She challenges and drives Macbeth to kill King Duncan. “Quote” Had Lady Macbeth not persuaded her weak husband to kill duncan, this whole quarrel would have been avoided . Although Lady Macbeth started it, she was not a pure villain. In Act 5, scene 1 she has nightmares while sleepwalking about Banquo and the blood on her hands. A real villain would not feel guilty after committing a crime.
At the beginning of the play Lady Macbeth tries to control Macbeth and tell him what to do. As time goes on, Lady Macbeth becomes less ambitious and she begins to feel guilt for the murder of Duncan. Lady Macbeth and her husband switch roles to where he is now the strong ambitious murderer, while Lady Macbeth becomes scared and guilty. Since Lady Macbeth is driven by her ambition her decision to have Duncan killed creates guilt by the end of the play.
One example is how is easily persuaded by Lady Macbeth to commit such a heinous crime, and murder their King. After, that their downfall begins because they are both so plagued by guilt it starts to affect them both mentally and physically. The first hallucination that Macbeth experienced was the floating dagger that he claimed to Lady Macbeth, led him to King Duncan the night he murdered him (Shakespeare, 2.1.40-46). Then when Macbeth returns to his wife after murdering King Duncan, he asks her if she has heard any strange noises. Macbeth then goes on to explain how, “There’s one did laugh in’s sleep, and one cried, ‘murder!’
In the play of Macbeth, there are some characters that could be responsible for Duncan’s death. I personally think Lady Macbeth is the cause of Duncan's murder. She is the most ambitious to kill the king in the beginning of the play, pressuring Macbeth. Lady Macbeth was persuasive of driving Macbeth to commit the murder. She manipulates him to go through with the murder even though he was very doubtful about it.
However, with the progression of the play, the audience can feel a shift in Lady Macbeth’s personality. She showed signs of her inner turmoil when she sleepwalked around the castle and mimicked the action of washing blood off her hands. In addition to this, Lady Macbeth reveals her guilt about the death of Lady Macbeth and Duncan when she rambled while she was in her disheveled state (V, I, 32-45). It’s obvious that these actions have been bothering Lady Macbeth for quite some time and this is what eventually lead to her self-created
After Lady Macbeth’s reaction to Macbeth’s letter he wrote to her about the prophecies, readers started to understand what kind of character Lady Macbeth was. Of course with her being the plotting character in the crime scene, it is obvious she is the more evil character. Never once did she question herself to not go along with the plan, unlike Macbeth.
At the start of the story she instigates Macbeth to murder Duncan and washes away his blood without a shred of remorse, whereas Macbeth is mortified by his actions. This changes however the second time Lady Macbeth encounters blood with her shocked reaction to Macbeth killing Duncan's guards. Where Lady Macbeth initially stood unfazed, she now faints at the sight of the cruel acts that Macbeth has committed. This only worsens as the play progresses to the point where she hallucinates blood spots on her hands, representing the guilt she now cannot escape
Murder's Impact: Empathy and Blood in Macbeth Throughout the play “Macbeth”, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s characters change as a result of murder and the trauma of bloodshed. Lady Macbeth thinks she can turn off her conscience and convince her husband to kill Duncan, which results in her crippling guilt and insanity. Macbeth feels no remorse of this kind, and instead fears the consequences, consistently referencing his safety. As the play progresses, we see examples of blood being used to communicate the guilt and remorse Lady Macbeth feels.
The Transformation of Lady Macbeth Shakespeare’s Macbeth demonstrates how Lady Macbeth becomes less and less bloodthirsty after the murder of Duncan due to her humane qualities that allow her to feel guilt. Lady Macbeth transforms from a selfish murder-focused accomplice to a woman opposed to the murder of innocent people. Ultimately, she becomes a sleepwalker, consumed by her own guilt.
The blood on her hands indicates the murders of Duncan and others who have died because of her and Macbeth’s ambition. However, as blood can be masked within a strong scent, such as the perfumes of Arabia, it is not the case for Lady Macbeth in her sleep because the guilt she feels is overwhelming her ability to forgive herself and forget her sins. Therefore, Lady Macbeth expresses her guilt through her vision while sleeping which is caused by her ambition and
The play, “Macbeth,” by William Shakespeare, is a remarkable tragedy which introduces a different view of marriage, contrary to the norms of society regarding marriage in the medieval era. During this time period, women didn’t have a voice as they were dominated by men in marriages and they were considered to be weak and insignificant humans. However, in “Macbeth,” Lady Macbeth is the biggest influence in her husband, Macbeth’s, life as she possesses higher power than him in their marriage. This imbalance of power substantially impacts their relationship, driving their marriage to take a dark turn. Both with strong ambitions, began a journey to achieve these goals leading to the deterioration of everything around them, including their marriage.