Essay On How Does Shakespeare Present Lady Macbeth's Relationship

Explore the Relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth.

Macbeth was written in Jacobean England, which could be considered one of the most prejudiced times in British history. Debatably, the relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth is one of the most significant aspects of the play. At first Shakespeare implies that the relationship is not as it should be contextually. We see that Lady Macbeth is in control at first and her husband is a passive character. However, this radically changes during the course of the play. Macbeth later conforms to a more stereotypical role with his wife submitting to a lower status than him. During the play we can also identify the love and reliance upon each other changes substantially.

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Macbeth becomes the more dominant partner and acts without Lady Macbeth. During Act 3 Scene 2 Lady Macbeth enters the scene with a servant. Following this, she does not question Macbeth directly, but asks the servant ‘Is Banquo gone from the court’. This indicates a change in routine, as not only would Lady Macbeth directly ask her husband and conspire with him, she would have commanded him. It also shows that the murder of King Duncan has additionally disassociated Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s relationship and is not as simple as it originally seemed. The idea that Macbeth is more dominant than Lady Macbeth is supported by the structure of the conversation between the couple. Lady Macbeth speaks an insignificant 11 lines compared to Macbeth’s 41 lines. Moreover Macbeth predominantly speaks in imperatives –‘sleek’, ‘be’, ‘Let’, ‘present’-suggesting that his partner is of a lower status than him. Furthermore, Lady Macbeth’s last line is a question, which is in accordance with the conventions of a patriarchal society whereby women required permission from their partner in all aspects of life – ‘what’s to be done?’. In act 3 Scene 2, Shakespeare intentionally highlights the role reversal by Macbeth telling his wife to ‘Be innocent of the knowledge dearest chuck, Till thou applaud the deed’. This reminds the audience of when Lady Macbeth was in the dominant position and told Macbeth to ‘look

His anxiety and paranoia is further reinforced by the appearance of the ‘Ghost of Banquo’, showing that he is not able to repress his conscience and requires help, however he does not choose Lady Macbeth for this. It is evident that Macbeth has become increasingly dependent on the supernatural and not his wife, as he will ‘[speak] to the weird sisters’. This suggests that Macbeth does not need succour and intelligence from Lady Macbeth – it could be argued that the reason for this is that their relationship has deteriorated far beyond repair and the communication between them is deprived. Contextually this is accurate, as men did not need the assistance from women. Similarly, Lady Macbeth also suffers from anxiety. In Act V scene II, Lady Macbeth is seen consulting a doctor about her sleep walking-this is highly ironic as Lady Macbeth had repeatedly calmed Macbeth’s anxieties to boost her ambitions