 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 visitings 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 murd'ring 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”, starting with this speech, explain how far you think shakespeare presents lady macbeth as a powerful woman., write about:, how shakespeare presents lady macbeth in this speech, how shakespeare presents lady macbeth in the play as a whole., the essay below is written using a simple structure:, an introductory paragraph to summarise an answer to the question., one paragraph about the extract., one about the rest of the play., before you read the answer below, why not have a think about how you'd answer this question. i've highlighted the quotes i'd write about - do you agree or would you focus elsewhere also, which sections from the rest of the play would you focus on and what contextual factors influenced lady macbeth's presentation, most importantly, though, have a think about how you'd write that opening paragraph - answer the question in two or three simple sentences., an example answer, during the majority of the play, lady macbeth is presented as being a powerful woman who defies the expected gender stereotype of the caring, soft, gentle female. by the end of the play, however, she kills herself as she discovers that although she can order the rest of the world around, she cannot control her own guilt, right at the opening of this speech, lady macbeth makes her position known when she describes “my” battlements. the use of the possessive pronoun emphasises that she thinks of the castle walls as being her own. she follows this by calling “come you spirits.” the use of this magic spell has two effects on the audience: firstly, she is calling for dark magic to come and support her. this would have reminded the audience of the possibility that she was a witch and had all the evil powers connected with them. also, she is using an imperative here: “come you spirits.” she’s not asking them but telling them. this shows that she expects even the supernatural world to answer to her demands. one of the things she demands is that they “stop up the access and passage to remorse.” this means that lady macbeth doesn’t want to feel any regret for what she is about to do, which would make her powerful. she is no longer going to be slowed down by feelings of compassion or care in her pursuit of power. finally, she says that the spirits should “take my milk for gall.” here, she is asking that her own milk be turned to poison. this suggests that she is turning something caring and supportive into something deadly, giving her even more evil powers. also, milk is pure white and suggests innocence and purity so lady macbeth is asking that what is innocent and pure about her gets turned into something deadly. throughout this speech lady macbeth sets herself up as being someone very powerful, who is able to control even the spirits., her power continues throughout the play. lady macbeth suggests the murder and talks macbeth into it – showing that she is powerfully persuasive. she also plans the murder, showing that she is intelligent as well. she also stays calm under pressure, such as when macbeth arrives with the daggers from the murder scene but lady macbeth returns them to the scene so that they don’t get caught. she is also able to manipulate macduff when she faints in shock after they discover duncan’s body. you could easily argue that lady macbeth’s ambition was more powerful than macbeth’s, and that the murder wouldn’t have ever happened with her involvement. she is determined to become powerful and will stop at nothing to get it. at the end the play though she is caught sleepwalking, and she confesses to all that they’ve done. this is interesting, however, as while she is sleep-walking she is not in control of herself so she is not really aware of what she’s doing. it could be the case that lady macbeth herself never felt guilty, though she couldn’t hide her real feelings from her dreams. in the end, she dies. malcolm claims that she killed herself quite violently, but since it happens off-stage we cannot be sure. what is clear is that although she could push macbeth around, and trick macduff, and even order the spirits to do her bidding, she couldn’t order the blood off her own hands., shakespeare presents a very powerful female character in lady macbeth, and although this would have been quite radical for people in jacobean england there were other powerful, female role models to choose from: bloody mary or queen elizabeth are good examples. this play, however, was written for king james who had just taken the throne of england, and james was not a fan of queen elizabeth – who had killed his mother, mary queen of scots (and he might not even have been a big fan of his mum, because she married the man who killed his dad) as a result, james would have enjoyed seeing this powerful woman become such a villain and then getting punished for her crimes..

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William Shakespeare

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How does Lady Macbeth Change During The Course Of The Play ‘Macbeth’

Lady Macbeth’s character changes a lot during the course of the play. The character at the beginning is so different to the one presented in her final scene would not even be recognised as the same person. The play accurately depicts the progression of Lady Macbeth from a dominating, confident, ruthless killer, to a weak, mentally unstable, dying woman.

The first scene she appears in shows Lady Macbeth reading a letter from Macbeth regarding his encounter with the witches after they predicted he would become King. This scene illustrates the immensely strong bond between her and her husband, in the way that she doesn’t doubt him for a moment. As soon as she finishes reading the letter, she immediately starts formulating and doesn’t question how or why or when he is to become king:

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“Glamis thou art and Cawdor and shall be

What thou art promised”

This scene can also be said to display impatience in her character. She accuses Macbeth of being:

“Too full o’th’milk of human kindness

To catch the nearest way”

…instantly deciding that murder is the quickest (and therefore preferable) method to ensuring this prediction is made flesh. Rather than accepting that Macbeth would not be willing to go to these lengths whatever the reward, she continues toying with this idea, planning how it could be done despite this.

