Macbeth
1. Trace the progress of the character of Lady Macbeth in the play. Who is she the first time we see her? How does she change? What is the importance of the "sleep-walking" scene? How do you feel about her at the end of the play?Macbeth is intrigued by the witches' prophecy-that he will be crowned king-might be true, but he is uncertain what to expect. He visits with King Duncan, and they plan to dine together at Macbeth's castle that night. Macbeth writes ahead to his wife, Lady Macbeth, telling her all that has happened. Lady Macbeth suffers none of her husband's uncertainty. She desires the kingship for him and wants him to murder Duncan in order to obtain it. When Macbeth arrives she overrides all of her husband's objections and persuades him to kill the king that very night. He and Lady Macbeth plan to get Duncan's two chamberlains drunk so they will past out; the next morning they will blame the murder o
The invasion has the support of the Scottish nobles, who are shocked by Macbeth's murderous behavior. Lady Macbeth, meanwhile, becomes plagued with fits of sleepwalking in which she believes to be bloodstains on her hands. While Duncan is asleep, Macbeth stabs him. who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?" she asks as she wanders through the halls of their castle near the close of the play (Act V). n the chamberlains, who will be defenseless, as they will remember nothing. Blood is everywhere in Macbeth, beginning with the opening battle between the Scots and the Norwegian invaders. After the fighthing begings, Lady Macbeth falls victim to guilt and madness to an even greater degree than her husband. Early in the play she seems to be the stronger and more ruthless of the two, as she urges her husband to kill Duncan and seize the crown. When Duncan's death is discovered the next morning, Macbeth kills the chamberlains and easily assumes the kingship. Once Macbeth and Lady Macbeth embark upon their murderous journey, blood comes to symbolize their guilt, and they begin to feel that their crimes have stained them in a way that cannot be washed clean. Once the sense of guilt comes, Lady Macbeth's sensitivity becomes a weakness, and she is unable to cope. When we first see her, she is already plotting Duncan's murder, and she is stronger, more ruthless, and more ambitious than her husband. At one point, she wishes that she were not a woman so that she could do it herself.
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