The Demise of Lady Macbeth, In Macbeth
In the play Macbeth, by WIlliam Shakespeare, Lady Macbeth is a women driven by love and ambition. In the beginning she appears to be vert tough; yet she weakens as Macbeth grows more foul in his deeds. Lady Macbeth is able to spurn her husband on his evil pursuit of becoming king, but she cannot handle the human feelings of guilt are remorse that go along with this act. It is because of Lady Macbeth's sly urgings that Macbeth acts on his evil desires and kills King Duncan. She becomes impatient when her husband cannot carry out the end of the murder plan. When Macbeth returns to his chamber after killing Duncan and Lady Macbeth learns that he didn't carry out the end of the plan, the reader sees a moment of panic in Lady Macbeth. She quicly regains her composure, though, and decides that she must complete the plan herself. She says to Macbeth, "Give me the daggers. The sleeping and the dead are but as pictures." (II,ii,67-70) At this point in the novel Lady Macbeth is portrayed as strong, determined, and maybe even heartless. But with a more in depth look at the situation, it can also be said that she if full of love for her husband. One could say that Lady Macbeth was a devoted wife, and out of love, she wan
ted to help Macbeth become the king. She shows care and compassion when Macbeth returns to the bedchamber after killing the king. He is stunned by the act that he has committed and Lady Macbeth, with the tenderness of a mother, calms her husband. So, right from the start we see that Lady Macbeth has more than one face, and we learn in the play which one will prevail. Love and ambition can only drive a person so far. Love may be blind, but it's actions cannot remain unexposed forever. There are forces greater than love that worked on Lady Macbeth. Her love and ambtion were countered by guilt, virtue, morals, honesty, and regret. Though her love makes her strong, she is constantly being eaten at by all these other emotions. It's like letting a nest of termites loose on the stilts that support a beachouse. The stilits may appear strong, and may continue to appear so as they are being eaten. Then one day, there will no longer be enough support and the house will fall. Unless, some sees the problem and faces it, the house will contiune to get weaker and weaker. Lady Macbeth couldn't do it, and she took the coward's way, right to the end. All through the play, Lady Macbeth shows a face of calmness, one that feels no guilt or remorse for the actions she is partly responsible for. She watches as her husband becomes more and more consumed by evil, but she always appears calm and collected. When Macbeth, at the dinner party, goes temporarily crazy with guilt, she puts her best face forward, and manages to get the guests to leave before her husband causes too much damage to his reputation. The reader thinks at this point that Lady Macbeth has no feelings. She doesn't seem to be haunted by what she has done, or what her husband has done. She shows little compassion toward him in his distressed state, though he could clearly use some. This could be thought of as her being uncaring, and having no feelings, but it could also be seen as her repressing her f
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Approximate Word count = 1341
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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