Just to prove how much this would mean to Lady Macbeth, she states that since Macbeth suggested it in the first place, she would rather:

“while [our child] was smiling in my face, have pluck’d my nipple from his boneless gums and dashed the brains out”

than allow Macbeth to back out now. This once again shows her shrewdness, as she’s obviously deliberately using very violent imagery as a shock tactic to guilt Macbeth in to submission. She knows that if they are going to murder Duncan they have to do it tonight, so she’s using every method she can think of to persuade him before it’s too late and the prospect of power becomes seemingly unreachable.

The audience since her first soliloquy has established that she has more ambition, and craves more domination than a woman (particularly at that time) is thought rightly to have. The notions that she has conjured up do not seem to be likely of a particularly feminine personality. She shows very little compassion or worry.

Lady Macbeth has powerfully changed Macbeth, using his moral weaknesses exposed by his ambition, to change his mind. Macbeth has let his wife’s iron will destroy his conscience and his somewhat ‘sophisticated’ moral sense. The audience are nevertheless left with sub-conscience doubts about Lady Macbeth’s appearance of unshakeable strength.

There is an obvious change once the actual murder takes place, however. Once she returns from drugging the guards with alcohol she says:

‘That which hat made them drunk, hath made me bold

What hath quench’d them, hath given me fire…’

…which shows a lapse in her confidence. Although this may seem like a obscure reference, I believe that up until her last scenes Lady Macbeth puts on a convincing front to cover up any weaknesses. She seemed enormously self-assured when trying to persuade Macbeth, but now considers alcohol as a way to gain the ‘boldness’ she feigned earlier.

Despite how much she obviously wants Macbeth to be king and the lengths she went to convince him he wanted it too, she refuses to kill Duncan herself. Previously, Lady Macbeth had said:

“Leave all the rest to me”

…so she had maybe intended to do the deed herself, but once faced with the actual opportunity to do so, she looses her nerve and says that:

“Had he not resembled

My father as he slept, I had done’t”

This shows a very different attitude to the one she was hoping to adopt earlier on in the play. This is clearly not her being ‘unsexed’ as she is still showing compassion and sentimentality and must still have a conscience if it matters how much the victim looks like someone close to her. It seems surprising that the same woman who had previously stated that she would be willing to kill her own child than go back on her word, would be less willing to take the life of someone who merely resembles a family member, for which she would gain the reward of being Queen.

This action can show one of two things: she either honestly planned to let Macbeth ‘leave it to her’ or this is another exhibit of her scheming ways in the view that Macbeth most likely feel it’s too late to abandon the plot now and would probably be reluctant, due to Lady Macbeth’s constant persuasion, to allow power to slip away now after it was so nearly in his grasp. There is more evidence to suggest that she was building up a faï¿½ade to Macbeth to convince him that every deed she is ‘willing’ to undertake is completely necessary to their livelihood but is nothing worth being apprehensive about.

Not only did she contradict this by walking into the room in which Duncan was sleeping and walking straight back out again, but she is also obviously very nervous herself. A bird, which should be the least of her worries, startles her and the dialogue between the couple consists of very short broken-up sentences suggesting anxiety, and it is evident that they are both not listening to each other, practically talking to themselves. Lady Macbeth continues to suppress her unease with the situation and attempts to recover from the lapse of equanimity earlier, showing that she feels it’s important that Macbeth sees her as calm and collected in the hope that he will follow suit. She knows that she is the influential one in the relationship and so believes it is almost her duty to stay sane for Macbeth’s sake. She remains ever meticulous and tells Macbeth to wash his hands of blood and says:

“A little water will clear us of this deed,

See how easy it is then!”

Lady Macbeth remains composed during the rest of this scene, and is ensuring nothing seems out of the ordinary. She realises that if Macbeth answered the knocking at the door in his normal attire at this time in the morning it would seem suspicious and so tells him to get changed. This shows that even under the pressure Lady Macbeth is thinking of every possible clue that could be held against them.

In the scene set the morning after the murder, it is debateable if the character of Lady Macbeth has drastically changed or not as once again, it can be read two ways. She could faint because of the shock of Macbeth’s vivid descriptions, the murder itself or the following murders of the guards (She had only prepared for Duncan’s murder and was not expecting anyone else to be killed) are proving too much stress for her to take, or she’s remaining entirely in control and is merely trying to distract the attention away from her husband in case he starts to crack under the weight of suspicion upon him. Just before she faints she says:

“Help me hence, ho!”

