lady macbeth

• Why is understanding Lady Macbeth vital to understanding Macbeth?

  Shakespeare uses her to explore key themes
• Even in her absence, what does Lady Macbeth influence?

  How other characters act
• What themes does Shakespeare use Lady Macbeth to explore?

  Ambition, Jacobean gender roles, corruption of nature
• What key characteristics describe Lady Macbeth?

  Strong, ambitious, determined, vulnerable
• What pivotal role does Lady Macbeth play in the plot?

  Driving the plot forward
• What are the main themes associated with Lady Macbeth?

  Ambition, gender roles, corruption of nature, guilt
• Who is Lady Macbeth the wife of?


  Macbeth
• What crime does Lady Macbeth plot?

  The murder of Duncan
• What emotions plague Lady Macbeth later in the play?

  Guilt and remorse
• How does Lady Macbeth die?

  Commits suicide
• What is the best way to understand characters in Shakespeare?

  Explore how they relate to themes
• What fatal flaw do both Lady Macbeth and Macbeth display?

  Ambition
• What is the term for a fatal flaw in tragedy?

  Hamartia
• How does Shakespeare adhere to tragic conventions?

  Both die consumed by their hamartia
• Compared to Macbeth, how ambitious is Lady Macbeth?

  She is even more ambitious
• Why is Macbeth considered a true tragic hero?

  He has redeeming qualities
• What is Macbeth's downfall?

  His ambition
• Why is Lady Macbeth not considered a tragic hero?

  She is not sympathetic at outset
• How does Macbeth initially feel about murdering Duncan?

  He wrestles with his conscience
• What are the consequences of Lady Macbeth's ambition?

  Dire consequences for her mind
• What happens to Lady Macbeth's resolve later in the play?

  She loses resolve and authority
• What does Lady Macbeth's hubris lead her to commit?

  Shocking crimes
• What consumes Lady Macbeth after committing crimes?

  Guilt and fear
• What ideas does Shakespeare explore through Lady Macbeth?

  Ideas about gender roles
• How does Lady Macbeth subvert typical Jacobean women?

  By being controlling and manipulative
• Does Lady Macbeth feel remorse immediately after Duncan's murder?

  No, she feels no remorse
• How does Shakespeare present Lady Macbeth to the audience?

  As untypical of Jacobean norms
• What role reversal does Shakespeare present in the play?

  Wife has authority over husband
• Over whom does Lady Macbeth seem to have authority?

  Macbeth and Dunsinane
• What happens to the role reversal over the play's course?

  It switches back to societal norms
• What does Macbeth begin to do as the play progresses?

  Keep secrets from Lady Macbeth
• What role does Macbeth assume by Act V?

  The typical, dominant husband
• What could Shakespeare be suggesting about women and power?

  Women handle power less capably
• What does Shakespeare suggest about women and guilt?

  Women have less capacity to deal with guilt
• How might a modern audience respond to Lady Macbeth?


  Differently
• What motivates Lady Macbeth's evil deeds?

  Her ambition for her husband
• What kind of conscience does Lady Macbeth have?

  A strong, moral conscience
• What does Lady Macbeth call on evil spirits to do?

  Stop up the passage of remorse
• What overwhelms Lady Macbeth later in the play?

  Her feelings of remorse
• What might Lady Macbeth represent?

  Corruption of proper Christian order