Why Is Lady Macbeth Wrongful

“Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be what thou art promis’d. Yet do I fear thy nature, It is too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness to catch the nearest way” (1.5.13--16). In The Tragedy of Macbeth by William Shakespeare, to Lady Macbeth, the “milk of human kindness” is wrongful doing and no self-respecting human will have any use for it. Lady Macbeth is ambitious, and fears that her ‘milky’ husband lacks the mental strength to kill Duncan. 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.

Ambition can be used for good or evil. At the beginning of the play, Lady Macbeth uses her ambition for cruelty and wants to gain power. Lady Macbeth shows her cruelty by saying, “Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, and fill me from the crown to the toe topful of direst cruelty!” (1.5.38--41). What she means by this is that if Macbeth is too scared and cowardly to kill Duncan then she wishes that she was not a woman so that she could do it herself. 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