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The Similarities Between Lady Macbeth And The Weird Sisters

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In Susan Snyder's work, "Macbeth, a modern perspective," she presents an interesting perspective on Lady Macbeth as a fourth witch, making connections between her character and the Weird Sisters. Lady Macbeth shares certain qualities with the Weird Sisters, which supports her being a fourth witch. Similar to the witches, she possesses an ability to influence Macbeth's actions and manipulate his ambitions. Lady Macbeth's persuasive language and her determination to spur her husband to commit murder can be compared to the spells and chants of the Weird Sisters. For instance, when she implores the spirits to "unsex" her and "fill me from the crown to the toe top-full / Of direst cruelty" (1.5.41-42), she exhibits a desire for supernatural powers akin to the witches. Additionally, Lady Macbeth's association with darkness and the supernatural is evident in her invocation to "Come, you spirits / That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here" (1.5.39-40). This connection further emphasizes her …show more content…

While the Weird Sisters present Macbeth with titles and prophecies, they do not explicitly provide instructions on how to achieve them. It is Lady Macbeth who takes charge and supplies the "verbs" to carry out the actions necessary to attain those titles. This shows her agency and moral responsibility as a human being, as she actively plans and participates in the execution of their ambitions. Furthermore, Lady Macbeth experiences guilt and remorse for her actions, traits not typically associated with witches. After the murder of King Duncan, she is tormented by her conscience, sleepwalking and attempting to wash away the metaphorical bloodstains. Her soliloquy, "Out, damned spot! Out, I say!" (5.1.37), reflects her moral struggle and her desperate attempt to rid herself of the guilt associated with her role in Duncan's

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1038 Words | 5 Pages

This is clearly illustrated in her prolonged soliloquy in Act 1 Scene 5. Her extreme willingness to kill King Duncan is apparent in the quote: “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.” She is calling on ‘evil spirits’ to give her the courage and extensive masculine characteristics. Women in the Jacobean era were considered weak, contrasting what Lady Macbeth wants herself to become. The denoted meaning of the quote is that she wants the spirits to ‘unsex’ her and to fill her with cruelty.

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471 Words | 2 Pages

(I.V.30-33). In that quote Lady Macbeth is basically telling the evil spirits to fill her with negative and violent thoughts. To give her murderous thoughts and to make her less like a women and more manly. This is so she can do these acts by herself and she still won’t feel any

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437 Words | 2 Pages

Lady Macbeth asks for supernatural help to “unsex” her but through the use of the imperative adverb “here” we learn that this is a demand. This highlights her misconception of power as her speech radiates control despite being the one who is asking for the “spirits” to help her. By asking to be “unsex(ed)” Lady Macbeth acknowledges the limitations of her gender which raises the question of why she would want to deviate from the traditional social norms in the first place? One can come to the conclusion that she fears being displaced from society as during this era a woman’s role was to serve her husband and provide him with children - the inability to do so meant one became disposed of and was often referred to as a “walking mort”.

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323 Words | 2 Pages

Originally ambitious, Lady Macbeth starts to feel guilty after orchestrating the murder of King Duncan to help Macbeth. As her remorse grows Lady Macbeth begins to sleep walk and obsessively, “Out, damned spot; out,

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744 Words | 3 Pages

Shakespeare's implies this by having them appear as crucial forces. The witches foreshadow upcoming events that are happening to individuals. The corrupted witches have the abilities higher than human existence. They instruct Macbeth that his prophecy will direct him to the actions he does. Macbeth is easily influenced and pays attention to the weird sisters.

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586 Words | 3 Pages

“Fillet of a fenny snake,in the cauldron boil and bake. Eye of newt and toe of frog,wool of bat and tongue of dog”(4.1.11-15). The Weird Sisters influenced Macbeth to bring trouble all through Scotland and murder numerous guiltless lives. The three witches love controlling others in the play. They wanted to botch up the lives of others.

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411 Words | 2 Pages

Lady Macbeth begins her soliloquy using a metaphor which denotes the raven to be an omen of evil. This raven, which “croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan / under my battlements” (1.5.36-37) symbolizes to her that it is destined that the king should die under her roof. Taking this as a clear sign, she begins to call on the “spirits / that tend on mortal thoughts” (1.5.37-38) asking them to “unsex me here / and fill me, from the crown to the toe, top-full / of direst cruelty” (1.5.38-40). In these words, Lady Macbeth seeks to not only rid herself of feminine weakness, but of the natural human response of guilt that would accompany

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402 Words | 2 Pages

Lady Macbeth is calling to the spirits to assist her murderous ideations and to do that make her less of a women and more like man which will then fill her with deadly cruelty. This supports how she feels, about needing to be manly to commit these horrible

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936 Words | 4 Pages

Lastly, she not only feels guilt, but it also takes over her life. “Out, damned spot, out, I say. — One, two — why, then, 'tis time to do't. — Hell is murky. — Fie, my lord, fie, a soldier, and afeard!

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Lady Macbeth herself mimics the way they speak, “Which shall to all our nights and days to come, Give solely sovereign sway and masterdom”, thus makes the readers associate her with these supernatural entities and therefore giving her a monstrous aura. Or, another explanation would be that this is a sign that the witches have possessed her or using her to act as puppeteers within the Macbeth’s lives; making her, once again a victim of the

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1878 Words | 8 Pages

Lady Macbeth tries to mask her guilt by covering up for her husband, but eventually comes to grips with her own instability. In Macbeth, Shakespeare asserts that power drives the title character and his wife to insanity, particularly after their conspiracy to kill Duncan. For starters, prior to killing Duncan, Macbeth imagines the likely consequences of his future actions and whether or not they signal his destiny. At the beginning

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1959 Words | 8 Pages

Like men, she has the trait to be gruesome and diabolical in nature. She has determined for herself the course to be pursued and nothing can hinder her. She does not need the prophecy of the witches to urge her. She is aware of her strength and she is resolute in her aim. Knowing Macbeth’s weakness,

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907 Words | 4 Pages

“Come you spirits/ That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here/ And fill me from the crown to the toe topfull/ Of direst cruelty; make thick my blood,/ Stop up th’ access and passage to remorse.” (1.5.38-42). In William Shakespeare's play Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is asking the spirits to make her like a man, make her cruel, and not allow her to feel remorse so she can have the strength for King Duncan's murder. On many separate occasions that Lady Macbeth reveals the spirits inside her.

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1183 Words | 5 Pages

As the Macbeth’s portray the opposite of social constructs and expectations in the play, they eventually fall into their belonged stereotype after Lady Macbeth slowly starts to spiral downhill. Once Macbeth feels as though someone is in the way of him becoming King, he instantly creates a plan to murder them like Lady Macbeth did with Duncan. As they eventually take up each others common behavior, Lady Macbeth drives herself to insanity due to her womanly feelings. “I have seen her rise from her bed, throw her nightgown upon her, unlock her closet, take forth paper, fold it, write upon ’t, read it, afterwards seal it, and again return to bed; yet all this while in a most fast sleep.” , she is seen sleepwalking and participating in strange activities due to the insanity driven from guilt (5.1.4-6).

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624 Words | 3 Pages

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.

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