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Lady Macbeth Greed Quotes

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Although critics argue that Lady Macbeth was a ruthless character from the start, Shakespeare chooses to have her display actions over time that can be characterized by modern medicine as displaying a mental illness. Right from the start, Lady Macbeth displays a lack of humanity due to her burning passion and ambition to become queen. Through dramatic irony, readers are able to see through her amicability towards King Duncan, characterized by letting him into her own home with open arms, and ultimately, not displaying her true intentions. This passion to gain more power only becomes stronger and stronger over time as she persuades Macbeth to commit murder, even going as far as questioning his “lack of courage” (Jamieson). Once there is an …show more content…

Once the idea and prophecy for Macbeth to gain more power arose, Lady Macbeth decides to act on that opportunity, proving that she was greedy for more power. Initially, Lady Macbeth shows a small ounce of greed which slowly spreads over time. Eventually, the greed that she possesses changes into guilt, therefore proving that she is not the same person that she was at the beginning of the novel due to the events that have happened to her. Although she might have been able to pull it off at first, the readers are able to see the events that have happened to her slowly catch up to her based off of her actions (Shanahan). Instead of being the ruthless character that she initially exhibited herself to be, she lets her guard down and becomes a character in a highly emotional state of mind (Shanahan). This character comes across as vulnerable and weak, showing signs of mental illness such as depression, trouble sleeping, and an increased amount of stress. This deterioration as shown throughout the play can be characterized as the result that greed has on the mind of Lady Macbeth, ending in her downfall and ultimate …show more content…

Lady Macbeth displays many characters similar to that of a paranoid schizophrenic of today’s standards due to the hallucinations, delusions, recurring nightmares, and hyper arousal that she conveys, especially towards the end of the novel. (Downfall). Hallucinations are defined as sensory perceptions that have no basis in reality, such as the visions of blood that Lady Macbeth imagines is there (Downfall). Over time, the readers see how these events catch up to her and lead her to see things that are not there based off of events that have happened to her. The line, “Is this a dagger which I see before me...art thou not, fatal victim, sensible” describes a vivid hallucination about a dagger, taken as an effective and guilt for the murder of King Duncan (Downfall). The line “Will these hands ne’re be clean” proves that Lady Macbeth feels guilty for the murder of King Duncan, both literally with physical blood, and figuratively with mentally blame that she puts on herself

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785 Words | 4 Pages

This is seen in Act 2 when Macbeth is on his way to kill Duncan. “Is this a dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee” (II.I.42-43). In this quote Macbeth was overwhelmed with the thought of killing Duncan. The thought of committing such a evil crime is enough to make him see hallucinations.

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832 Words | 4 Pages

The name of the character that will be discussed is Lady Macbeth. She is from the play Macbeth written by William Shakespeare. In Macbeth Lady Macbeth expresses the emotions of greed, guilt, and confidence throughout the play. Throughout the play Lady Macbeth has shown her actions were being controlled by the emotions of greed, guiltiness, and confidence. Lady Macbeth feels greed throughout the play Macbeth because she wants her husband to become king which means that she would do anything that means necessary.

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973 Words | 4 Pages

The change of Lady Macbeth is best seen in the way Ari Mattes’s review describes it stating , “About a third of the way through the film, she suddenly becomes a profoundly sympathetic character” (Mattes

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132 Words | 1 Pages

Her being overly ambitious and having greed for power triggers her to have a dramatic downfall. Lady Macbeth’s character goes through an abrupt shift from being ruthless and greedy in the first act to then being faced with numerous amounts of guilt and culpability who then seeks suicide to purge her from the guilt, it is clear that unreasonable forms

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551 Words | 3 Pages

This shows Lady Macbeth going through lengths just to become royalty and this shows she is ruthless because she is only thinking about herself. Besides, the idea of dashing out the brains of a child deliberately shows Lady Macbeth is willing to killing her own blood, which is cold because usually mothers have a stronger and more intimate bond with their babies. Therefore, Lady Macbeth is shown as a ruthless person, who is very controlling, however there is a shift in her character at the end of the play, she becomes weaker. In the beginning of the play Lady Macbeth manipulated Macbeth into doing things he didn’t want to do, by targeting is insecurities (his masculinity). But, now her persuasion no longer works on Macbeth, for example at banquet Macbeth was acting crazy and Lady Macbeth challenging his manhood by asking him if he were a man.

