Before Lady Macbeth plots to murder the king, Macbeth receives some very ironic news. First and foremost, three witches address Macbeth as “Thane of Glamis” and “Thane of Cawdor”; additionally, they tell him “Macbeth that shalt be king hereafter” and Banquo “thou shalt get kings, though thou be none” (I, iii, 48-67). Macbeth is already Thane of Glamis, and later he becomes Thane of Cawdor, because these two predictions have already become true, he feels puzzled because King Duncan is still living. Macbeth gradually starts to think about murdering Duncan, however [“His thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical’] which Macbeth does not take seriously, [“shakes so his single state of man that function”] (I, iii, 139-140). He also feels that “If chance will have me King, why, chance may crown me without my
Although Macbeth desires to be King he still has his doubts about the murder. Shakespeare shows that Lady Macbeth serves as a foil to Macbeth because her static character shows strong and evil strategies that bring out Macbeths cowardly actions and apprehensive conscience for becoming King, making Macbeth look as if he is weak. Macbeth is seen as a very brave and determined character at the beginning of the play after winning the battle at Norway. Even though Macbeth is seen to be a positive role model, he is naïve and easily fooled into doing things his original character would not intend on doing. In the play Macbeth is persuaded by Lady Macbeth to kill Duncan in order to get the “ornament of life,” which would be taking the thrown.
If any woman is to be held responsible for Macbeth’s demise, let it be Lady Macbeth, for rather than warning Macbeth against the witches’ prophecies, she decides to encourage her husband to kill the King. Lady Macbeth is obviously the dominant partner of the two when that role should naturally fall to the male partner. She is the mastermind behind all of Macbeth’s evil deeds. Lady Macbeth has such greed and desire to be Queen of Scotland, that she will do practically anything to seize the throne. She immediately forces Macbeth to act on the witches prophecies and murder Duncan in his sleep.
Kings are higher on the chain that an everyday common man so when a common man kills a king the chain falls apart as turmoil infests nature. It all starts with Macbeth and her overwhelming aspirations to become queen. She calls upon the spirits to: “…unsex me…make thick my blood, stop up th’ access and passage to remorse, that no compunctious visiting of nature…” With that very quote you see turmoil starting to brew because by nature women are caring and filled with emotion. Here she is asking the spirits to “unsex” her, to make her more like a man so she is unable to care about the evil plan to convince her husband to kill King Duncan. You can tell that in the beginning Macbeth never wanted to kill Duncan; in act I witches come about and tell a prophesy that Macbeth will rule over Scotland, which puts the thought of killing Duncan in his head.
She basically questions his man hood at one point and and claims she would slay a baby for him. In return this motivates Macbeth to man up and slay Duncan. To make sure Macbeth goes through with the homicide Lady Macbeth gives him incentive , " We fail/ But screw your courage to the sticking place/ And we'll not fail..."( Shakespeare 1.6.59-61). She states that if
It is too full o’ the milk of human kindness to catch the nearest way” ⁃ Page 339 ⁃ Lady Macbeth is telling Macbeth that he is too nice for doing the bad things to become King 6. “Come, you spirits that tend me on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, and fill me, from the crown to the toe, top full of direst cruelty!” ⁃ Page 340 ⁃ said by Lady Macbeth ⁃ take away her femininity ⁃ take away her weakness so she could be more violent and strong so she can do what needs to be done (kill Duncan) 7. “Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under’t.” ⁃ page 341 ⁃ said by Lady Macbeth ⁃ be nice to Duncan when he comes, but he ready to kill him 8. “This castle hath a pleasant seat. The air nimbly and sweetly recommends itself unto our gentle senses” ⁃ Page 341 ⁃ pathetic irony ⁃ said by Duncan 9.
"He's here in double trust: First, as I am his kinsman and his subjects, Strong both against the deed; then as his host, Who should against his murderer shut the door, Not bear the knife myself" (1.7.12-16) This is where Lady Macbeth comes into Macbeths fall. Because of Lady Macbeths strong will, she convinces Macbeth to kill Duncan so that he may become king. She becomes so obsessed about this crime that she even contiplats doing it herself. "Come, you spirits That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full Of direst cruelty." (1.6.35-38) Her drive behind Macbeth drove him to kill Duncan.
Macbeth struggled with this concept, contemplating whether he should carry out the evil deed. He conjured up a list of reasons to avoid killing King Duncan. Lady Macbeth then challenged Macbeth’s manhood, referring to him as a coward. Only then did he take it upon himself to kill the king. Although, Macbeth takes the dagger and kills King Duncan, Lady Macbeth was the one who planned to kill him that night and frame his guards.
Lady Macbeth is the opposite of the stereotypical woman, as she shows signs of masculinity and possesses supposed characteristics of men, such as physical strength and determination.When Lady Macbeth says ‘unsex me here’ this shows that she is aware of the fact that she is a vicious woman and wishes she was a man in order to perform the evil act of murder herself. She knows her husband is incapable to commit the sin due to his lack of masculinity she describes him in the following words ‘is too fall o’ the milk of human nature’ and express how she plans to "chastise him with the valour of her tongue" to fulfill her ambition. She also expresses that ‘i may pour my spirits in thine ear’ this is so that Macbeth doesn’t pass up his desire of being king. The two different contexts have moulded the directors' interpretations of the text of Macbeth. Roman Polanski's version appeared in 1971 in a time of hippies, free love and retaliation to the world's war.
She also plays with his mind by saying are you drunk to turn down a one in a life time opportunity, you could become king. In conclusion Lady Macbeth is the driving force of Macbeth’s decision to kill Duncan, Lady Macbeth is an extremely decisive person and can manipulate and persuade someone to do what she wants. However Macbeth is a very indecisive person and cannot make his mind up and can be very gullible into believing what someone has said and can be easily persuaded into do some think he knows is not the right thing to