Lady Macbeth Influence

As one of the Bard’s most iconic tragedies, Macbeth resides in a niche of unique characterisation, structure and tone. The tale of Macbeth is constructed in a way to enable a sense of forward momentum, allowing the development of the characters to follow every beat of a storyline crowded with desire, conflict, violence and ambition. Fluidity in storytelling and emotional development is facilitated by the use of constant elements, namely, the symbolic introduction of the witches, Lady Macbeth’s desire to escape her womanhood and the cycle of violence that ultimately results in Macbeth’s downfall. Shakespeare’s turbulent yet consistent expression of the constant conflict between duty and desire is key to interpreting the inevitable deterioration

If the witches’ prophecies ignited a spark of desire, Lady Macbeth’s coercion added the fuel to his fire. If Macbeth’s conscience had doubts about the prospect of murder after his supernatural encounters, Lady Macbeth insults, her questioning of whether he would ‘…live a coward in thine own esteem’ (Act I, Scene vii), encourages him to push away his duties. The influence Lady Macbeth has over her husband is undeniable, it can even be argued that this made them the only couple in Shakespearean works to start and finish on equal footing. They are husband and wife not only alike in dignity but kindred in temperament, he is the Orion to her Diana, tragic lovers with intertwined destinies and equally complex characterisations. The fact that she can exercise dominance over her husband’s psyche proves her uniqueness as other women in her times are condemned to eternal submission as their inherent duty. Arguably, the element that transforms Lady Macbeth from the typical feeble female stereotype into a strikingly complex woman is her madness. At first the characterisation of her as a pseudo-masculine lunatic may seem ludicrous, but as the story unfolds she is presented in all of her antithetic vulnerability. Even in her radical soliloquy in which she pleaded ‘unsex me here’ (Act I, Scene v), she alluded to her ‘woman’s breasts’ and ‘milk’, which became recurring, revealing motifs in her

Though it may be argued that Macbeth was a dutiful Thane lured by power promised to him by the supernatural, or a husband who countered his wife’s accusations of cowardice. These can only be the premise for the initial murder of King Duncan and his resulting ascendence to the throne. The principal motivation of the following murders came from intrinsic fears and the inability to reverse his callous mindset rather than external influences. What prompted Macbeth to commit the abhorrent act of murdering his loyal friend Banquo was his own proclivity to cement power through violence. Macbeth reasons, ‘Whose being I do fear: and, under him…My Genius is rebuked’ (Act III, Scene i), arriving at the conclusion that as Mark Antony was dethroned by Caesar, it was likely that his loyal companion would be his downfall. Similarly, Macbeth murdered Macduff’s family out of fear that Macduff will dethrone him, he claims that ‘The very firstlings of my heart shall be…The firstlings of my hand…’ (Act IV, Scene i) a supposed safeguard against any treachery against him. With the construction of the story around murders, the pulse of the play is marked by bloodshed: Duncan, Banquo, the Macduffs and finally Macbeth himself. The murders are accents in Macbeth’s symphony, and as the time between each shortens, the