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The Power Struggle In Macbeth

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Lady Macbeth's power struggle
The desire for power and the struggle within is a big idea within Shakespeare’s’ play Macbeth. The use of power struggle helps to reveal many underlying themes about the struggle itself, and how it can cause many unordinary actions to occur. In the play, Lady Macbeth begins her power struggle with no consequences early on, as she does not feel the mental consequences right away, but later on, LMB begins to feel the consequences and effects a power struggle can have on you. Shakespeare also reveals through Lady Macbeth’s power struggle that it can turn you into a manipulative person as shown through her manipulation of her own husband Macbeth, and how there is manipulation through relationships, but also through …show more content…

From the moment that Lady Macbeth hears about the witches' prophecy for Macbeth and how he is destined to become king, Lady Macbeth is consumed by this desire for power and begins to convince Macbeth to take the throne and become king, even if it involves murder or cruel actions. Lady …show more content…

So much so that now Macbeth feels forced to commit the murder just so he cannot be called a woman, as that would be unacceptable in 11th-century Scotland gender roles. Furthering the idea of how manipulation also reveals some gender themes is when guests are invited over to eat with Macbeth, and he has an illusion of Banquos’ ghost causing him to act crazy in front of the guests. Lady Macbeth calls Macbeth away into an aside and asks “Are you a man” (3.4.57), furthering the idea of it being insulting to not be a man and be considered a woman in ordinary gender roles. This is also shown through dramatic irony when Lady Macbeth re-enters the castle after the murder to play it off as if she had no clue about the tragedy. The men around the murder proceed to tell her that the sights of the murder are too much for her ¨woman eyes¨, even though she is the one who formulated the plan. Further reinforcing the idea of gender roles within the play. These actions of manipulation reveal a theme of gender, but also continue the main idea of how taking unorthodox and cruel actions to gain power can only lead to bad

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