Lady Macbeth
In Act I, Scene 1, of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the audience is finally introduced to Lady Macbeth. The audience learns a lot about the character of Lady Macbeth from her soliloquies in this scene. In her first soliloquy, it is revealed that Lady Macbeth knows her husband very well. After reading Macbeth’s letter about the witches’ prophecies, Lady Macbeth says, “Yet do I fear thy nature, / It is too full o’ the milk of human kindness/ To catch the nearest way.” (I, 5, 16-18) Lady Macbeth is determined that Macbeth will become King Of Scotland and that she herself will become Queen. Although, Lady . . .
She is making reference to the fact that Macbeth’s ambition of becoming King Of Scotland requires for him to murder Duncan; which would go against his morals because he admires Duncan. She says to the evil spirits, “Come you spirits / That tend on moral thoughts, unsex me here / And fill me from the crown to the toe, top full / Of direst cruelty: make thick my blood. When she says, “Unsex me here”, she is asking the spirits to eliminate her womanly feelings. Women were not thought of as murderers. It is important to understand Lady Macbeth’s character so that the audience can interpret her character into the rest of the story and recognize why she is so important. Macbeth believes that Macbeth is too good of a man to murder King Duncan; which is what he needs to do in order to become King. Lady Macbeth wants her feminine feelings to vanish so that she would be able to possess the ability to kill. In conclusion, in these soliloquies, the audience meets a new character that becomes a very significant part of the plot. Also, the audience learns about Lady Macbeth’s murderous thoughts in her invocation to the evil spirits. ” (I, 5, 40-43) Here, Lady Macbeth is calling on the evil spirits to assist her. She also asks the spirits to fill her head to toe with evil and cruelty. Lady Macbeth sees kindness as a negative characteristic in this quote. Another thing that is revealed about Lady Macbeth’s character is what she believes about good and evil. During Shakespeare’s time, women were considered to be more kind than men.
Common topics in this essay:
Lady Macbeth, Lady Macbeths, King Scotland, lady macbeth, Shakespeares Macbeth, Act Scene, lady macbeths, evil spirits, lady macbeths character, king scotland, audience learns, macbeths character, revealed lady, macbeth audience, |
Acceptance Essays