…which to me suggests it’s the latter, as this would divert the congregations attention effectively if delivered in a theatrical way, whereas realistically she probably would have not thought to make it so known that she was about to faint.

Lady Macbeth is understandably fearful that homicide now is becoming way too easy for Macbeth. In my opinion she’s starting to feel guilt but not entirely about the murder itself, more for warping Macbeth. She is aware that he now finds it necessary to kill everyone in his way, and it was her allegation of being a coward that sparked this attitude as a way to prove his masculinity:

“When you durst do it, then you are a man”

The next few scenes mark the beginning of the deterioration of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s relationship. In the first scene that Lady Macbeth appears in, they seem -as previously mentioned- to understand each other perfectly and not doubt each other’s judgment. Now, however, he fails to consult her or even inform her on his actions which puts a great strain on their relationship as neither of them are used to the role they are taking on. Lady Macbeth is slowly becoming the weaker of the two. Now it is Macbeth who is scheming, and his failure to discuss any of his plans with her. The breakdown in communication between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth is illustrated in Act Three Scene Two where Lady Macbeth feels that it is required for her to ask permission to speak to her own husband. She says to a servant:

‘Say to the king, I would attend his leisure

For a few words.’

This formality would not be unusual heard from anyone else due his rise to the throne, but from his wife, this impersonal use of ‘the king’ rather than ‘my husband’ or his name suggests a mutual feeling of detachment. In Lady Macbeth’s four line soliloquy, she says:

‘Nought’s had, all’s spent,

Where our desire is got without content’

Here she is saying that nothing is gained, everything is lost when what they had wished for was brought without happiness, leaving her without the loving relationship demonstrated in the first half of the play and without any hope of it returning.

The Banquet scene is the first scene in which we see Macbeth and Lady Macbeth together as a couple in the public eye. There is obviously going to be another side shown of Lady Macbeth, the one she wants her people to see. There were certain expectations a Queen was meant to live up to and so it would be in her interest to conform to these as much as possible. Lady Macbeth sees their public image as imperative and she expresses this to Macbeth telling him to:

“Sleek o’er your rugged looks, be bright and jovial

Among your guests tonight.”

She also wants to make certain nothing seems dubious about the death of Banquo.

Lady Macbeth is trying not to let the details of her failing marriage be known to the congregation, as this may show weakness and although they don’t converse throughout the scene except to reprimand each other, they ensure this is done in private. The passion has left their relationship and leaves it on a totally formal basis. Lady Macbeth refers to her husband as “My Royal Lord” whereas much more colloquial terms would be expected from a wife in normal circumstances.

When Macbeth starts to see the apparition of Banquo, this worries Lady Macbeth. It is a possibility that his guilt-ridden mumblings will cause the guests to doubt him. If it doesn’t arouse suspicion surrounding the murder of Banquo, it may instigate people questioning his suitability as King. When he first begins speaking to the ghost, she almost immediately comes up with the excuse that it is a frequent occurrence, and that the guests should take no notice of him.

She tries to cover this episode up and pass it off as “momentary fit”. This mirrors some of the qualities seen in Lady Macbeth in the murder scene, where even under pressure she manages to do everything in her power to avoid the suspicion, for example realising that Macbeth should change his clothes before answering the door. She tries to use the same techniques of persuasion she put in to practice successfully previously in the play, but as the situation has changed, so has Macbeth. She has no influence over him anymore and whereas before he strived to prove his masculinity once she challenged it, in this scene he responds to the question “Are you a man?” with:

“Ay, and a bold one”

This frustrates Lady Macbeth, as this is not the way he should be reciprocating. She continues to try to use this technique, but it becomes apparent that it’s not accomplishing anything and in desperation, she requests the guests leave before Macbeth makes even more of a spectacle of himself.

This scene is the final scene in the play where Lady Macbeth displays her quick witted nature, with the possible reasons for this becoming apparent in the next scene. As always, she delivers her excuses perfectly timed and without any sign of hesitation. She manages to completely rationalize Macbeth’s inner turmoil to their guests. This once again emphasises this side of her character, and leaves the audience convinced beyond reasonable doubt that despite the recent adaptations in her role she is nonetheless still the sharper of the two.

Almost to contradict this statement, Lady Macbeth goes in completely the opposite direction in her final scene. Although her wavering sanity has been subtly suggested throughout the last few scenes she appears in, it is only made concrete now, such as her overly nervous gesticulations shown in Act Two Scene Three and her confession later one to regretting the murder, which is unexpected for someone who had planned it so thoroughly.

