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Lady Macbeth: A True Villain

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The character of Lady Macbeth is extremely complex, she can be viewed as either a guilt ridden wife; fallen victim to her circumstances. Or a villain who is responsible for the horrific events of Shakespeare’s tragedy “Macbeth”. I believe that Lady Macbeth’s malicious intent and actions throughout “Macbeth” clearly present her as the real villain of the play, despite the conflict of her character. Significantly, Lady Macbeth would have been a unique character in Shakespearian times; she is a powerful woman who clearly controls the weaker Macbeth certainly until the onset of her demise. Her dominant characterisation would have been unsettling at the time when “Macbeth” was written; a time when women were oppressed. Lady Macbeth transcends …show more content…

These aspects of Lady Macbeth’s character are undoubtedly positive and contrast starkly with her actions, hence emphasising the theme of conflict in the play. Lady Macbeth is shown to have some good aspects; therefore one could argue that Lady Macbeth is a victim of other characters responsible for her circumstances. Although, despite the role of the witches; providing the prophecy that begins Lady Macbeth’s descent into evil and Macbeth; bringing strife to Scotland. I believe that Lady Macbeth's role in murdering Duncan and her representation of negative themes presents her as the real villain of the tragedy “Macbeth”. Lady Macbeth acts on the witches prophecy with malevolence and Shakespeare presents Macbeth as a tool of his wife, which Lady Macbeth uses to fulfil her …show more content…

Here Shakespeare clearly uses unnatural imagery with the intent of relating Lady Macbeth to the supernatural, a theme associated with evil in the 1600’s: Further emphasising her role as a villain. In addition, Lady Macbeth is partially responsible for Macbeth’s transition into the villain or “beast” he becomes in the latter acts of the play. Many consider Macbeth to be the main villain of the play, however, he is clearly not a natural villain whereas Lady Macbeth is. She convinces Macbeth to murder and to lie, she is clearly the facilitator of his development into a villain. Moreover she is the facilitator of the development of evil within the

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Shakespeare's “Macbeth” is a play that is fundamentally about ambition, guilt, and power of manipulation. It demonstartes the lengths that people may go to in order to achieve a goal. One of the protagonists, known as Lady Macbeth, is a character that deomnstartes the themes of ambition and the power of manipulation. Macbeth had the ambition to kill Duncan in order to become king. If it wasn’t for his wife, Lady Macbeth, he would not have done so.

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In Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth, it is surprising how different the character Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are, despite the fact that they are married. In act I, scene V, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth act as foil characters with differing characteristics that will foreshadow later events in the play. Macbeth displays honesty and kindness, where Lady Macbeth shows greed and lust for power, which foreshadows that later in the play, she will push him to commit crimes to get what she wants. From her soliloquy in act I, scene V, Lady Macbeth shows greed and lust for power. She talks about her husband being too kind to seize what he secretly wants, and what fate has in store for him.

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In this play lady Macbeth plays a very important part of the Macbeth story. Without Lady Macbeth, Macbeth would have lived and prospered, being a prime example on how women influence men. Lady Macbeth is often seen as a cruel, manipulative and ruthless woman; by using Macbeth‘s love for her own ambitions, she can more easily persuade him into killing King Duncan, due to Macbeth’s blind love and trust in her. At the beginning of the play Macbeth is a trusted person, who is very honest.

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Because of the evil manipulation of her husband, Lady MacBeth deserves the title of the true villain of The Tragedy of MacBeth. After reading a letter from MacBeth describing the prophecy of the witches, Lady MacBeth immediately plots to kill King Duncan so that her husband could take the crown, making her queen of Scotland. Using insults and constant reassurance, she finally convinced him to murder the king, promising that they wouldn’t be suspected. Lady MacBeth taunted, “Art thou afeard to be the same in thine own act as thou art in desire?” (Act I, scene iv).

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1048 Words | 5 Pages

At first she does not seem like the villain. However, throughout the story you see how she is the reason for the entire evil that is happening. She is characterized as a “dramatic role of a woman who has all the good lines”(Teague). Lady Macbeth sneakily persuades her husband into murder and other ghastly things. Although Macbeth is the one who actually committed all of these crimes, Lady Macbeth is portrayed as the evil one who is using her husband for her own personal

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1670 Words | 7 Pages

Throughout the play, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth deviate from how they began in the play. Lady Macbeth begins as a evil woman who convinces her innocent husband to kill Duncan to gain the power of kingdom. But as the play progresses she becomes haunted by her actions and kills herself. Her innocent husband becomes corrupt with power and evil and destroys all in his path. Even though Lady Macbeth was the one who made her husband kill in the beginning, Macbeth is the character powering the evil.

