Lady Macbeth has inherited her famous traits from two female characters taken from the Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland (1577), which were written by Raphael Holinshed and based on a free Latin translation of Hector Boece’s Chronicle of Scotland. The first is Donwald’s wife who encouraged her husband to kill King Duff. The second is Macbeth’s ambitious wife Gruoch of Scotland who also supported her husband when he decided to murder King Duncan. The history stretches back to the year 1040, when Duncan, who was described as a weak, young and inexpert king, is killed in action by Macbeth with full support of her wife: The words of the thrée weird sisters also (of whome before ye haue heard) greatlie incouraged him herevunto, but speciallie his wife lay sore vpon him to attempt the thing, as she that was verie ambitious, burning in vnquenchable desire to beare the name of a quéene (Holinshed, 269).
Their act is not considered a murder, so they are not guilty and they can become King and Queen of Scotland. Nevertheless, Macbeth was considered a good sovereign after he assumed the
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(Holished, 239)
They gave great importance to nurse to their own children as a symbol of motherhood, family, heritage and a deep sense of belonging to their country:
They thought them furthermore not to be kindlie fostered, except they were so well nourished after their births with the milke of their brests, as they were before they were borne with the bloud of their owne bellies, nay they feared least they should degenerat and grow out of kind, except they gaue them sucke themselues, and eschewed strange milke. (Holinshed,