Although after the murder she was assuring Macbeth that as soon as they wash their hands of the blood they are free of the guilt, ironically this is the subject of her hallucinations. She is sleepwalking in this scene and delivers one of the most famous lines of the play:

“Out, damned spot! Out, I say!”

…referring to the blood that was so easily washed off in the murder scene. What is not so effortlessly removed is the guilt and the dawning realisation of what she has done. her mind has rekindled the association with the blood on her hands, and this has made itself apparent in her fitful sleep.Lady Macbeth has finally been crushed under the weight of her own suppressed remorse. This proves that she does indeed have a conscience, contrary to her cold, unfeeling exterior.

There many reasons why Shakespeare could have chosen to make Lady Macbeth change so dramatically through the play. One possibility is that he is simply mirroring the attitude towards women at the time, which was they are not emotionally or physically capable of anything remotely strenuous or stressful. Lady Macbeth having to ask to be ‘unsexed’ to be able to carry out the murder could support this idea, along with her being reduced to what we see of her nearer the end after she carried out actions that were associated with men. This could be perceived as a kind of punishment for denying her femininity. Although this is a possibility I think that from what we see of women in other Shakespeare plays such as Twelfth Night his attitude seems to be very advanced for the time, and he does pretty much present the two sexes as equal throughout his work, and so I feel that he probably isn’t trying to convey a negative attitude to Lady Macbeth because of her gender.

Another suggestion is that he is trying to illustrate how emotions can be vulnerability in the way that the murder was a success until Lady Macbeth started to cave under the guilt and allowed her more emotional side to take control. Personally however, I feel that it’s simply exemplifying how everything has consequences and has the ability to escape your control. I think this because Lady Macbeth was an extremely important part in the beginning of the play but wasn’t even on stage for her death, which is unusual because without her the murder of Duncan would have probably not happened at all and so the whole plot is dependant on her character.

One way to explain this is that Lady Macbeth ‘created a monster’ so to speak, and although their relationship was matriarchal (which was very unusual for the time), Macbeth started to break away from her and she began to lose control of him; for example, the murder of Banquo. She presents an outwardly stable foundation of control in which she grasps. As Macbeth becomes less dependent on his wife, she loses more control. She loses control of her husband, but mostly, of herself, proving her unstable truth. She no longer matters to Macbeth and it becomes impossible for her to finish what she started. The consequence of Lady Macbeth’s insistence to make Macbeth more ambitious and to take the life of the King was that it made him feel he had to prove his bravery even more and ended up seeing murder as the only way to achieve what he wanted and he slowly but surely became a slave to his own ambition.

Ironically, both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth died because of the very things they saw as the most important, whether directly or indirectly. In conclusion, the ultimate reason in my opinion that Shakespeare chooses to allow Lady Macbeth’s character to change so considerably, leading to her seemingly inconsequential death, is to demonstrate that although some people may be easily influenced, it is impossible to control someone. Lady Macbeth tried to control Macbeth for her own means to become Queen, but made it so he got to a point where no-one mattered, and once she couldn’t make him prove his love for her anymore, she was left with nothing but her guilty conscience to contend with, which became the death of her.

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Unveiling the Dark Ambition: Exploring Lady Macbeth’s Quotes in Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”

William Shakespeare's tragedy "Macbeth" is renowned for its compelling characters and powerful themes. Among them, Lady Macbeth stands as a complex and enigmatic figure whose ambition and manipulation drive the narrative forward. This article explores Lady Macbeth's character, intentions, and the enormous influence she has on the play's events via her key quotations. Lady Macbeth's most

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William Shakespeare

How Lady Macbeth changes throughout the play

Shakespeare GCSE Coursework

How Lady Macbeth changes throughout the play

In Elizabethan times, Lady Macbeth would most definately have made a big impression to an audience watching this performance. The women who lived when Elizabeth I was on the throne were to keep a healthy family or to substain the well-being of a wealthy man. Lady Macbeth on the other hand was a woman of power, a bit like Elizabeth, or so it seemed........

We first meet Lady Macbeth in Act 1 scene 5 where she reads the letter she has recently recieved from Macbeth. It is immediately obvious that the couple are close. Macbeth addresses Lady Macbeth as

'my dearest partner of greatness' referring that they share their successes and do everything together. He says

'........what greatness is promised thee.' which shows that he is willing to share the things they are promised by the witches.

As soon as Lady Macbeth hears about the riches that the witches had forseen, she says

'Glamis thou art and Cawdor and shalt be/what thou art promised' There is no doubt about it, Macbeth WILL be King. She doesnt ponder on what Macbeth might say or how it will be done, she knows that Macbeth can and will be King.

