Lady Macbeth

• Quote: "Unsex me here, and fill me, from the crown to the toe, top-full of direst cruelty"

  Who: Lady Macbeth

  Where: Act 1, Scene 5

  Idea: Lady Macbeth is asking for the spirits to reduce her femininity. To become powerful, Lady Macbeth needs to sacrifice her femininity and subvert the characteristics of a typical woman, Shakespeare has Lady Macbeth use imperative verbs when commanding evil spirits which highlights her hubris.
• Quote: "When thou durst do it, then you were a man"

  Who: Lady Macbeth

  When: Act 1, Scene 7

  Idea: Macbeth is questioning himself within this scene before Lady Macbeth enters and then begins insulting/attacking his masculinity. Highlights danger of patriarchy, Macbeth has to be courageous and strong but Lady Macbeth calls him a coward and hurts his pride. Macbeth could have possibly killed Duncan to prove his masculinity to his wife. As a woman, Lady Macbeth's power is in her skills of deception and manipulation
• Quote: "Look like the innocent flower but be the serpent under't"

  Who: Lady Macbeth

  When: Act 1, Scene 5

  Idea: Reflective of Lady Macbeth's duplicitous nature. Her use of the imperative verb "look" also highlights her power and domination over Macbeth. The "serpent" has religious connotations, Shakespeare suggesting that committing blasphemous acts will always lead to ruin. Key example of appearance versus reality.
• Lady Macbeth can be viewed as an antagonist because of how she drives her husband, Macbeth, towards murder and bloodshed despite his protests. Alternatively, she can be viewed as a tragic heroine, meaning she starts out in a position of glory and success but falls from grace due to an error in judgement of her own making.
• Lady Macbeth is the wife of a Thane, so her husband owns land given to him by the king. She can't possess any land herself, but she lives in luxury and has a good reputation. It's possible that she had children at one point, but at the time of the play she's childless and we don't see any of her family.
• After receiving a letter from Macbeth that informs her of the Witches' prophecies, she is determined for Macbeth to become king. She worries that Macbeth is too tame and hesitant to do it himself, so commits to mocking and tempting him until he gives in. After Duncan's murder, she grows more anxious and blunt, but is kept out of most of her husband's actions and plots. Ultimately, she is broken by grief and guilt and takes her own life.
• There is a lot of debate about what motivates Lady Macbeth in ensuring her husband becomes King. One argument is that, traditionally, wives had to be supportive of their husbands' careers and aspirations. By pushing Macbeth to be king, Lady Macbeth could be fulfilling her role as the devoted, helpful wife. It's also a demonstration of her love for Macbeth, as she wants him to succeed. Alternatively, her motivation is her own ambitions and goals. Her position as a woman in society means her own career prospects are limited, so the only way to move up the social ladder is for Macbeth to. She wants to be queen and reap the benefits of Macbeth's successes. Furthermore, becoming queen could be compensation for her lost children. If we do conclude that she had children but they died in infancy, then Lady Macbeth has lost her 'purpose' as a woman.
• One of Shakespeare's resounding messages in the play of 'Macbeth' is that nothing is as it seems. Appearances cannot be trusted as they rarely match up with reality. One of the most significant, and destructive, examples of this is the character of Lady Macbeth. Lady Macbeth's main role in the play is to shake things up and cause havoc, meaning her aim is to fool and manipulate as many people as possible with her deceitful ways. She benefits hugely from the divide between appearances and reality. Furthermore, she relies on people's prejudices and assumptions to get away with her actions. For example, the male characters see she is a woman so assume she would not get involved with violence, these miscalculations of her character allow her to get away with a lot.
• Some would argue she uses her feminine wiles to persuade Macbeth to kill for her: either way, the social conventions surrounding gender come to her advantage. Something she tells Macbeth over and over is to make sure he puts on a facade for other people. She believes that as long as they can maintain their deceitful masks, they will get away with murder and so much more. Of course, she underestimates the power of her own remorse.
• Another way Lady Macbeth exploits appearances is by transferring her desires and plans into Macbeth. She is the villain kept behind the scenes. Though Macbeth is the one acting and killing, he is fulfilling Lady Macbeth's wishes. It is as if she has possessed him, or transformed herself into him through persuasion. It looks like Macbeth is the murderer, but in reality she is.
