Macbeth

A detailed Summary of Macbeth


Macbeth is known as one of Shakespeare's four great tragedies. This play is one of his best known and most widely recognized, as well as one of the shortest and most intense. In this play there are many famous and inspiring soliloquies (speeches of one's thoughts). Lady Macbeth makes many of these. In Act I, Scene 5, Lady Macbeth receives a letter from Lord Macbeth and the scene opens with her reading it. After finishing, she speaks with the messenger, and is then left alone with her own thoughts to pray her famous "unsex me here..." prayer. This prayer is the first soliloquy she makes and is one of the most important in understanding who Lady Macbeth really is.

In her prayer Lady Macbeth states that the messenger's hoarse voice reminder her of the raven that "croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan" (1.5.35). She is praying to


Lady Macbeth is considered to be one of Shakespeare's most frightening and famous female characters. The first time she is seen in the play she has already begun the plot for murdering Duncan, even though her husband does not want to. From this scene you gather that she is not only stronger than Lord Macbeth is, but she is also more ambitious, more ruthless, and more determined. Unlike most women, Lady Macbeth knows how much stronger she is than her husband is and she is aware that he will have to be convinced that he needs to murder Duncan. This is why in her prayer she prays to be "unsexed" so that she can commit the crime without anyone's help. Lord Macbeth even implies that she is a manly soul stuck in a female's body. Lady Macbeth manipulates her husband quite effectively by questioning his manhood whenever he hesitates u

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Approximate Word count = 563
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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