The Rise and Fall of Shakespeares Lady Macbeth :: Macbeth essays

The Rise and Fall of doll Macbeth Lady Macbeths character is one of complexity slowly, only whencontinuously changing throughout the play. What begins as a struggle for powerand a longing to shred her femininity turns Lady Macbeth into what she fearsmost - a wrong-doing ridden weakling. In the beginning ( I, v, 43-54) , we see Lady Macbeth reacting to thenews of her husbands success and King Duncans visit. This ignites her lust forpower. In the quote ...unsex me here, / And fill me from the crown to the toetop bountiful/ Of direst cruelty make thick my blood.../ Come thick night,/ Andpall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell,/ That my keen knife see not the wound itmakes, Lady Macbeth talks of wanting all of the cold blooded aspects of manliness so she can kill King Duncan with no remorse - she sees herself ashaving these qualities more than her husband, and because of this, in a sense,wishes to shed her womanhood. We can see this ruthless nature more in depth inthe quote I would, while it was smiling in my face,/ Have pluckd my nipplefrom his boneless gums,/ and dashd the brains out, had I so sworn as you/Have done to this (I,vii,56-59) She is obviously a very bitter female,frequently referring to her berth as a woman, both physically and emotionally innegative ways. In the above quote, Lady Macbeth is commenting on her husbandslack of gall, stating, that quite frankly, she would make a better man thanhe. Although still a very strong woman, we see the first signs of weaknessin Ladys Macbeths character in Act II, Scene ii, 12-13. She says, Had henot resembled/ My father as he slept, I had done it. She is giving an excusefor not killing Duncan herself. As you can plainly see, this is not the very(prenominal)Lady Macbeth that would bash a babys brains in in the beginning of the play.Throughout the play, Macbeths character grows stronger as Lady Macbeths willregresses. It even gets to where Macbeth will not hold his wife in hisvillianous schemes, where at one time, it was Lady Macbeth who wasimplementing these schemes in his head in the first place. In a sense, the twocharacters switch roles Lady Macbeth winning a backseat to her husband almostbecoming wallpaper for the rest of the play. The turning point for Lady Macbethis when she learns of her husbands slaying of Macduffs family.