The Ambition Of Women In Lady Macbeth By William Shakespeare

Throughout history, it is a fact that the roles of women and men in relationships have often been debated. Although men are often regarded as the power source in relationships and responsible for being strong, there are countless examples of women themselves being the driving force rather than their male counterparts. This is not only present within the story of Adam and Eve where Eve is the figure who convinces Adam to eat the forbidden fruit and thus commit original sin, but also in the character Lady Macbeth from Shakespeare’s Macbeth. In Macbeth Lady Macbeth is stronger than her husband Macbeth for a variety of reasons. Lady Macbeth is first off extremely manipulative and uses her ambition to push her husband who is weak and easily swayed

This occurs throughout Macbeth, but most notably in her performance before and after Duncan’s murder. In these parts of the story, Lady Macbeth becomes a master of deception and is able to trick both Duncan and the thanes into believing that she is a benevolent host who cares about her guests wholeheartedly even though she plans to kill the King. One scene in particular where Lady Macbeth is deceptive happens before Duncan arrives at the Macbeth’s castle. In this scene, Lady Macbeth tells her husband about her plan to don a mask for Duncan’s visit. She says to him, “Bear welcome in your eye, your hand, your tongue. Look like th’ innocent flower, but be the serpent under’t.” (I, v, 75-77). Here Lady Macbeth’s plans of fraud are vocally revealed. Lady Macbeth is telling her husband to mislead Duncan by appearing innocent and sweet while still being vicious inside with the plans of brutally murdering him. By encouraging her husband to be two-faced and to play a different role in front of Duncan so that they can gain his trust and later betray him, Lady Macbeth is presenting her plans to carefully deceive both Duncan and the thanes. In fact, in the next scene where Lady Macbeth greets Duncan at the castle she actually carries out her plans of misleading him. Here Lady Macbeth transforms from a wicked figure with much malice to an extremely amicable and

Although this trait may not be seen as that important, it is huge in Macbeth considering how Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are constantly put under great pressures throughout the story in response to their actions. This happens in many locations in the story, but most significantly right after Banquo’s murder and later on during the feast. In these moments of the story, while her husband turns into a guilty mess, Lady Macbeth remains cool, calm, and collected. A major example of this right after Macbeth murders King Duncan. At this point in the plot, Macbeth is in shambles for his action, plagued with remorse that makes him unable to think logically. He becomes anxious and tormented by the thoughts of what he has