LADY MACBETH 👸🏻

• "your face is a book where men read strange matters"

  • mocks the candidness of his expression
  • manipulation as it portrays Macbeth as weak and vulnerable-qualities that fail to align with the ideal masculine archetype of the era
  • an atypical relationship- L.M is almost the 'man' in the relationship
• "worthy cawdor"

  • utilizes flattery paired with emasculation to provoke macbeth
  • echoes the witches "hail to thee, thane of cawdor!"
  • L.M is alike to the witches
  • he is almost harvested two relationships with supernatural entities and has been governed by them
• "was the hope drunk/wherein you dress'd yourself?"

  • emasculation
  • question is calculated, giving him time to ponder and think about his actions-its clear she wants to exploit his embarrassment or shame
  • if she evokes feelings of embarrassment and shame, he will do what she pleases (regicide)
• "dash'd the brains out"

  • merciless act of rejecting maternal inclinations
  • characterizes L.M as violent and determined
  • almost a foil to macbeth (violent and heartless)
  • emphasises lack of masculinity but emasculates him
• "you must leave this" - L.M "be innocent of the knowledge dearest chuck"- Macbeth

  • complete antithesis to her former self- role reversal
  • trapped within the momentum of evil and he dismisses her
  • uses feminine epithets which belittle her much as she previously did to him
  • mockery of "innocent flower"
• “pour my spirits in thine ear“

  • manipulative
  • noun “pour” build a connection to her emasculating threat that he is “too full o’th’milk of human kindness“ suggesting she will replace this milk with evil
  • depicts her evil and manipulative qualities
• “too full o’th’milk of human kindness“

  • emasculating threat - she ridicules Macbeth for lacking masculinity
  • milk is a symbol for feminist and maternal nurturing, Lady M rejects notions of femininity
  • depicts her evil and manipulative qualities
• “come you spirits“ “come,thick night” “unsex me here“

  • almost casting a spell
  • nouns “spirits“ and “nights” allude to a dark supernatural force
  • wants to remove feminity and encompass an inhumane and witchlike role that would grant her power
• “look the innocent flower but be the serpent under’t”

  • biblical illusion to the “serpent” seen in the fall of mankind in genesis
  • ”innocent flower” highlights the goodness but also vulnerability of honesty
  • encourages macbeth to seize the throne
• “i shame to wear a heart so white”

  • emasculates Macbeth - ridicules his cowardice
  • metaphor
  • ”white” connotes purity and innocence - her heart is not stained with the guilt of their deeds
• “a little water clears us of this deed”

  • litotes and euphemism
  • shames and ridicules macbeth
  • laced with irony as lady m shifts to a melodramatic state of insanity and beings speaking hyperbole
  • use of euphemism hints lady m failed to face the reality of it, she must placate it into less heinous
• ”out damned spot! out i say!”

  • attempting to wash imaginary blood clean from her hands
  • juxtaposes her litotes in act one “a little water”
  • her “spot” is emblematic of the scar the murder had created on her mind
  • madness was often perceived as sign of being possessed by demons, it was believed that demons and witches had a spot in their bodies which identified them as evil - her madness is synonymous with her evil
  • ”spot” is now reinforced with ”damned” which has connotations of hell
• "all the perfumes of arabia cannot sweeten this little hand"

  • hyperbole here to emphasise LM's anguish and heartache after what she's done
  • emphasises how serious regicide is
  • showcases her guilt - a different side of Lady Macbeth