• Lady Macbeth's manipulation of appearances is the connection between her and the Witches. In fact, like the Witches, her gender identity is ambiguous. On the outside, she looks feminine, but if her spells were successful, then she is wombless and full of gall on the inside.
• Lady Macbeth isn't even fully honest to her husband. Only we, the audience, know the extent of her plots and motivations. By allowing us to hear her soliloquies, Shakespeare emphasises the divide between appearances and reality and how extreme her deceit really is. Other characters on stage are oblivious of who she really is, but we know the dark truth. Moreover, as the plot develops, Lady Macbeth's own sense of self deteriorates. Her suffering, torment, and hallucinations could all be side effects of her fragmented self. She has manipulated her identity so much that she is no one at all.
• Shakespeare uses these aspects of the femme fatale archetype in the character of Lady Macbeth. She threatens to emasculate Macbeth, and uses her power over him as his wife to get her own way. Some productions of 'Macbeth' even show Lady Macbeth using sexuality and seduction to explicitly manipulate her husband. All of this is for her own ulterior motives, and clearly she drives Macbeth to his own death. More so than warning of the dangers of unrestrained female sexuality, though, Shakespeare seems to be demonstrating the dangers of unrestrained female ambition and power.
• In the Jacobean Era, women had no legal rights in society, and this meant that when they married, they became the property of their husbands. Their role was to have children and run the household. Domestic abuse, and even domestic murder, was extremely common. Maternal mortality (how common it was for a woman to die from pregnancy, childbirth, or the period after birth) was also extremely high. A woman's destiny was to get married and have children. Any education she was offered was geared towards these two occupations: women were taught to cook and clean, and for the upper classes, they might be taught to dance or embroider, all in the hopes of attracting a man. Men were entitled to divorce or disown their wives at any time if they felt she had dishonoured them, disobeyed them, or brought shame to their reputation.
• In 'Macbeth', Shakespeare allows us to see how Lady Macbeth copes with these aspects of life for women in the Middle Ages. Within her marriage, she is a dominant figure with her own clear identity and purpose. Outside of her marriage, she is viewed only as Macbeth's wife and a good host. Her relationship with motherhood is much more complicated. It seems like, at some point, she had children, but they must have died, as there are no signs of children when the play unfolds. She tries to banish all her reproductive organs from her body, rejecting the role of mother altogether.
• Whether Shakespeare intends to show the perils of femininity or of androgyny through Lady Macbeth depends on how successful you think her prayers to the spirits were. If we are to believe she was successful in unsexing herself, then her villainy and disturbing personality suggest that gender nonconformity is dangerous. By losing her femininine identity, she loses her humanity. Alternatively, if we still view her as a female character, her acts of manipulation and seduction portray women as deceitful, wicked beings.
• • She also plays a pivotal role in Macbeth's perception of his own gender. Her highly critical attacks on his manhood, and her perception of masculinity as violent, drives Macbeth to murder and tyranny. This adds to Shakespeare's exploration of manliness. Lady Macbeth is a very unconventional female character by traditional and Jacobean standards. She is given multiple soliloquies - something that usually only male characters were allowed. When Shakespeare first introduces her to us, she has the dominant role in her marriage, which would have been unheard of. Rather than appearing weak or idiotic, she is smart, cunning, and bloodthirsty, and embraces the occult and villainy in order to achieve her goal. She is so powerful that a Jacobean audience would view her as unnatural, possibly even supernatural.
• • Shakespeare suggests through her character that giving women power is dangerous and unnatural. It also appears that the only way for a woman to be so brutal and strong is to be evil and supernatural, which is why she prays toevil spirits. Her character allows Shakespeare to examine gender roles, marital relations, and the division of power in his society.
• Ambitious:

