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Lady Macbeth Evil Essay

695 Words3 Pages

If you have read the play Macbeth by Shakespeare, then you might agree that Lady Macbeth was an evil character who was responsible for all the murders that happened, but what if I told you that she was not as evil as you might think. The evilest character in this play was Macbeth himself. You simply cannot make someone else be held responsible for another’s actions or choices that they make.

You could say that Lady Macbeth’s ambition and ideas is what lead to king Duncans death. She wanted her husband to have power, but “I feel that thy nature is too full o’th’milk of human kindness.” (1,5,15-16). she knew how his kindness would not get him anywhere. Without thinking of how her actions could affect her, she gave Macbeth ideas of how to gain …show more content…

Macbeth’s own choices and actions is what caused the rest of the murders after king Duncan’s death, since lady Macbeth did not hear about the plan of Banquo’s murder until after it was done. Macbeth had power to tell Lady Macbeth not to continue with the plan of murdering king Duncan, yet he still went forward with the plan. In the play when king Duncan announced that his son Malcome would be the next king, Macbeth was not happy that he was not the one chosen as king. “Stars, hide your fires, let not light see my black and deep desires.” (1, 5, 50-51). This shows that he did want to be king and have power like the witches said even before his wife told him the …show more content…

To the point where the people thought that the country was doomed. “O Scotland, Scotland. O nation miserable with an untitl’d tyrant.” (4, 3, 101-106). This shows how much Macduff cares about his country. Even Macbeth’s servants did not like Macbeth due to how terribly Macbeth was treating them. “The devil damn thee black, thou cream-fac'd loon. Where got’st thou that goose-look?” (5, 3, 11-12). Macbeth insults his servant calling him names. The servants were only working for money, otherwise they would have left. They were even ready to die just so Macbeth would not lead Scotland anymore. Macbeth’s guilt had gotten to him. He was not able to take care of the country. He was unhappy with just having the title thane of Cawdor and wanted more than he could

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This shows Macbeth’s desire to become king, even though he already has a high ranking position in the land. He is not content with he has and desires an even higher position. He desires it so much to the point of betraying the trust of people who are close to him just for his own greedy self gain. Macbeth betrays and backstabs many characters in the story, an example being King Duncan himself.

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His lust for power drives him to murder Banquo and Fleance to ensure that they will not become kings, and so that his own sons will inherit the throne. Making rationalizations for the murders, he recalls the witches’ prophecy, by saying “They hailed him to a line of kings... No son of mine succeeding.” (3.1) Desiring to retain the power he occupies, Macbeth becomes increasingly willing to kill in order to preserve it. His mental state begins to deteriorate rapidly as he becomes increasingly more paranoid due to the lingering guilt of the crimes.

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When Lady Macbeth found out about the predictions the witches had for Macbeth, she started to pressure him, even guilt tripped him about their deceased son, and made him doubt the morals he valued. As act I of Macbeth, carried on, the image and principles Macbeth had for himself began to rot away. While Macbeth desired take King Duncan’s throne, he wanted to do it the in righteous matter. Whenever Macbeth had doubts about killing King Duncan, Lady Macbeth was always there to urge him otherwise, because she cared more about power than him "Great Glamis, worthy Cawdor." (1.5 52).

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Greed is oftentimes a powerful force. It can control one’s thought process and drive them to do things they never would have before. Macbeth is a stand up guy at first, and King Duncan thinks very highly of him. He awards him with the title of Thane of Cawdor after his bravery in battle. Macbeth seemed to be the ideal warrior that was submissive to the authority of the king.

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Macbeth first targets the king of Scotland, and throughout the play, murders anyone close to him or of any threat to him. When he finds out that the king’s sons have fled Scotland, Macbeth says, “We hear, our bloody cousins are bestow’d their

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When she first hears of her husband’s news, she tells him he needs to do whatever it takes to achieve this goal. When she finds out he is hesitant, she starts manipulating him into getting her way by telling him, “When you durst do it, then you were a man; And to be more than what you were, you would Be so much more the man”(I.VII.55-56). This quote shows the readers how she believes she needs to do whatever it takes to get the power no matter how bad it is by using phrases like “Be so much more than a man” and “Be more than what you are”. This reveals that her morals are bad and she will not feel remorse for doing the wrong thing. After Macbeth kills the king and becomes king himself, Lady Macbeth starts to feel guilty.

