“What beast was ’t, then, that made you break this enterprise to me? 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” (Macbeth, act 1, scene 7.) Her words did the trick and he killed the king, thus keeping her hands clean and proving that women can easily control a man. Women tempt men’s willpower with their seductive nature.
William Shakespeare portrayed the character Lady Macbeth to be extremely ruthless, malicious and manipulative. Thus, being the reason she could easily convince Macbeth to do her will, yet still put on such a convincing performance in front of those who knew nothing of her and her husband’s actions. Lady Macbeth shows her complexity constantly throughout the story when she shares her view-point on masculinity by demasculinizing her own husband, when she strategically plans the murder of the King Duncan, and finally when she finally goes crazy because of the guilt she possesses for not only her own actions but also turning her own husband into a
Mourning the weakness and inability of her gender, Lady Macbeth urges her husband to follow through with their devious designs. Inevitably, he gives in and completes the first of many horrendous deeds. Out of all his associates, Macbeth’s wife may actually have pushed him to murder to obtain the kingdom, with or without a prophecy. Yet, she could have had apprehensions of her own, or doubted her husband’s ability, thus deciding to keep her ambitions to herself. One thing is certain: she is a twisted enough person to contemplate such a purely evil
She has to convince him to do it because she can’t which makes her the blame for the murders. Lady Macbeth is also the blame because she wanted
Lady Macbeth is telling the spirits to “unsex” her, meaning make her a man. She then states that the reason she wants to become a man is to become cruel and evil so she can kill Duncan. Women were seen as weak and emotional people that can’t do harm to anyone. On the other hand masculine men were seen as strong and cruel, because they aren’t held back by morals. This is why men are able to fight and
“Come, you spirits, That tend on mortal thoughts,/unsex me here, And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full/ Of dire cruelty” (1.5.41-44). Lady Macbeth is the personification of male dominance, ruthlessness and violence. She hopes that she could take control of all action. She yearns to be a man and her implication is that she is more masculine than Macbeth. Her drive and violent nature is more akin to men and their masculinity.
When she first hears of her husband’s news, she tells him he needs to do whatever it takes to achieve this goal. When she finds out he is hesitant, she starts manipulating him into getting her way by telling 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.55-56). This quote shows the readers how she believes she needs to do whatever it takes to get the power no matter how bad it is by using phrases like “Be so much more than a man” and “Be more than what you are”. This reveals that her morals are bad and she will not feel remorse for doing the wrong thing. After Macbeth kills the king and becomes king himself, Lady Macbeth starts to feel guilty.
Lady Macbeth is immensely affected by fear and anxiety throughout the play. Lady Macbeth initially appears to be the driving force behind Macbeth's actions. Lady Macbeth's ambitiousness and determination are shown in her speech in act 1 scene 5 "Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, and fill me from the crown to the toe top-full of direst cruelty." Lady Macbeth's fear of being powerless is so great that she is willing to sacrifice her femininity to become more masculine and ruthless. However, as the play progresses, Lady Macbeth's projection of fear and anxiety becomes more pronounced.
At first, rather than putting all the blame on Macbeth she is proud of her involvement in the murder stating: “My hands are of your colour but I shame to wear a heart so white.” Initially this villainizes her as she is in control rather than being an obedient wife going against Jacobean stereotypes
Lady Macbeth wishes that she was a man so she could carry out these barbaric murder plans of hers. She asserts herself as the man in the relationship; being the dominant one. She also violates Macbeth by saying he is “too full o’the milk of human kindness.” (Shakespeare 1.5.17) This quote insinuates Macbeth is frail and lacks intrepidity.
In the play MacBeth by William Shakespeare, the main character MacBeth commits a slew of monstrous acts to gain and remain in power. His wife succeedes in persuading him to commit some of these acts and helps him cover them up. Although MacBeth becomes King, like they both hoped for, neither of them are happy and they ultimately go insane. Shakespeare uses MacBeth's path rise to power to show that when one commits an immoral act it will haunt them even after they have what they want.
In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, he tells a tale that is consumed with greed for power and willingness to assert dominance. Both the male and female characters throughout his play go through periods of acting like the opposite sex and using that to manipulate other characters or show dominance. The best example of this use of manipulation and dominance is through Shakespeare’s character, Lady Macbeth. Through reading this play, one may experience her struggle of wanting to be a man in the beginning, but then falling back into the stereotype of a weak and psychotic woman.
Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth as a power hungry and vindictive women, whose character is against the stereotypes of a Jacobean woman. Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth as a deceptive woman, who uses the fact that she is a woman as a weapon. ‘Why, worthy thane, you do unbend your noble strength to think.’ Lady Macbeth is talking to Macbeth.
She is a loyal though misguided wife, not without tenderness and not without conscience. Lady Macbeth’s willingness to sacrifice her femininity exposes her loyalty towards Macbeth. After reading the letter regarding the witch’s prophecies, she decides she must do whatever it take to make Macbeth King: Come you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, and fill me from the crown to the toe top-full of direst cruelty.
This certainty of her shows us that women can be crueler and ambitious than men. It’s certain that because of the constraints of her society, Lady Macbeth relies on trickery and manipulation rather than violence to gain her desires. She only has one misery which is a request to have an exclusive final and perhaps more outstanding by her commanding existence of mind and relentless self-possession. Her purposes formed by powerless and womanly regrets than by the hardness of her heart or want of natural
