Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Describe the relationship between Lady Macbeth and Macbeth. How does it change throughout the play?


4 comments:

  1. In the beginning of the play, Macbeth is described as brutal and bloodthirsty. However, we see that in his domestic life, he plays the more submissive and obedient role when with his wife, Lady Macbeth. It is she who, almost viciously, forces Macbeth to murder Duncan. She calls the shots in the beginning, however, as time goes on, we can see how their roles almost reverse entirely. By the end of the play, it is Macbeth who becomes cold and harsh, giving the orders without considering his wife's wishes, not to mention the wishes of his country. Lady Macbeth looses her control over her husband, and she begins to loose her mind as well. Lady Macbeth begs her husband to slow down and to end his murderous rage, but she is ignored and given no priority. In many ways, this loss of control leads to her suicide.

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  2. Lady Macbeth starts as a very strong, influential female character. She manipulates Macbeth into killing Duncan, so he can be king. She even cleans up Macbeth’s mistake when he brings the daggers with him instead of placing them with the guards. This is Macbeth’s first taste of blood, and now he will not stop. Macbeth now comforts his wife and is telling her that he will handle Banquo as well. This is where we see a shift in their relationship, as Macbeth no longer looks to his wife for encouragement with his decisions. Their roles have become completely reversed. Lady Macbeth tries one last time to save her husband by trying to cover up Macbeth’s brief lapse of sanity. She tries to convince the nobles that Macbeth has these fits and that it won’t last long. As Macbeth grows more overwhelmed with the prophecies of the witches, he no longer cares for his wife’s needs. However during his moment of Discovery he does say that he is going to help her get her back to normal. This shows how the relationship of the two are completely reversed as the play progresses.

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  3. Lady Macbeth is a very strong female lead at the beginning of the play. Macbeth is a more reserved people-pleaser kind of guy. Lady Macbeth clearly has here reigns over him whilst convincing him to kill Duncan. When Macbeth kills Banquo, Lady Macbeth is surprised and is adjusting to the thought of her husband becoming like herself. By Act Four, the roles are clearly reversed when Macbeth is already going into war and Lady Macbeth is at the castle sleepwalking. While she sleepwalks, she reveals to the audience that she is quite guilty of killing Duncan and it lays very heavily on her heart. Macbeth pays no mind to this because he is in his own world fighting Macduff. All in all, by the end of the play the role of Lady Macbeth and Macbeth are completely reversed.

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  4. Lady Macbeth and Macbeth throughout the play constantly balance each other out in how their personalities change. At the beginning of the play Lady Macbeth is a very strong, influential character who greatly impacts Macbeth's life and thought process. But we see that as the play goes on she slowly starts to dwindle in her strength and eventually cannot even keep it together for Macbeth. Macbeth on the other hand, as the pay starts we see him as a brute on the battle field but submissive to Lady Macbeth at home. But as the play goes on we see his battlefield mentality start to come out at home and he eventually becomes the dominant brute he is in battle at home. We see as the play reaches its conclusion how the relationship between Lady Macbeth and Macbeth is constantly changing in accordance to one another.

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