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Lady Macbeth's Soliloquy Act 1 Scene 7

446 Words2 Pages

In Act 1, Scene 7 of the play, Lady Macbeth uses sharply crafted language to emasculate Macbeth, altering his earlier resolve and pushing him toward murder. Despite finding resolve, seen by the audience in his soliloquy, Macbeth's decision is altered, influenced by Lady Macbeth as she threatens, taunts and undermines him. When Macbeth states ‘We will proceed no further in this business’, Lady Macbeth retaliates with a barrage of comments, labelling him as a coward. ‘Which thou esteem'st the ornament of life, And live a coward in thine own esteem’. The notion of cowardness appeals to Macbeth's manhood, ultimately playing into the insecurities of men. This label is reinforced with the simile ‘Like the poor cat i' the adage?’, which describes a cat who wants fish but not to get its paws wet. …show more content…

Again, Lady Macbeth continues to emasculate her husband saying he if we were to commit the murder he would ‘be so much more the man’. Throughout the first part of her argument, Lady Macbeth centralises her husband, using the repeated personal pronouns of ‘you’ to specifically target him. This contrasts with a shift in her argument as she transitions to the use of ‘I’, ‘me’ and ‘my’. ‘I have given suck, and know How tender 'tis to love the babe that milks me’. Furthermore, Lady Macbeth uses her tender motherly experience of nursing a baby to sharply contrast with the violent and gory imagery of killing the child. This confronting revelation communicates the overpowering nature of ambition and the defeminisation and villainous nature of Lady Macbeth's character. Consequently, the audience can understand how Macbeth is influenced by the power dynamics between his wife and himself. Macbeth later acknowledges his wifes fearlessness, praising her and believing her to only bear

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