Lady Macbeth Essay, Research Paper

Lady Macbeth

In the Scottish play, Lady Macbeth is shown to be more evil than that of her husband, Macbeth. Every time a problem arises, Lady Macbeth always thinks of the most immoral way to ?solve? the married couple?s problems. Lady Macbeth is blinded by her own ambition, and jumps ahead of her self when trying to reach her own goals. Macbeth, even though he murdered King Duncan, felt remorse for what he did, and he actually thought about what might happen if caught. On several occasions Lady Macbeth goes directly to the foul way to achieve what she, and what she believes that her husband, wants.

Lady Macbeth is depicted as being much worse than her husband in Shakespeare?s play, Macbeth. Both Lady Macbeth and Macbeth think of murdering King Duncan as soon as they hear the witches’ prophecies ? All Hail, Macbeth, that shalt be King hereafter!? (Shakespeare 250). Macbeth thinks more about what he may or may not do, whereas Lady Macbeth immediately appeals to evil spirits to give her the strength to kill Duncan when she says ?Come, you spirits That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here? (Shakespeare 257). This clearly shows that Lady Macbeth is a truly evil woman.

When Macbeth first hears the prophecies he does think of killing the king, but also he thinks that perhaps he doesn?t need to do anything to become the king ?If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me without my stir? (Shakespeare 253). On the other hand, Lady Macbeth, on receiving the letter telling her about the witches’ prophecies, she immediately thinks that she and Macbeth will have to kill King Duncan. She also decides that Macbeth is too nice to kill the king, saying that he “is too full o’ the milk of human kindness” (Shakespeare 257). When she hears the Duncan will visit their castle that night, she immediately appeals to the evil spirits, to give her the strength to kill the king. In Act 1, Scene 7, Macbeth is doubtful of Lady Macbeth’s plot to kill the king and wants to ?proceed no further in this business? (Shakespeare 259). He doesn’t think that he will be able to live with the guilt of killing his king while he is staying under his very roof, and then decides that he will not kill the king. This shows that Macbeth is thinking about what he is going to do, and shows that he does feel guilt and is weighing up the situation. Unlike Macbeth, Lady Macbeth never thinks twice about killing the king. When Lady Macbeth notices that Macbeth has left the room, she goes to speak to him. Macbeth firmly tells her that they will not kill the king ?Prithee, peace! I dare do all that may become a man? (Shakespeare 260). Lady Macbeth, however, tells him that his love is worth nothing if he refuses to go through with the plan, saying that his love is as accountable as his indecisiveness. Macbeth wants his wife to love him and wants her to trust him, so he agrees to go through with their plan.

During Lady Macbeths? speech to the evil spirits clearly shows her inability to think purely. Through out her speech she congers up the evil spirits to ?unsex? her and make her strong so she will have the ability to kill King Duncan. As soon as Macbeth enters the scene and tells her that Kind Duncan was spending the night with him, she says ?O, never Shall sun morrow see? (Shakespeare 257). This shows her intention of killing the king. She makes this statement without even talking to Macbeth so see how he feels about the situation. Lady Macbeth?s ambition of her husband being king and her queen makes her rational senses disappear.

The way Macbeth questions and thinks about killing the king shows that he knows that killing the king is wrong and that he will feel guilty if he does so. On the other hand, Lady Macbeth never questions or worries about killing the king. She never worries that they will be caught and never worries that she will feel guilty. Unlike Macbeth, she never weighs up what they are going to do and instead jumps straight into it without thinking. These examples indicate that Lady Macbeth is far worse than Mac

beth, because Macbeth thinks about what he is doing, whereas Lady Macbeth jumps straight into it, blinded by her own ambition.