Ambition & power

• "Make thick my blood, stop up th' access and passage to remorse." (Act 1)

  • The imperative "make thick my blood illustrates how she commands for emotional restraint and a callous indifference. Recognising that her aspirations for tyranny require a detachment from femininity and the accompanying emotions, Lady Macbeth seeks to rid herself of these elements to pave the way for her ruthless ambitions.
  • This is a seductive and manipulative woman who can lure men into danger or sin- it is a common trope within literature and poetry. She is thus a femme fatale as she not only is manipulative but rejects her womanhood and motherhood- a typical trope of a femme fatale.
• "A little water clears us of this deed" (Act 2).

  • Litotes: Lady Macbeth's omnipotent ambitions blind her to the profound mental turmoil Macbeth is experiencing.
  • Her callousness becomes apparent as she employs litotes, such as the understatement "a little," not only to trivialise the act of murder but also to emasculate Macbeth, encouraging him further along his murderous path.
  • She employs euphemism to characterise regicide as a mere "deed," highlighting a paradoxical aspect of her character. Despite her ambitions to shed feminine traits and embrace tyrannical brutality, she struggles to articulate the gravity of the heinous act
  • This foreshadows her descent into a melodramatic state of insanity in Act 5, where she grapples with an inability to fully grasp the enormity of the sins committed.
• How it links to violence?

  Lady Macbeth's ambitions defied Jacobean norms where women were confined to maternal roles. Unconventional and marked by a ruthless thirst for power, her desires departed from societal expectations, reflecting a relentless pursuit of invincible and violent authority.
• How it links to supernatural? 


  Her relentless desire for absolute power drives her to call on supernatural forces in her quest. She recognises that such an ambitious and malevolent vision can only be achieved with the aid of dark and otherworldly powers
• How it links to app vs reality?

  Lady Macbeth's aspirations and ambitions for cruelty and

  ruthlessness contradict her outward demeanour. Despite her feminine and delicate appearance, she internally has the traits of a tyrannical and merciless figure. This juxtaposition between her appearance vs her reality enhances the effectiveness of her

  duplicity (deceitfulness)
• How it links to gender?

  Recognising that her aspirations for tyranny require a detachment from

  femininity and the accompanying emotions, Lady Macbeth seeks to rid herself of these elements to pave the way for her ruthless ambitions.