Lady Macbeth

• “My dearest partner of greatness” - Macbeth in Act 1 Scene 5


  1. In the Jacobean Era, it was unusual for you and your partner to be equal. This already gives us an impression that Lady Macbeth is unusual
• “Thou shalt have what thou art promised” - Lady Macbeth in Act 1 Scene 5


  1. Lady Macbeth is being supportive as any woman would in the Jacobean Era
  2. Response to Macbeth’s letter about the witches
  3. Could hint/foreshadow to her getting involved with the murder of King Duncan
• ”Come you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, and fill me from the crown to the toe top-full of direst cruelty” - Lady Macbeth in Act 1 Scene 5


  1. Imperative sentence
  2. The repetition of the “t” sound in “toe top-full” adds emphasis to the thoroughness of her request
  3. Lady Macbeth’s request to be filled “from the crown to the toe top-full of direst cruelty” is an exaggeration (hyperbole) that shows her desire to be consumed entirely by ruthless
  4. ”crown to the toe“ creates an image of a transformation
• “Take my milk for gall” - Lady Macbeth in Act 1 Scene 5


  1. Symbolism - milk is white and white has connotations to purity. This juxtaposes gall which is acidic and has connotations to evil
• ”Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent underneath it” - Lady Macbeth Act 1 Scene 5


  1. Metaphor - telling Macbeth to be evil
  2. Biblical context - the serpent, in the Bible, was the devil that tempted Adam and Eve to sin
  3. Simile - telling Macbeth to hide his duplicitous self
• “When you durst do it, then you were a man“ - Lady Macbeth in Act 1 Scene 7


  1. Durst - dare
  2. Past tense - the phrase “then you were a man” tells us that Lady Macbeth is emasculating Macbeth and pressuring him to kill Duncan
• “We fail? Screw your courage to the sticking place and we’ll not fail” - Lady Macbeth in Act 1 Scene 7


  1. Repetition - the repetition of Macbeth’s interrogative ”we fail?” tells us how surprised she was to hear it
  2. The rhetorical question also shows her emasculating Macbeth by saying that they won’t fail
• “Infirm of purpose! Give me the daggers!” - Lady Macbeth in Act 2 Scene 1


  1. Exclamative sentences convey Lady Macbeth‘s rage
• “My hands are of your colour, but I shame to wear a heart so white” - Lady Macbeth in Act 2 Scene 2


  1. Symbolism - white has connotations with purity
  2. Metaphor - ”a heart so white” is a metaphor for Macbeth’s cowardness
• “A little water clears us of this deed” - Lady Macbeth in Act 2 Scene 2


  1. Juxtaposition - juxtaposes Macbeth’s quote on ”Will great Neptune‘s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?”
• "Out damned spot" - Lady Macbeth in Act 5 Scene 1


  1. She says this whilst sleepwalking. This shows her subconscious self as it shows her believing that there is blood on her hands and shows her losing her mind. This ends with her killing herself