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This strictness causes a loss of self and instead forced many people into the “moulds” of their class. Nobles in this time in England were a small group of rich, upper class people that were supposed to be loyal to the king (The Historical Association). The only way that Nobles would lose their fortunes would be committing a major crime like treason (The Historical Association). In the play, when Macbeth accepts the title of Thane of Cawdor, he says this to Duncan: “..and our duties/ Are to your throne and state children and servants” (Act I, Scene IV, Line 25/26). Macbeth compares the relationship between the monarch and nobles to a father and his child, that their duty is to protect them.

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Lady Macbeth plays a key part in driving Macbeth’s motivations and encourages Macbeth to overcome his strong sense of guilt and take action on the prophecies. Lady Macbeth tells Macbeth that he is “green” (I.VII.40) and “a coward” (I.VII.46) and that he resembles the proverbial “poor cat”. (I.VII.48) The willingness of Lady Macbeth to reach the epitome of betrayal is displaced that heightens the understanding of the overpowering and strong nature of Lady Macbeth as well as the deep and murderous motivations she wishes to impose on her husband. Shakespeare exposes to the audience to the persuasive and emotive techniques Lady Macbeth uses to manipulate and drive Macbeth's motivations. This

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Macbeth, himself took these decisions and caused the downfall in his life. He had the taste of power with becoming the king. After having more power, greediness led him to murder Banquo and Macduff’s family. It is clearly shown that Macbeth was aware of what he was doing and knew the consequences. Macbeth really became the “dead butcher”, which Malcolm talked about.

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Lady Macbeth plans to invite king Duncan over for dinner, but really she is convincing Macbeth to murder him. She influences him to kill Duncan because he is the only one standing in the way of Macbeth becoming king. Lady Macbeth plans the killing but convinces Macbeth to do the dirty deed. Lastly, Lady Macbeth is one of the causes of Macbeth’s failure because she repeatedly questions Macbeth’s manhood until she persuades him to make a bad choice. “When you durst do it then you were a man” (1.7.53-58).

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Macbeth’s impatience for power leads to drastic actions. He murders the king in the belief that “this blow might be the be-all and end-all” (1.7.5). This assassination could never “trammel up the consequence” (1.7.2-3), as Macbeth believes, but only leads to more trouble. Although Macbeth seizes the throne, Macbeth had to betray his loyalty to the king whose “virtues will plead like angels” (1.7.18-19), and his morality has paid the price. Macbeth has now lost all sense of what honor is by using such dishonest ways to become king.

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Her ambition is not only for herself but also for Macbeth. Nevertheless, with all her fervor, she wants him to be as strong as her. “Make thick my blood./Stop up the access and passage to remorse,/That no compunctious visitings of nature/ Shake my fell purpose/Come to my woman’s breasts,/And take my milk for gall” (1.5.44-49). Lady Macbeth never wavers in her goal.

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As soon as she heard Macbeth’s prophecy, she was willing to do anything to get him into the position of king. She was even willing to aid in the murder of innocent people who stood in the way of Macbeth’s ascension to the crown like, King Duncan. Her greed led to Macbeth’s downfall. When Macbeth stated that he was questioning his intentions to kill the king, she pushed him and assisted in the plotting. “We will proceed no further in this business. /

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Lady Macbeth is truly an evil character. In the beginning of the play, it tells how much Macbeth is a fierce warrior, but coming home the witches came. As soon as Lady Macbeth heard about the prophecy, she becomes the fierce warrior and Macbeth bends to her every whim. Lady Macbeth is always making Macbeth feel awful, (Act 3, scene V, line 58) “Are you a man?”.

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William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, the main character; Macbeth, is seen as an evil character. The play is based off of Macbeth’s decisions and his actions to become King. In the beginning Macbeth starts out as a hero in Scotland’s war with Ireland and towards the end he is transformed into a murderer. Macbeth is not wholly evil because of is heroism in the war, his love for Scotland, and because he didn’t want to kill King Duncan initially. Macbeth was brain washed by his wife and tricked into killing the King.

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