Lady Macbeth Manipulation Essay

A desire for power leads people to do and do things they would not typically do. People choose to deceive, manipulate, or even go as far as murdering people. William Shakespeare Macbeth shows that people are faced with the unquenchable desire for power, they tend to exert influence over others to lead them to what they think is the most desirable outcome. This is shown in Shakespeare’s Macbeth as Lady Macbeth manipulates people throughout the play to gain and maintain power which causes her relationship with Macbeth to become toxic and leads to her ultimate downfall. Lady Macbeth’s unquenchable desire for power causes her to manipulate Macbeth in a way that creates a toxic relationship between the two. Lady Macbeth states in (2.2.70-71) "Tis

How tender ’tis to love the babe that milks me.

I would, while it was smiling in my face,

Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums

And dashed the brains out, had I so sworn as you

Have done to this. (1.7.63-67)

Lady Macbeth is angered that Macbeth suddenly no longer wants to go through with the plan they had for getting rid of Duncan. She tells Macbeth a twisted example of how serious she is about making promises, claiming that she would be willing to kill her baby if she made the promise to do so. This shows how cruel Lady Macbeth is because she is willing to kill her child because of a promise. A mother killing her child is unheard of, to claim that you are willing to do this shows that you are not thinking normally, and are probably suffering from a mental illness. Lady Macbeth started losing her sanity because of her desire to gain

She has so much guilt for the crime she caused that it causes her to have a mental breakdown. As she relives the night of the murder during her sleep, she recalls when she manipulates Macbeth by saying he should stop being afraid and be the warrior he is. She reassures him that after they are finished, they will be protected by the power they will receive from becoming king and queen which is ironic because Queen Macbeth is having a mental breakdown on the night of the murder. The interesting part of the quote is when Lady Macbeth asks “who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?” because it shows that Lady Macbeth had not yet considered the consequences of Murdering Duncan. She did not know that murdering Duncan would come with so much guilt and fear of being exposed which has such a huge effect on Lady Macbeth that she can no longer sleep