Lady Macbeth Character Analysis

Macbeth states to Lady Macbeth, “we will proceed no further in this business” (I, VII) since he almost finally decides to refuse to kill Duncan. However, Lady Macbeth uses different manipulative methodologies towards Macbeth and persuades him to consult the killing of Duncan. “So green and pale” (I, VII), Lady Macbeth even called him a coward. From the same scene, she mentions, “From this time, such I account thy love”, implying that if Macbeth cant stay steady concerning the murder of the king, then she will consider his love for her to be as similarly conflicting. Later in scene, Lady Macbeth states that if she had made such a promise as Macbeth did to her, she would “dash the brains out” of her own child as “it was smiling in her fail”.

She persuades her husband into killing Duncan by saying, “screw your courage to the sticking-place, and we’ll not fail” (1.7.60--61). By saying this, Lady Macbeth is calling her husband a coward if he does not kill Duncan. Lady Macbeth is motivated by her ambition to gain power by forcing Macbeth to kill Duncan so they can become the new king and queen to rule over everything. By having Duncan killed, it causes Lady Macbeth to get into trouble because Banquo becomes suspicious that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth were responsible for Duncan’s

Juliet has had many suicidal deliberations throughout the play. The first thought came after her father told her she was to marry Count Paris. After the big argument with her parents and betrayal of the nurse, Juliet decided that the only way she will be able to escape Paris is for her to execute herself. Juliet states that “If all else fail, myself have power to die.” The next time she contemplated death is when she is about to consume the potion Friar Laurence gave her.

At first MacBeth hesitates to kill King Duncan however his wife had a plot on how to make the assassination fall back on someone else which was the guards. Lady MacBeth is driven by the outcome of killing

Her ambition, resolution, dissimulation, cunning, presence of mind, energy, and affection were all important, especially in the murder of King Duncan.  “Lady Macbeth knows right well when she tells her husband to “leave all the rest to me,” that by dissimulation and cunning she could plan and carry out the murder of Duncan so that no suspicion would rest upon either Macbeth or herself.” (www.shakespeare-online.com)  Saying this, Lady Macbeth seems to be the more plotting character between the two.  

However, she becomes less cruel and consumed with guilt towards the end of the play. In the beginning she wanted to be the one to kill King Duncan. When she saw him asleep, she manipulated Macbeth to do it instead because he looked like her father. “If Duncan hadn’t looked like my father in his sleep, I’d have done it myself.” (2,II,12-13), Lady Macbeth must have a heart and be nice enough to not kill someone that looks like her father.

On many occasions she rules her husband and dictates his actions. Although near the end of the play Lady Macbeth’s personality and strength begins to deteriorate. Later committing suicide after having many detailed memories and thoughts from the murder. Shakespeare not only shows how guilt can change a person’s personality but he also portrays untraditional gender roles.

Macduff eventually kills Macbeth because he believes that he unjustly killed the kings and his family. Lady Macbeth is under so much guilt that she throws herself off the balcony and commits suicide. Killing seem as though it is not the way to go, it causes many problems that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth decided to endure after killing. After killing, guilt follows you like a shadow, following you every move, never

Unfortunately, Lady Macbeth herself lacks the capability to kill Duncan. While she sincerely wishes she was able to complete the act, she asks the spirits if they could “unsex” her so that she would be capable of killing King Duncan (Shakespeare 32). As Lady Macbeth becomes aware of the witches’ prophecy, her ambition prompts her to develop a plan involving Macbeth murdering the king. However, she also suspects that her husband is “too full of the milk of human kindness to catch the nearest way” (Shakespeare 30), and therefore too civil to be able to seize the throne. Throughout her soliloquy that follows, Lady Macbeth finds that the only way to accomplish her goal is to manipulate her husband and convince him to go through with the murder.

Her idea is to kill the current king Duncan by getting him drunk and murdering him in his sleep. Macbeth hesitates to perform this action, and Lady Macbeth responds to his uncertainty, “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.56-58) This quote proves how Lady Macbeth believes that in order to be a man, Macbeth needs to kill Duncan to show how he is valiant and indomitable therefore elucidating the impression that Lady Macbeth’s definition of a man is being strong and courageous. Macbeth continues to be fearful and replies, “If we should fail [this murder?]” (I.vii.68).

She demands that “direst cruelty” assemble her. She assembles everything that is evil inside her body in order to complete the evil deed of killing Duncan. If she is missing form the story, the murder of Duncan would not take place. This is because during multiple parts in the story, Macbeth possesses terrible uncertainty of whether it is right to take the life of such a great king in order to obtain the power of the throne. Despite Macbeth doubting whether or not he should follow through with the assassination of Duncan, he is always convinced by Lady Macbeth that killing Duncan is appropriate.

—No more o ' that, my lord, no more o ' that. You mar all with this starting” (V.i line 36-38). Even though, Lady Macbeth had nothing to do with the murders after Duncan, like Banquo and Macduff’s wife as well as his son, she still feels guilty because she created the monster, by manipulating Macbeth to kill Duncan. Another reason Lady Macbeth feels remorseful is because she had to do with some of the action in the murder, for example planning the death of Duncan and framing Duncan 's attendant. The guilt is causing Lady Macbeth to go insane because she is aware “All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand.

He does not want to be labeled with female characteristics because this would be a major insult towards him. He decides to follow through and commit the murder. Lady Macbeth also takes a shot at Macbeth’s courage. Macbeth has a problem believing that the plan will succeed. He has a strong feeling that the plan will fail and he will be the one to deal with the consequences.

Lady Macbeth's intent is to persuade her husband to kill King Duncan. She is ultimately successful in doing so because she breaks down Macbeth's fear with various rebuttals to his argument and draws out his ambition to be great. In her eyes, it was his idea in the first place and he would not have brought this to her had it not truly been weighing on his heart. She also thinks about the effects of him being king. For instance, Macbeth as King would make her queen.

When it came to Duncan’s murder, a lot of factors came into play. It began first with the Weird Sisters telling Macbeth of his future king status. The plot continued when Macbeth told his wife of this news. Duncan’s death was sealed when Lady Macbeth persuaded his husband into killing Duncan. The two main causes of Duncan’s death was Macbeth and Lady Macbeth.