"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely," warned historian Lord Acton. In the play Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, the titular character and his wife, Lady Macbeth, are driven by ambition to commit regicide and seize the throne of Scotland. Written in the early 17th century, the play explores themes of power, guilt, and moral corruption against political turmoil and supernatural prophecy. While initially influenced by the actions of Macbeth killing Duncan, Lady Macbeth’s tragic demise is primarily caused by her ambitious choices in pursuit of power, leading to her moral decay. Lady Macbeth’s ambitious manipulation of Macbeth, challenging his masculinity and dismissing his moral doubts, underscores her relentless pursuit of power and sets …show more content…
The author’s choice of the word “unsex” emphasizes the doubts Lady Macbeth has about her husband because she wishes to deprive herself of her gender’s qualities so she can pursue the witches’ prophecies. She doubts he can fulfill the prophecy of Macbeth killing Duncan to become king, so she challenges gender roles to execute the plan, highlighting her desperate ambition. Her also asking the spirits to grant her with the utmost brutality continues to display her extensive ambition and greed in wanting to accomplish the prophecies. Later, when Lady Macbeth and Macbeth discuss her plan of him assassinating Duncan, she further pressures and tries to manipulate 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.56-58). Shakespeare creates a coercive tone for Lady Macbeth through the words “were” and “would” to portray how she directly influences Macbeth. By using hypotheticals to show what Macbeth "would" be if he kills Duncan and comparing it to his past, she manipulates him, driven by her forceful