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As the wife of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth has substantial power over the mindset of Macbeth. Because of this, Lady Macbeth is among one of the most influential characters in The Tragedy of Macbeth. She is evil because she is the one who convinces Macbeth to kill Duncan and pursue his own desire to become king, manipulates Macbeth by insulting his manhood, and wishes that she was a

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Lady Macbeth is Evil Humans are capable of great compassion, as well as great cruelty. Often they will go to great lengths and use any means necessary to accomplish their goals. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth in Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Macbeth are guilty of employing heinous ruthlessness to achieve the goal of ruling Scotland. Spurred by Macbeth’s letter of the witches’ prophecies, Lady Macbeth begins a journey which demonstrates her dark and cruel nature ultimately bringing about the downfall of her husband and herself.

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She challenges and drives Macbeth to kill King Duncan. “Quote” Had Lady Macbeth not persuaded her weak husband to kill duncan, this whole quarrel would have been avoided . Although Lady Macbeth started it, she was not a pure villain. In Act 5, scene 1 she has nightmares while sleepwalking about Banquo and the blood on her hands. A real villain would not feel guilty after committing a crime.

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Macbeth, the protagonist of the play, is initially presented as a brave and loyal soldier. However, as the story unfolds, we see his true nature, which is that of a power-hungry and ruthless murderer. The character of Lady Macbeth is also a prime example of how things are not always as they appear to be. On the surface, she appears to be a loving and supportive wife, but in reality, she is a manipulative and ruthless woman who will stop at nothing to achieve her goals.

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AN ACCOUNT OF LADY MACBETH AS A CHARACTER AND A VILLAIN “Every villain is a hero in his own mind”-Tom Hiddleston, this is the case of Lady Macbeth in Shakespeare’s’ Macbeth. She is one of William Shakespeare’s most famous and frightening female characters. As she is Macbeth’s wife, her role is very significant in his rise and fall from royalty. During Shakespearean times, women were regarded as weak, insignificant beings that were there to procreate and look beautiful. They were not thought to be as intelligent or equal to men.

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859 Words | 4 Pages

This certainty of her shows us that women can be crueler and ambitious than men. It’s certain that because of the constraints of her society, Lady Macbeth relies on trickery and manipulation rather than violence to gain her desires. She only has one misery which is a request to have an exclusive final and perhaps more outstanding by her commanding existence of mind and relentless self-possession. Her purposes formed by powerless and womanly regrets than by the hardness of her heart or want of natural

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777 Words | 4 Pages

Macbeth Macbeth is the story of a couple who are overcome by ambition and greed. Macbeth lets his wife’s strong desire for power get the best of him, and the progression of his emotions throughout the play are very interesting to observe. Lady Macbeth is a very big influence on Macbeth’s actions and is arguably the reason that they both ended up dying sooner than they could have. Lady Macbeth drove Macbeth into a very dark and anxiety filled state of mind, and the progression of his unbecoming is very prominent towards the end of the story. Throughout the story, a new side of Macbeth is revealed through his actions and emotions as he undergoes the anxiety of being put under pressure not only by his wife, but himself.

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518 Words | 3 Pages

The play The Tragedy of Macbeth tells the story of a hero that plummets from his hero stature, into an abyss of darkness. Thus, turning Macbeth into the play's tragic hero. “....he allows himself to be seduced by the promises of boundless power, a man duped by false prophecies delivered by the forces of evil” (Bloom, 20). Although, is Macbeth simply a victim of the ideas ingrained into his head by the person he loved the most, or maybe just a hero turned villain by the greed for more power. Macbeth's beloved wife, Lady Macbeth doesn’t help the hero's decline into corruption, if anything she’s just one of the many reasons he falls into his downward spiral.

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The other only character that gained anything from the murder of the king was Macbeth’s wife, Lady Macbeth. This gain is the reason why Lady Macbeth is truly evil. Throughout the play, she commits many deeds that lead to this conclusion. By participating in these deeds, she is responsible for the downfall of Macbeth, who continued on a killing spree to continue to reign in Scotland. The

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