Lady Macbeth
"Lady Macbeth is a powerful and dramatic character, but her death at the end of the play is no surprise to the audience."Discuss this statement with close reference to the text."Macbeth" is one of the most famous tragedies written in the Elizabethan times by William Shakespeare for King James 1. Set in Scotland, it details the story of man, so desperate for the status of king, that he will do anything to achieve it. As an established 'good and hardy soldier', and quite content within that role, Macbeth is surprised to find some witches who predict his reign as king.'All hail Macbeth! who shalt be king hereafter.' (Act 1 scene 3)On informing his wife, Lady Macbeth, he soon embarks on a killing spree that doesn't end until both partners' demise. However, Macbeth could not have committed the first few crimes without the help and insistence of his wife. She acts as the fate the witches spoke of to make him king and yet ironically is mainly responsible for aggravating Macbeth's struggle between morality and ambition. She has a hugely diverse character, and this helps plant the seed of Macbeth's, and her own, eventual downfall.Lady Macbeth receives a letter from Macbeth at the beginning of the play, telling h
' (Act 1 scene 7)Lady Macbeth is very committed to carrying out the crime. Macbeth's madness pushes him and his wife further and further apart, which is not at all what she wanted. It is now apparent to the audience the power she initially possessed is being lost. By the end of the play, just before the British army attack Macbeth's castle, Lady Macbeth has dissociated from the horror she feels she has become. She says if she were the mother of a baby, she would have the 'nipple pluck'd from his boneless gums And dashed the brains out' had she made a promise to do so. She makes the example that it is unmanly to go back on promises which she claims Macbeth has made to kill King Duncan. She also prepares herself to work her husband into a murderous state of mind, as she believes him to be 'too full o' the milk of human kindness To catch the nearest way. 'Laying the daggers ready' is all she can manage, even though she claims 'had he not looked like my father as he slept, I had done't. When Macbeth arrives home, she advises him to put on an innocent face and leave the rest to her. ' This quote shows that she may have not felt fully confident with the plot, as she needs alcohol to make her confident with what she's doing. This puts a great strain on her, as she was not expecting it. Although the play never actually says she committed suicide, it is fair to assume she did, based on her state of mind at that time. Lady Macbeth at this point in the play is quite certainly unaware of what she is getting herself into, having never contemplated anything of this degree before, let alone carried it out, and so is unequipped to foresee the madness that will later ensue. Such a horrendous description shows Lady Macbeth's desperateness for Macbeth's commitment.
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