Lady Macbeth

• "Screw your courage to the sticking place"


  screw - imperative ~ bossy, commanding, graphic imagery indicates violence & brutality of the man she wishes she was, gender roles have been subverted as she is tutoring him
• "unsex me here"


  - Great Chain of Being ~ stepping out of line/against God

  - Stepping into hell ~ fits belief women were agents of the devil and their power was in their tongue

  - wants power of a man in patriarchal society
• "look like th'innocent flower but be the serpent under't"


  - flower ~ beauty, nature, NATURAL

  - serpent ~ links to Garden of Eden (Eve) and downfall of humans

  - Lying to herself, making herself believe she can do the 'act' ~ she EMBODIES app vs reality and this drives her insane at the end ~ creating an example
• "thick my blood"


  - wants to be clogged up ~ links to men. cycle ~ the one difference between man and woman.
• "milk for gall"


  - juxtaposition ~ ruthless

  - kindness in exchange for bitterness
• "dearest partner of greatness"


  - close, intimate relationship with husband

  - unusual due to patriarchal society

  - already stepping out of line
• "had he not resembled my father"


  - glimpse of femininity ~ her façade has (begun) to slip
• Act 2 Scene 2 ("Hark")


  - jumpy scene ~ paranoia setting in

  - she has to keep order if she doesn't Macbeth will crumble ~ she is the strong one ~ swapped roles
• "it will make us mad"


  - foreshadows for audience what will happen ~ irony AO2
• "south entry"


  - "south" meant heaven in medieval times ~ arrogant, thinks she's still going to heaven?
• "help me hence ho"


  - fainted ~ stereotypical woman, weak, gentle
• “Be innocent of the knowledge”


  losing intimacy with husband, no longer confiding in each other – she’s being “protected” from Macbeth disturbing deeds as a woman should be
• “My lord”


  Juxtaposes “my husband” ~ drifting away from him personally ~ emphasising power shift and how Macbeth is now the scheming devil without her ~ evil has consumed him (loss of intimacy ~ marriage in ruins)
• “Will all the perfumes of Arabia sweeten this little hand”

  • shows Lady M’s guilt and deterioration of her mind
  • “perfumes” ~ her femininity which she wished away is finally returning to her as she loses power and sanity
  • exotic country “Arabia” shows wealth she has accumulated over the play and the culture she has been exposed to as Queen
  • hyperbole ~ actions were so severe that god will never forgive her, reinforcing political message ~ regicide leads to eternal damnation
• “False face hide what the false heart doth know”

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