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1520 Words | 7 Pages

Lady Macbeth and Curley’s Wife are portrayed as victims in some parts of the play and the novel, respectively. Lady Macbeth is shown as a victim of guilt; whilst Curley’s Wife is shown as a victim of physical abuse from Curley. E Lady Macbeth is shown as a victim when the guilt of killing Duncan finally takes its toll on her health. She starts having nightmares as she tries to remove blood from her hands saying “Out, out damned spot out I say” (Poel, 2013).

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1364 Words | 6 Pages

Macbeth continues to talk about how the bell is telling him to do it: “[A bell rings] I go, and it is done; the bell invites me. Hear it not, Duncan; for it is a knell That summons thee to heaven or to hell.” (2.1.641-644) Lady Macbeth put drugs in the servants drinks to gets them drunk to set them up for the murder and that has made her bold. Macbeth soon enters dragging a bloody dagger: “I have done the deed.

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758 Words | 4 Pages

Macbeth, he conveys the idea that self-perception drives a person’s thought processes, which in turn show through their actions; therefore, if their self-perception is extremely negative, their flaws will be before them constantly and will create a false reality for them to dwell in. Lady Macbeth exemplifies this idea, revealing through her thoughts and actions how her guilt changes the way she views herself and causes her to live unattached from reality. In the beginning of the play, Lady Macbeth is a cold hearted, brave, practical, and strong character. She perceives that she is soft because she is a woman, so she calls upon spirits and is determined to become “...full of direst cruelty.”

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722 Words | 3 Pages

In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, there are many different encounters with Lady Macbeth herself. She seems to show some different personality traits throughout the play, as the story goes further into detail. From beginning to end, it is realized that Lady Macbeth may have some mental instability.

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524 Words | 3 Pages

In the play Macbeth, Lady Macbeth has a very large range of emotions as the play progresses and she changes drastically over the course of events. At the beginning, she encourages Macbeth to kill Duncan but as it goes on, she realizes he’s taking it way too far and goes crazy with guilt and loneliness. Lady Macbeth said, “Unsex me here, and fill me from the crown to the toe topfull of direst cruelty; make thick my blood, stop up th’access and passage to remorse.” (Act I, scene 5, line 40)

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1001 Words | 5 Pages

Violence is caused by power. This epic theatre deals with politics and social issues in very dark times were every king has their own method to become successful. Although the consequences that comes with it, kings avoid failure by choosing methods that can lead to unethical behavior. A king that is considered to be successful is achieving the title at the expense of somebody else. What causes a king in to considering violence?

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753 Words | 4 Pages

Lady Macbeth’s intensive compulsion tactics, I believe, made Macbeth mentally unstable which subsequently allowed for his delusional state to

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674 Words | 3 Pages

Macbeth, the Thane of Cawdor, is a man who transforms into a person of horror. In a tragedy, great suffering and destruction appears. In this play the misfortunes are caused by Macbeth’s actions. Although Macbeth is originally a loyal subject, Lady Macbeth manipulates and eventually turns him into a monster. Throughout the story Lady Macbeth influences her husband and convinces him to commit treachery.

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1008 Words | 5 Pages

In William Shakespeare’s tragedy Hamlet, Hamlet passionately explains “To be or not to be, that is the question” in his most renowned soliloquy. Unfortunately, the subject of discussion will not that of Hamlet’s inquiries as to whether or not he should continue to tread his feet above the soils of this earth or if it would be better off to just kick the bucket; but instead the subject of today’s discussion involves the concept of morality. To be evil, or not to be evil, that is the true question.

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1106 Words | 5 Pages

Cody A. Thompson Vanessa Dean British Literature 12 6 January 2016 What Was the Cause of Lady Macbeth’s Downfall? Lady Macbeth is one strange character. In the beginning of the play, the readers experience a very blood-thirsty, power-hungry woman.

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