When she hears that the current king, Duncan will be coming to their castle that evening, her first instincts are to kill him as she says to herself in Act 1 sc 5;

'..........The raven himself is hoarse that croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan......' (The raven croaking above a house was the sign that death was near.) This line makes Lady Macbeth seem a very murderous character.Although Lady Macbeth has made her mind up, she is also very worried that she cant do the deed without Macbeth's help. Lady Macbeth believes that he is ‘too full of the milk of human kindness’ to commit the murder and become king. She says that he is, ‘not without ambition, but without / The illness should attend it;’ in which Shakespeare shows this contrast between herself and Macbeth and her belief that he is weak and not evil enough to make the most of his ambition. So Lady Macbeth does the most she can by inviting the evil spirits to enter her. 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;' Here she is saying that she wants all the spirits to come and take away all the traces of her femininity and make her as mentally strong as a man so that no kind feelings can get through and prevent her from murdering Duncan.This sounds like she is casting a spell and her language is black and witch-like as she calls on the spirits. Also what she is demanding - having her femininity and conscience removed - is completely unnatural and this is how the witches are seen by the audience.

In this scene, Lady Macbeth is portrayed as a strong-willed, determined character. She is very ruthless and ambitious, and knows what she wants.

When Macbeth arrives, Lady Macbeth congradulates him on what the witches have forseen...maybe she isnt as bad as she seems... She then gets straight to the point. '....The future is instant' She is carried away with delight, and what has been promised has become real and actual to her. She doesnt hesitate to tell Macbeth her plans, so it shows that she isnt worried by what Macbeth might say and trusts him completely. She is also seen as the most dominant of the two, as she is the first to speak when he arrives, and doesn't let him speak until she has told him her plans. Lady Macbeth's 'And when goes hence?' can be interpreted in many ways, but it is most likely that Shakespeare has her trying to discover Macbeth's feelings and whether he is plotting to kill Duncan without actually asking him. Once Macbeth has given her the answer she does not want she makes it quite clear to him what she intends to do. Instead of saying, 'The sun may never see that morrow' she states it as a fact that Duncan will not survive the night, which makes it very difficult for Macbeth to disagree with her. She then says,

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'look like the innocent flower, / But be the serpent under't.' which is an example of the recurring theme of the difference between appearance and reality. Again she makes it difficult for him to disagree by telling him to do something rather than suggesting it or asking. She is acting to move events forward as quickly as possible and now she has made up her mind she will not let anything get in the way of her ambition. She says, 'you shall put / This night's great business into my dispatch;' and when Macbeth tries to suggest that he does not want to go ahead with the scheme and says, 'We will speak further,' she ignores him and says 'leave all the rest to me.' In this scene Shakespeare makes it quite clear that she is in control of her husband and the situation and shows more of the strength of her character. It also seems that Macbeth may be a bit afraid of Lady Macbeth when she says 'We will speak further', he doesnt answer back or say what he thinks but instead puts the conversation off.

Lady Macbeth finishes with the line 'Leave all the rest to me' suggesting that he should step aside and let her deal with the rest in case he ruins her plans. She is definately the more dominant character, and seems a very strong woman to take the role that the man usually plays.

When Lady Macbeth greets Duncan as he arrives in her castle, she acts very welcoming and promises Duncan that the people of her castle remain nothing but people who can pray for him, for they can not pay him in any other way, as shown in Act 1 sc 6; 'We rest your hermits'. She uses this act to cover up her feelings, mind you without Macbeth, Lady Macbeth wouldnt be feeling this way. Lady Macbeth is planning the murder for their benifit and not just hers. Like in the letter, she still feels they work together for each other (Although she is taking the deed into her own hands)

Lady Macbeth seems much more kind and sweet in this scene, compared to how she was in scene 5.

In act 1 sc 7, Lady Macbeth is seen in a new light. She spends most of the scene trying to pursuade Macbeth to agree with her plans. The most reasonable explanation for this behaviour is that now she has met Duncan along with his fellow Lords and all that are there with him, and realised what a kind character he is, some of the evil has drained out of her and she is now realising what she is going to have to do in order to get the crown for her husband, seeing as she is taking it into her own hands.

Once Macbeth has decided in his soliloquy not to kill Duncan, he tries to be assertive in communicating this to Lady Macbeth and says, ‘We will proceed no further in this business.’ However she scorns him, suggests he is a coward and undermines his manliness. She says,

‘Woulds’t thou have that … (you) live a coward in thine own esteem, Letting “I dare not” wait upon “I would”?’ and, ‘When you durst do it, then you were a man;/And, to be more than you were, you would/Be so much more the man.'

