Lady Macbeth

• "Come you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here"


  Frustrated by femininity

  Wants to kill Duncan herself

  Imperative -> In command of the supernatural, feels comfortable with supernatural, appears devilish

  Contrasts stereotypical expectations of women

  "Unsex me" -> Highlights frustration
• "Look like the innocent flower but be the serpent under it"


  Power through deception -> Uses her femininity to deceive people

  Corrupting Macbeth

  Juxtaposition between "Flower" and "Serpent" -> Highlights appearance vs reality
• "When you durst do it, then you were a man"


  Trying to manipulate Macbeth by questioning his masculinity

  Alliteration -> Highlights the power Lady Macbeth has in their relationship
• "The sleeping and the dead are but a pictures: 'tis the eye of childhood that fears a painted devil"


  Embarrassed by Macbeth's reaction to killing Duncan

  Reversal of roles -> Macbeth appears weak while Lady Macbeth is strong

  Assonance of "e" and metaphor of dead bodies as pictures of a the devil -> Lacks humanity

  In Daemonlogie by King James women like her are considered witches
• "Out damned spot! Out, I say!"


  Acts of evil -> Guilt and hallucinations

  Repetition of "Out" and exclamatory sentences show franticness, overwhelmed by guilt.

  Spots of blood symbolic of guilt

  Overthrowing of the Divine Right Of Kings -> God exacting punishment on her