  Lady Macbeth's ambition is much more intense and violent than Macbeth's. She doesn't hesitate or deliberate: immediately she decides to pursue the promise of Macbeth's kingship. She craves power and, later, protection. She has been a 'weak' woman all her life, and now is her chance to answer her desires and reach her full potential. Her ambition is infectious. How authentic or committed Lady Macbeth's ambition is appears unclear. She speaks in a very violent, brutal fashion, but never acts on these impulses. Her words aren't supported by her actions. Plus, she admits that she can't bear looking at Duncan's corpse because he resembles her father.
• How successful her wish to be "unsex[ed]" and made cruel was is questionable. After Duncan's murder, she loses a lot of her confidence. Her ambition disappears, and she is fixated on her paranoia. It seems her ambition was all bravado. Lady Macbeth is quite a frightening character because of how she commits herself entirely to her ambition. Ambition for her is an act of sacrifice: she abandons all hopes of virtue or salvation by calling upon evil spirits. Like with Macbeth, Shakespeare argues that ambition itself isn't the issue, but the way Lady Macbeth embraces its control. On the other hand, Lady Macbeth doesn't care for morality and natural order. She doesn't care for other people: they're just obstacles to her goal.
• Supernatural:

  There's a lot of evidence for Lady Macbeth being the fourth Witch (excluding Hecate), but unlike the three Macbeth meets on the heath, Lady Macbeth is instrumental in planting the idea of murder in his head. She speaks in rhyming couplets while persuading Macbeth to agree to her plan, and her command of rhetoric and manipulation imitates the Witches' spells and trickery. Equally, her plan rests on her ability to use facade to manipulate reality, meaning her relationship with appearance vs. reality is similar to the Witches'.
• • Her subversion of femininity was, in Jacobean times, more than enough evidence that she was a witch. Shakespeare implies her unnatural power as a woman is due to her supernatural links. Lady Macbeth could be called the 'creator of evil' in Macbeth. She is the main conspirator out of the Macbeths, and plants the idea of evil in Macbeth's mind. The methods she uses to manipulate him hold explicit links to the supernatural. She wants to "pour [her] spirits in [his] ear", an allusion to demonic possession.
  • This quote also connotes the story of the Garden of Eden, where the serpent tempted Eve to sin, and Eve then whispered in Adam's ear so that he might join her. Lady Macbeth can be viewed as an imitation of Pandora from Roman mythology: Pandora opened the box that brought all evil and sin into the world. Shakespeare associates the Fall of Man with seduction, femininity, and the supernatural.
• Guilty:

  Guilt and remorse are the undoing of Lady Macbeth, leading her to her death. Unlike Macbeth, she isn't killed after an uprising: she kills herself. Her mind is her enemy. Her ambition took her down violent paths that she couldn't cope with, and Shakespeare suggests guilt and regret are the most destructive consequences of that. Everyone underestimates the power of their own conscience. The insanity and torment she feels at the hand of her guilt is punishment for her villainy.
• At first, Lady Macbeth shows no signs of guilt or remorse. In fact, she's the one telling Macbeth off for worrying and panicking. She is convinced that washing the blood off their hands will free them from their deeds altogether, assuming that there will be no lasting impacts. This might also suggest that she is incapable of seeing how murder has psychological consequences. To her, the only link to the murder is the literal blood on her hands. She fails to anticipate that the murder will live with her beyond that night. This shows how she views herself to be cruel and ruthless. She represses any morality she has. Alternatively, this may reveal how desperate she is to put the murder behind her and continue with her life as normal.
• The act of washing your hands of blood becomes symbolic in the play. Shakespeare uses it to show how guilt persists beyond physical evidence. Lady Macbeth's bold words "a little water clears us of this deed" come back to bite her, as in her final scene, we watch her repeatedly try to wash invisible blood off her hands. However, there are signs early on that Lady Macbeth isn't as tough and cold-hearted as she wants to appear. She never refers explicitly to the murder or to blood: she uses euphemisms, such as "deed" and "great business". This implies she can't confront reality, and can't face the grotesque or macabre. Shakespeare argues that guilt is the direct opposite of ambition. One focuses on the future, the other on the past. Ambition longs for power regardless of consequence, whereas guilt forces us to face the reality of our deeds.
• Beginning of Play

  Lady Macbeth's most striking and significant performances happen at the beginning of the play. From them, we get a clear idea of who she is - or, arguably, who she wants to be. Her first lines are a soliloquy, demonstrating her importance and strength of will. Though she doesn't appear on stage until the 5th scene, she has a large impact on the direction the plot takes, and it is her plots and wishes that get fulfilled in the first two acts.
• Beginning of Play

  Lady Macbeth's speech at the beginning of the play is littered with deceit, treachery, and omens of death. The prospect of being queen and controlling the fate of another empowers her, and she doesn't want anything to come between her and the crown. Violence and cruelty are a means to an end for her because they bring her closer to getting what she wants and allow her to prove herself.
• Begnning of Play

  Alternatively, you could argue that there are signs Lady Macbeth enjoys gratuitous violence - violence for the sake of violence. She knows that Macbeth will become king regardless of her own actions, but opts for the murderous route to the throne. She vows to smash a baby's head open for Macbeth as a sign of loyalty, despite him never asking for her to do such a thing. Both interpretations explain why Lady Macbeth doesn't care about moral consequence: her bloodlust and her selfish persistence leave no room for others and their feelings.
• Beginning of Play

  Shakespeare most wants to convey that Lady Macbeth's character is her ability to manipulate, tempt, and seduce. She is the root of Macbeth's evil, and this comes hand in hand with her supernatural contacts. It isn't just significant that she has soliloquies in her first scenes: the allusions to witchcraft and the diabolical portray her as a villain, and it's as if she's casting her own spells. She wants the power of the occult to achieve her aim, suggesting she is willing to sacrifice everything to be queen.
• Beginning of Play

  She bullies Macbeth with cruel and cutting insults, but also entices him with promises of power and success. The way she greets him, calling him a soon-to-be king, mimics the Witches' own. After Macbeth's soliloquy where he concludes that he has "no spur to prick the sides of [his] intent, but only / Vaulting ambition", Lady Macbeth appears on stage, suggesting that she is that very "spur", "vaulting ambition" personified. This all means she knows his weaknesses and temptations, and exploits them for her own gain. He has no hope of beating her. She is the Serpent and Eve combined, the call of the Sirens luring sailors to their graves.
• Middle of Play