Lady Macbeth is trying to convince Macbeth that the murder can be done. Here, her attitude has changed completely from where she first told Macbeth that the murder was going to happen. Macbeth is hailed by Duncan as 'Worthy Macbeth' and is obviously seen to have manly qualities such as bravery, but this does not satisfy Lady Macbeth whose vision of manliness involves putting ambition first and doing everything possible to make ambition reality. As a woman in this society she is expected to be gentle and fade into the background behind her husband and so any power she can have must be through Macbeth and the knowledge of this is what drives her to her dominance over him in private. Macbeth knows what her view of a man is and that he has to satisfy it and so Lady Macbeth manages to manipulate him by suggesting that he is not a man in her eyes.

Lady Macbeth is a very pursuasive character, and is obviously very impressionable because the murder does take place in the end.

With all the panic and desperate excitement of the murder, Lady Macbeth still seems to be in control. It isnt actually Lady Macbeth who drives Macbeth to commit the dreadful crime, Macbeth has visions as he is walking about the castle in the dark. The dagger he sees before him leads the way to the King.

After the murder, Macbeth appears shocked and afraid. Lady Macbeth comforts him and assures him he has done well. Lady Macbeth was really there as the power of the plan. She told Macbeth what to do, and he reported back to her when he had completed the task. The result was to share between them, so they worked together. Lady Macbeth although she seems evil, is actually a loving wife. She cares what Macbeth feels after he has killed Duncan, and stays with him as he washes his hands, instead of leaving to go to bed. They go together. Shakespeare has portrayed the two of them to be totally dependent upon one another and to complement each other perfectly.

After the murder of Duncan has been committed, it is Lady Macbeth who tries to convince the remorseful and ashamed Macbeth that 'what's done cannot be undone' and that there is no need to feel guilt. She says,

‘These deeds must not be thought/After these ways; so it will make us mad.’

She is uneasy and tense and is worried when Macbeth says that he thinks he has heard voices but she hides this concern and takes control of the situation, trying once again to spur Macbeth on and taunt him with suggestions that he is weak and unmanly. She says, ‘You do unbend your noble strength to think/So brainsickly of things’ and calls him ‘infirm of purpose’.

It is vital that one of them remains in control and even though she is anxious herself, it is Lady Macbeth. She is the collected one of the pair and the one able to conceal her feelings and keep her calm.

The first turning point of the relationship comes in Act Two Scene Two when Lady Macbeth asks Macbeth to do the deed of killing Duncan. She says, ‘Had he not resembled/my father as he slept, I had done’t.’. This is the first indication Shakespeare gives that Lady Macbeth has a conscience and is not pure evil.

The morning after the murder, Lady Macbeth performs her eye-catching faint. This is either because she is actually quite nervous now that everyone has found out that the king has been brutally murdered, and is finding all the accusations quite hard to take in or is trying to get the attention on her. She may think that Macbeth might say something, and that the people around him will see through him and find out who actually killed the king.While Macbeth is talking so much, Lady Macbeth is almost silent. It is possible that she is trying to assume the expected role as the lady of the house and therefore tries to be ladylike and gentle, but it could also be interpreted that Shakespeare is showing her to be uneasy about the murder and the beginning of a reversal of the roles of herself and Macbeth as he takes over. I think its a genuine faint, because ever since the king arrived, Lady Macbeth seemed to get weaker, especially as she pictured her father after the murder of Duncan.

Now that Macbeth is king, Lady Macbeth and Macbeth seem to be drifting further apart. The breakdown in communication between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth is illustrated in Act Three Scene Two where Lady Macbeth has to ask permission to speak to her own husband. She says to a servant, ‘Say to the king, I would attend his leisure/For a few words.’ This formality is probably partly due to Macbeth’s rise to th throne, but this and the impersonal use of ‘the king’ rather than ‘my husband’ or his name suggest a drift between the two characters. In Lady Macbeth's four line soliliquy, she says; 'Nought's had, all's spent/Where our desire is got without content'

Here she is saying that nothing is gained, everything is lost when what they had wished for was brought without hapiness. She is basically saying that she is not content with what is going on between her and Macbeth. They are drifting apart and she knows it, although he may not. She still supports him; She says, ‘Be bright and jovial among your guests tonight:’ and tries to be cheerful herself. Macbeth is seeing himself to be superior to her. He says, ‘Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck,’ which is an example of the patronising language he is beginning to use. Macbeth speaks far more than Lady Macbeth in this conversation and is certainly becoming more dominant which shows a role-reversal from previous scenes where she has dominated him.

