The deuteragonist (second most significant character) in the drama, the wife of Macbeth who shares his lust for power
Lady Macbeth
Our initial impressions are that she is "fiend-like" as her thoughts turn immediately to regicide when she learns of Duncan's visit
She summons evil "spirits" and commands them to "make thick my blood" so that "no compunctious visitings of Nature" shake her wicked intention to murder the King
She imagines committing the regicide herself, asking to be wrapped in the blackest smoke of Hell "so that my keen knife sees not the wound it makes"
She is not naturally "fiend-like" as she admits she could not do it because Duncan "looked like my father as he slept"
She avoids using the word "murder" and instead employs euphemisms when pressuring Macbeth to commit the deed, which subtly conveys her wily, artful manipulation of her husband
After the regicide is committed and Lady Macbeth becomes Queen
The dynamics of her relationship with Macbeth undergo a dramatic transformation, as her ability to influence him diminishes and she becomes an increasingly isolated figure
Lady Macbeth privately admits "Nought's had, all's spent, where our desire is got without content" despite having fulfilled her ambition to become Queen
As Lady Macbeth's ability to influence Macbeth diminishes
She becomes an increasingly isolated figure
After the banquet scene, Lady Macbeth tells Macbeth "You lack the season of all natures – sleep"
The audience's final impressions of Lady Macbeth are in Act 5 scene 1 where she is sleepwalking, burdened by guilt
The evil Lady Macbeth so willingly embraced betrays her - as it betrays Macbeth - and produces only anguish in place of the rewards she had envisioned
Lady Macbeth seems unable to rid herself of the stench and spots of blood she imagines cover her hands, and the Doctor fears she is suicidal
Deuteragonist
second most significant character
Lady Macbeth
Exemplifies darkness and the evil potency of the human greed and lust for power
One of the most disturbing characters in Shakespeare's works
The play Macbeth depicts women or femininity in a very negative manner
Witches
Three female malevolent beings
Ignite Macbeth's latent desire for power and status
Macbeth hears the witches' prophecies
He could have been content as Thane of Cawdor and waited for the prophecy of becoming king to happen naturally
Macbeth decides to actively try and realise the prophecy
By murderous and treacherous actions
Lady Macbeth
Receives a letter from Macbeth about the witches' prophecies
Takes the prophecies very seriously
Lady Macbeth: '"Yet do I fear thy nature; It is too full o' th' milk of human kindness To catch the nearest way:"'
Lady Macbeth's view
The world is not a nice place, to be successful one must be ruthless and engage in dirty acts
Lady Macbeth: '"Hie thee hither, That I may pour my spirits in thine ear And chastise with the valor of my tongue All that impedes thee from the golden round"'
If there had been no witches, there would be no story as Macbeth would never have dreamed of being king
If Lady Macbeth had not been present or had been a different person, Macbeth would not have decided to kill Duncan
Serpent
In the biblical tale of the forbidden apple, the serpent is the devil
Lady Macbeth can be likened to the serpent who caused Adam's downfall
Lady Macbeth: '"Look like th'innocent flower, But be the serpent under't"'
Duplicity
Seen as characteristically 'feminine' as women could not use physical power to further their agenda, so they resorted to guile and inciting those with physical power
Lady Macbeth: '"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's request to the spirits
To deprive her of her femininity and fill her with cruelty
Lady Macbeth: '"Come to my woman's breasts, And take my milk for gall, you murd'ring ministers"'
Lady Macbeth's request
To change her nurturing breast milk into bile, removing her inherent female goodness and kindness
Lady Macbeth: '"What beast was 't, then, That made you break this enterprise to me? When you durst do it, then you were a man; And to be more than what you were, you would Be so much more the man."'
Lady Macbeth: '"I have given suck, and know How tender 'tis to love the babe that milks me. I would, while it was smiling in my face, Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums And dashed the brains out, had I so sworn as you Have done to this."'
Lady Macbeth's disturbing words
She is willing to commit infanticide to encourage Macbeth to commit regicide, showing her complete lack of shame and remorse
Macbeth: '"Bring forth men-children only, For thy undaunted mettle should compose Nothing but males."'
Lady Macbeth exhibits hypocrisy when she says she would not be able to kill her father, despite claiming she could kill her own child
If Lady Macbeth had never said these words and turned on Macbeth for not wanting to kill the king then the story of Macbeth as we see it in the play would never have happened and instead merely a fairly normal story of a brave warrior respected by the king for his loyalty and who was promoted would have taken place
Lady Macbeth, who is arguably a bully as she tries to coerce Macbeth in to killing Duncan, like other bullies seems to exhibit a degree of hypocrisy when she says: Had he not resembled My father as he slept, I had done 't
Lady Macbeth's statement
She would be able to murder her own child but not her father. She would be able to carry out infanticide not patricide whilst she herself pushed Macbeth commit regicide
Shakespeare deliberately inserted these words for us to compare the inconsistency - why is it that the same lady Macbeth who claims she is prepared to kill her child not be able to kill her father?
Both infanticide and patricide are morally totally outrageous, but a young baby is more vulnerable and has its entire life ahead of it
Lady Macbeth is inconsistent and despite essentially saying she would go the whole distance of killing someone it seems she is not ready to kill Duncan
Lady Macbeth tells Macbeth to do something which she herself is not prepared to do, showing bullying and hypocrisy