Lady Macbeth Essay

Macbeth’ is one of Shakespeare’s most recognised plays, written in 1606 at the time of James I, and based on the Holinshed’s Chronicles of 1577. It is a dark play of power lust set in Scotland in the 11th century. The character of Lady Macbeth is significant as she pushes the main protagonist, Macbeth, to commit regicide. In Shakespeare’s time, the Jacobean age of James I, where a Great Chain of Being was believed in placing God at the top and the king as his representative on Earth, this would have been deeply shocking. Moreover, when the play was written James I had just survived the Gunpowder Plot, so the play stands as a warning against trying to kill a king. Lady Macbeth is the image of evil in the play, hungry for power and willing to

Lady Macbeth almost becomes almost a supernatural force in the play, which ties her to another major theme, the witches who control Macbeth through their enticing prophecies. This would have been of interest to a superstitious Jacobean audience, whose king had written a book on witches entitled Daemonologie. Lady Macbeth first appears in Act 1 Scene 5 of the play, where she receives a letter from her husband, Macbeth, telling her of the witches' prophecies that Macbeth will become king. She immediately becomes captivated by the idea of her husband becoming King and determines to convince him to murder King Duncan: “Hie thee hither, that I may my spirits in thine ear.” She immediately starts to sound like the witches, wanting to cast a spell over Macbeth as

Finally, in Act 5 scene 5, Lady Macbeth dies offstage, after her suicide. She is not physically present on stage but is still portrayed as a tragic figure. Her death is reported by a messenger who says: “The queen, my Lord, is dead.” Her death is a strong symbol of the tragic consequences of her ambition. It is also a repercussion of her determination and desire for power. Lady Macbeth's death is a drastic turning point in the play. It also represents the ultimate consequence of her and Macbeth's actions and serves as a reminder of the destruction that lust for power can lead to.

Sound and effects are important in this play to emphasise on different moments however during the shakespeare era effects and sounds were limited, in Macbeth the play is full of ghosts and connections with the supernatural so shakespeare had a lot of possibilities to add effects for example adding Banquo’s ghost at the banquet and the dagger in Macbeth's visions.Sound was also an important part mainly for shock benefit for example, the knocking that Macbeth heras after he killed Duncan and the thunder throughout the witches