Lady Macbeth really shows her caring side at the banquet, when Banquo's ghost arrives. As soon as Macbeth starts seeing Banquo in his place, Lady Macbeth reassures the guests that Macbeth is having a fit and that he has been having them since he was a child; 'The fit is momentary.....' Even though she doesnt really know whats happening, and what he is really seeing, she still supports him. She knows that their marriage is breaking down, but she doesnt hesitate to help him out and avoid embarrassment, because she still loves him and hopes for their marriage to continue.

Lady Macbeth is suddenly portayed as a more caring character-a major comparison to when she was inviting the evil spirits to enter her, in Act1 sc 5. She notices that he hasn't his full strength here, so slips in a word or two to get him to his feet. She knows that her pursuasion was successful before the murder, so she uses it here. 'Are you a man?' she demands. He says he is and she replys; 'O proper stuff!' in other words, Rubbish! Lady Macbeth talks more than she usually had in this scene. Its mainly because Macbeth is so weak that he can't reply so strongly. The ghost finally disappears, and Lady Macbeth orders the guests to leave so that Macbeth has space and time to recover. She has been quite motherly in this scene, as though she has got her old Macbeth back at last, and its the only time that the two of them have a reasonable conversation together after he became king.

Lady Macbeth starts to lose her mind in Act 5 sc 1 when she sleepwalks while being observed by the doctor and gentlewoman. In this later scene, Lady Macbeth has lost all of her control and this is immediately shown by the breakdown of her sentence structure. She is speaking in prose rather than verse and the sentences and ideas do not appear to be linked. For example she says, 'Out, damned spot! out I say! One; two; why then ‘tis/time to do’t. Hell is murky! Fie, my lord, fie! a soldier/and afeard?’ She seems to be hallucinating and is obsessed with blood and washing her hands (of guilt). It appears that she feels guilty for all of the murders that have taken place even though it was Macbeth and not her who committed them. She refers to the scenes after the murder was committed, and we suddenly realise that she wasn't all that evil, as these memories have stuck in her mind, and must have affected her in some way. We were thinking that Lady Macbeth was heartless to have murdered a living being, and not felt too ashamed, but all along she was hiding her guilt and trying to act strong. Without Macbeth she can have no power and her ambition for him made her the strong woman she was. Gaining power for Macbeth was the meaning of her life and what she dedicated her whole life to. Now she and Macbeth are distant, she is powerless, has no reason to be strong and has lost the meaning of her life, which has led to her breaking down.

Now that her marriage was breaking in two, Lady Macbeth was having all these nightmares of all the things that she had done with Macbeth and the fact that they were her fault when they weren't.

Lady Macbeth is a very loyal character seeing as even though she drove herself to this madness, she has always stood next to Macbeth and protected him, and know she's blaming herself for all the things that he has done. She loves him so much, and this is shown in all scenes, but especially in this one.

Lady Macbeth is finally driven to taking her own life by the confusion and heartbreak that is caused.

Malcolm refers to her as a 'fiend-like queen' This tells us that although she tried so hard to convince people that she was a harmless quiet woman, her power showed through. I don't think fiend-like is a good description of her, as she was only trying to find power for her husband in the first place.

Lady Macbeth’s madness shows how incomplete she is without him by her side and I think that he is also incomplete without her. In the beginning of the play Shakespeare shows how well they work together, how they complement each other’s characters and how much he needs her. Although he believes he can work alone, once she is dead it is inevitable that surely he must die too. Much of the play shows events turning full-circle and so because she fell from being a strong character and he now appears to be the strong one, he too must be expected to fall. I believe that the breakdown in communication and distance between the Macbeths is a significant cause of the tragic ending to the play as each of them is one of a pair and when the pair is broken neither of them can function properly or cope alone.

You can see at the beginning of the play, that Lady Macbeth is very close to her husband and wishes for them each to share their success together, but her character completely changes through the play. At the start, she is a single-minded, strong character and uses strong, clear,emphatic language. Definately the stronger of the two, her ideas are focused unlike Macbeth.

She has a very masculine side to her character in some ways. She bemoans the fact that she is a woman; 'unsex me here...' and wishes for 'direst cruelty' to help her towards her goal.

Lady Macbeth knows that Macbeth isnt very strong minded so she is very critical of him all the way through the play, but not nastily. She treats him like a child as if its a motherly instinct she has picked up, which shows her more feminine side, and helps Macbeth murder Duncan for ambition and for her husband instead of just for her.

