Macbeth - Lady Macbeth

A detailed Summary of Macbeth - Lady Macbeth

"Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be

What thou art promised; yet do I fear thy nature,

It is too full o'th'milk of human kindness

To catch the nearest way. Thou wouldst be great,

Art not without ambition, but without

The illness should attend it. What thou wouldst highly,

That wouldst thou holily; wouldst not play false,

And yet wouldst strongly win. Thou'dst have, great

That which cries, 'Thus who must do' if thou have it;

And that which rather thou dost fear to do.

Than wishest should be undone. Hie thee hither,

That I may pour my spirits in thine ear

And chastise with the valour of my tongue

All that impedes thee from the golden round,

Which fate and metaphysical aid doth seem

-Lady Macbeth, Act 1 Sc5, Lines 13 - 28

Amongst the most essential of characters in the play "Macbeth" by William Shakespeare is Lady Macbeth. Upon the introduction of Act 1 Scene 5, Lady Macbeth is brought into the plot of the play. In this soliloquy, Lady Macbeth comments on her thoughts after having read a letter from her husband, Macbeth, informing her about the witches' prophecies on the possibility of Kingship. A variety of outstanding topics are explor

The idea of having to call upon the "spirits" and gods, the most divine of beings also can be interpreted to suggest multiple meanings. The fact that Lady Macbeth has to call upon the most powerful of beings suggests the extent of Macbeth's kindness, that only the most commanding of beings has the dominance to sway Macbeth's conscience. Alternatively, the act of Lady Macbeth calling upon the most divine of beings can be interpreted to suggest the manner in which she plans to manipulate Macbeth. The fact that she is performing a ritual to the gods, as if she is seeking genuine help, suggests the desperation she is in. This is further justified by the use of the term "Hie thee hither", which also suggests the desperation and haste she is in. The manner in which she wants to manipulate Macbeth in is also shown when Lady Macbeth says she wants to "pour my spirits in thine ear". The smooth, fluent and gradual movement involved in the action of pouring can be used to reflect the manner in which Lady Macbeth plans to transform her husband into a murderer slowly. This too can be symbolic towards the reinforcement of Lady Macbeth's developing sense of evil as it shows that Lady Macbeth is trying to do this deed as discretely as possible, without any sudden changes that would otherwise make her actions fairly noticeable. The obscurity of pouring her evilness into Macbeth's "ear" as opposed to the mouth is not only unexpected, but also cunningly discrete. In this line, Lady Macbeth uses the word "spirits" to represent the substance of her evilness that she wishes to pass on to Macbeth. This shows her hunger and will power in which she would like to complete this deed in. This is achieved through the importance of the word "spirits", a representation of ones body and soul. The fact that Lady Macbeth is willing to sacrifice her "spirits" reflects on the extreme levels of her will and hunger. This is also shown through the fluency of the manner in which she delivers her soliloquy. This shows that she feels very strongly for what she is saying as she does not run out of things to say.

As the reader discovers in the latter stages of the play, Macbeth is a character who loses his conscious and changes into a character of utmost evilness. This, when placed side by side with the praise from Lady Macbeth leading to assumptions of Macbeth's character of complete 'human kindness', generates an extreme level of dramatic irony that is significant towards the general feeling of the audience. Through a variety of sleek techniques as such including imagery, tone and diction, Lady Macbeth presents the audience with an extremely in-depth in

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Approximate Word count = 1775
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English