Lady Macbeth as a Tyrannical Villain
In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is made to act as a catalyst in Lord Macbeth’s evildoings. Even though Lord Macbeth is generally the one to have the final say in the many killings that take place in the play, Lady Macbeth plays the role of a tyrannical villain alongside him. She mocks her Lord if he frets over something she has instructed him to do, saying he would be less of a man if he does not follow through on their plan (I. vii. 56-57). She gives Lord Macbeth a short lecture in deceptiveness when they are planning to kill King Duncan (I. vi. 73-78). She also prepared the daggers for Macbeth to kill Duncan in advance (II. ii. 15-16). Though her Lord was still having doubts, she was, in the most literal sense, ready to go in for the kill. Clearly demonstrating another villainous characteristic other than self- gain, Lady Macbeth shows the fear of getting caught when she unintentionally gives herself away in her sleep (V. i. 33, 37-42, 44-47, 53-55, 65-67, 69-72). Though her fear can suppress itself during a conscious state of being, she can do nothing about it when she is asleep. Throughout the play and leading up to her eventual suicide, Lady Macbeth slowly weakens. Yet, in the beginning of
When she yells about ridding herself of Duncan’s blood, she is presenting a metaphor: she does not truly want to be rid of Duncan’s blood itself, but rather the fear and guilt that his murder has forced upon her. the play, she acts as if she is unstoppable. She was too eager to kill; she seemed to be only interested in her own personal gain and possibly her husband’s gain, because she couldn’t 5have had one without the other. Lady Macbeth seems to realize that her husband probably will not go through with the murder of Duncan until she pushes him to the point of no return, so she prepares everything in advance. 50-52)However, Macbeth does not seem to fully convince her, because he is still mocked by his wife. When Macbeth has his doubts and fears about murdering the loyal Duncan, Lady Macbeth chastises him, calling him everything from a coward to a helpless baby (I. Yet she still had her husband commit the crime, whether it was because she was actually scared to do so, or because she wanted him to feel empowered. Even before that early point in the play, Lady Macbeth has already demonstrated that she is two-faced. Usually, though she has to nudge her husband a bit before he takes action, Macbeth is relatively obedient. Yet most of what happened was due to Lady Macbeth’s doings. Either way, Lady Macbeth was definitely ready for Duncan to die. 76-78), not only is she doing this so that Macbeth will not give himself away, but so that he will not give her away in the meantime. “Had he not resembled/ My father as he slept, I had done ‘t” (II.
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