Lady Macbeth is also a good actress, welcoming Duncan and concealing her feelings. Most importantly, she is always in control.

After the murder, her character starts to change, becoming tense and uneasy, as if she has finally realised what her ambition has done. Once Macbeth is King, Lady Macbeth starts to adopt a less dominant role as if she has swapped roles with her husband.Her language reflects this when she asks to speak to Macbeth instead of just walking in on his privacy. She seems a little unsure of herself and has doubts about their relationship. She is still supportive though, as shown when Macbeth sees Banquos ghost at the banquet. She still seems anxious as she makes excuses for his behaviour, saying he has had fits like this ever since he was young.

Lady Macbeth is more caring towards Macbeth through this scene, but still taunts him about his masculinity. Her character starts to deteriorate with the sleepwalking scene and she begins to lose her reason, with disjointed ideas and speech. She is apparently now haunted by guilt where before she was prepared to commit murder. She may be afraid that Macbeth doesn't need her and this adds to her insecurity. Now that her ambition fo her husband has been forfilled, she feels unwanted and alone. She is in effect incomplete without him, and drives herself to suicide.

How Lady Macbeth changes throughout the play

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Characters - AQA Macbeth in Macbeth

Macbeth has a small cast of characters. Macbeth and his wife, Lady Macbeth have the main roles and their ambition and eventual downfall is key to the storyline.

Part of English Literature Macbeth

Macbeth in Macbeth

Macbeth is a complex character who changes throughout the course of the play. He is clearly a brave warrior and leader at the start of the drama but he falls victim to the Witches' predictions. It is unclear whether they plant ideas in his mind or whether they simply highlight thoughts that he has already had. In a series of soliloquies close soliloquy A speech performed by a character, often depicting that person thinking or talking aloud to his or herself. he repeatedly questions himself about his motives for killing the King but is eventually persuaded to continue by his forceful wife.

Having committed murder he finds himself caught in a spiral of evil from which he can see no escape. His actions become less heroic and more cowardly as he continues to murder and terrorise others in order to hold on to his power. Towards the end of the play, when he realises that he is doomed, he briefly returns to his old heroic self.

Macbeth, featuring labels that highlight him as ambitious, brave, changeable and having a guilty conscience

Social and historical context

A king in Shakespeare's time was thought to rule by 'divine right'. This meant that God had chosen that person directly to rule over others. The killing of a king (known as regicide) was therefore considered to be just about the worst crime that anyone could commit. That is why Macbeth's decision to murder Duncan seemed so horrific to an audience of the time and why the murderer has such a guilty conscience. The new King on the throne of England, James I (also known as James VI of Scotland), was paranoid about assassination attempts. This was unsurprising, since the infamous Gunpowder Plot to blow up the King and Parliament had taken place just months before Macbeth was first performed.

Analysing the evidence

Is this a dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee: I have thee not, and yet I see thee still. Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible To feeling as to sight? Or art thou but A dagger of the mind, a false creation, Proceeding from the heat-oppressèd brain? I see thee yet, in form as palpable As this which now I draw.

Why are these thoughts key to Macbeth's future character and actions?

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How to analyse the quote:

"Is this a dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee: I have thee not, and yet I see thee still. Art thou not, fatal vision , sensible To feeling as to sight? Or art thou but A dagger of the mind, a false creation , Proceeding from the heat-oppressèd brain? I see thee yet , in form as palpable As this which now I draw ." (Act 2 Scene 1)

'dagger' / 'a dagger of the mind' - the Macbeths intend to use a dagger as the murder weapon. After the murder Macbeth's conscience will continue to stab him - just like a dagger
'I have thee not, and yet I see thee still' / 'I see thee yet' - Macbeth's mind is very confused as he tries to hold the non-existent weapon
'fatal vision' / 'false creation' - is the dagger something conjured up by evil spirits or Macbeth's own conscience?
'this which now I draw' - Macbeth compares the imaginary dagger to the one he is actually holding

How to use this in an essay:

Macbeth is again having doubts about murdering Duncan and sees a vision of the intended murder weapon - a 'dagger of the mind' . He is not totally certain at this stage whether the dagger has been sent by evil spirits to torment him ( 'fatal vision' ) or whether it has been invented by his own overactive imagination and his guilty conscience ( 'false creation' ). Although he can see it clearly he cannot physically hold it ( 'I have thee not, and yet I see thee still' / 'I see thee yet' ). So he grasps the real dagger which he is carrying ( 'this which now I draw' ) as his troubled mind begins to fill with images of evil and thoughts of death.