  In the climax of the murder in Act 2 Scene 2, we see how Lady Macbeth takes charge and remains calm while Macbeth has a personal crisis. This elaborates on what we saw in the first act: Lady Macbeth is in control and is the dominant planner out of the two Macbeths. Except for one moment of honesty when she admits she couldn't kill Duncan because he looks like her father, she is cold and unruffled, completely remorseless and ruthless.
• Middle of Play

  She is frustrated with Macbeth because of his guilt, hysteria, and fear - something that happens continually for the rest of the middle section - portraying her as unempathetic and closed-off. It's as if her spells were successful and she is an invincible, amoral villain, presenting her as a Witch. To her, guilt goes as far as the blood on her hands, and can be disposed of just as easily. The contrast between her and Macbeth's reactions - her coldness against his panic - makes her appear far-removed from humanity and its worries. On the other hand, her one display of

  emotional vulnerability could foreshadow her guilt and torment later.
• Middle of Play

  In Act 2 Scene 3, Lady Macbeth gets a chance to demonstrate her acting skills. So far, her plan is chillingly successful. The way she feigns grief and manages to fool everyone in the vicinity with her performance suggests she has an uncanny ability to imitate and replicate human emotion. As an audience, we learn that she is an unreliable character: we don't know how much of what she says and does is genuine.
• Middle of Play

  As we enter Act 3, we see cracks starting to appear in Lady Macbeth's calm. She's still unaffected by guilt, but she's paranoid. Moreover, she's anxious about how Macbeth is faring. His own paranoia and guilt are causes of great concern for her, and she doesn't want his incompetence to ruin her plan. This tension and frustration comes to a head when Banquo's ghost appears. She can't understand why Macbeth is behaving the way he is, and is angry that he would be so terrified by something so foolish, putting her in danger by doing so. She mocks and chastises him (tells him off) for displaying weakness, implying she's very passionate about keeping in control.
• Middle of Play

  Despite her best efforts, we see Macbeth spinning out of control and away from Lady Macbeth's grasp. She can't stop him from seeing ghosts. She knows they need to be wary of Banquo, but Macbeth won't tell her what he has planned. By the end of the banquet scene, we know that the two are on separate paths, each isolated in their paranoia despite having the same fears. The Lady Macbeth we saw in Act 1, the wife who had an unbreakable hold over her husband, is nowhere to be seen.
• End of Play

  We next see Lady Macbeth on stage in Act 5 Scene 1. This is also the last time she ever appears before her death. The person we see is even further away from the person who plotted the death of a king in Act 1: she is entirely absorbed in her fear, talking to herself while oblivious to her surroundings. Her last line in the banquet scene was "you lack the season of all natures, sleep", so it's fitting that now she paces at night, sleepwalking but unable to rest. Finally, her sins have caught up to her.
• End of Play

  Shakespeare uses the characters of the doctor and Lady Macbeth's Lady in Waiting to emphasise how insane and alien Lady Macbeth has become. She never speaks to anyone, and it's only through the exchange between these two minor characters that we know what's going on. Along with the doctor, the audience observes, studies, and diagnoses her, like she's a specimen for a scientist. Any strength or influence she had is gone. Furthermore, she's speaking in prose rather than blank verse, so that her speech lacks sophistication and control. Shakespeare used prose for characters who were lower class or insane. Hence, Lady Macbeth isn't as impressive or intimidating as she once was.
• End of Play

  Lady Macbeth's speech is incoherent, frantic, and continuous, as her internal monologue is said aloud. She alternates between worrying about her growing guilt and telling an imagined Macbeth off for jeopardising their plot. For example, in one long string of monologue, she says, "The Thane of Fife had a wife. Where is she now? What, will these hands ne'er be clean? No more o'that, my lord, no more o'that. You mar all with this starting," going from panicking about their growing body-count to scolding Macbeth for being jumpy in an instant. The random, disjointed structure of her speech reflects how she's torn between her ambition and her guilt. Part of her is holding onto the woman she was before, someone who was fearless and unsympathetic of Macbeth's fear, while the rest of her is descending into remorse and grief.
• End of Play

  Therefore, there is a level of hypocrisy in her character. A case of situational irony is the way she worries about being unable to wash the blood from her hands: earlier, she thought a "little water" would clear her of guilt, but now she learns this isn't true.
• End of Play

  Lady Macbeth is hardly mentioned by the other characters for the rest of the play. Only upon her death does Macbeth think of her, highlighting how separate the two of them have become. She drifted away from the outside world, caged inside the castle. Before the murder, Lady Macbeth could never have imagined fading into such insignificance.