Lady Macbeth-Ambition 2

• "A little water.clears us of this deed" (Act.2)

  Litotes (under-exaggeration: Lady Macbeth's omnipotent (all-powerful) ambitions blind her to the profound mental turmoil Macbeth is experiencing.

  • Her callousness (cruelness) becomes apparent as she employs litotes, such as the understatement "a little" not only to trivialise (make it seem less important) the act of murder but also to emasculate Macbeth, encouraging him further along his murderous

  path.
• Euphemism: She employs euphemism (substituting a phrase or word with something less harsh or blunt) to characterise regicide as a mere "deed," highlighting a paradoxical (conflicting) aspect of her character. Despite her ambitions to shed feminine traits and embrace tyrannical brutality, she struggles to articulate the gravity (seriousness) of the heinous (evil) 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.