The Relationship Between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth

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Erin Cobb English IV Mrs. Tyree 20 May 2014 The Relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth In William Shakespeare’s story of the tragedy of Macbeth we find Macbeth and his wife, Lady Macbeth happily in love and devoted to each other. Throughout the play we notice how the couple goes through a transformation that affects their marriage as well as everyone around them. Shakespeare is constantly changing their attitude towards each other throughout the play, making it difficult to have a clear vision of how they feel. The marriage seems to revolve around the desire for power and the common want consumes the couple as well as destroys their marriage. We see just how powerful Lady Macbeth truly is through the way she uses Macbeth's ambition and sense of honor to convince him to kill the king. The Macbeth’s have a twisted relationship and it affects the reader’s view of the characters. In the beginning of the play we find Macbeth and his wife happily in love and devoted to each other. Like a healthy couple, the Macbeth's confide in each other completely. Lady Macbeth is viewed as very controlling, ambitious, manipulative, committed, yet fruitless on the other hand Macbeth is viewed as brave, vulnerable, misunderstood, and easily manipulated. This dynamic between the couple as exemplified by Lady Macbeth convincing Macbeth to murder King Duncan. Lady Macbeth referenced that she has had a child in the past but had lost it. “I have given suck, and know / How tender 'tis to love the babe that milks me: / I would, while it was smiling in my face, / Have pluck'd my nipple from his boneless gums, / And dash'd the brains out, had I so sworn as you / Have done to this” (Act 1 Scene 7). Lady Macbeth is trying to say what she would rather kill their unborn child before she would lie to him as a way to manipulate her husband even more to gain power. Their personalities start

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