Murder. The word itself evokes a feeling of uneasiness, a feeling that is undeniably abnormal. And what causes a person to murder? What attributes must a person possess to drive them to such an unnatural act? Through her soliloquy, Lady Macbeth uses extensive imagery and diction to convey exactly what characteristics make her capable of murder. Lady Macbeth begins her soliloquy using a metaphor which denotes the raven to be an omen of evil. This raven, which “croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan / under my battlements” (1.5.36-37) symbolizes to her that it is destined that the king should die under her roof. Taking this as a clear sign, she begins to call on the “spirits / that tend on mortal thoughts” (1.5.37-38) asking them to “unsex me here / and fill me, from the crown to the toe, top-full / of direst cruelty” (1.5.38-40). In these words, Lady Macbeth seeks to not only rid herself of feminine weakness, but of the natural human response of guilt that would accompany …show more content…
She calls on the night to “pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell” (1.5.48) so that “my keen knife see not the wound it makes” (1.5.49). By requesting a darkness that covers her actions like a “pall” (a shroud used to cover dead bodies), not even her own knife knows the cruel reality of her plan. She intends to keep the murder concealed, so that not even the “heavens peep through the blanket of the dark / to cry ‘Hold, hold!’” (1.5.50-51). In her mind, the darkness is the only way she can be safe and subsequently succeed in her plan. Through the imagery and diction used in this soliloquy, Lady Macbeth reveals what traits she possesses that make her able to manifest such a wicked idea. Her determination, while admirable, is almost manic, and it is clear by the end of the soliloquy that her character has what it takes to commit a