Macbeth Essay

In William Shakespeare's play Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is portrayed as having several different personality traits. Throughout the play Lady Macbeth is shown to be a strong willed woman whose only focus is for her husband and herself to become King and Queen. She is totally consumed by her desire. In order to achieve her success, Shakespeare presents her as a greedy, ambitious woman. This is proven by negative attributes control and manipulation. In the end all she has left is a guilty conscience.

In the beginning of the play Lady Macbeth uses a negative approach to attempt to achieve her ultimate goal of being Queen. Lady Macbeth calls upon the witches through an evil spell to give her reassurance that her plan to kill King Duncan will not fail. She wants the spirits to take away her womanhood, to make her strong like a man, to fill her head to toe with terrible thoughts of murder and to rip out her heart so she feels no regret. “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. Make thick my blood.” (1.5) In addition Lady Macbeth uses a negative approach to try and convince her husband that they should kill King Duncan. Lady Macbeth uses flattery when her husband agrees to her plan but belittles him when he changes his mind. Lady Macbeth then proceeds to speak bluntly to Macbeth after he betrays her trust. “ 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 thinks that this is proving she is a stronger person than Macbeth but in reality Lady Macbeth is only using Macbeth to get what she really wants, which is to become Queen..

Furthermore Lady Macbeth shows another personality trait when she tries to control her husband. Upon the King's arrival, Lady Macbeth knows that she has to be very strong and convince her husband that they must be willing to sacrifice everything in order to kill King Duncan and become King and Queen themselves. Lady Macbeth also uses manipulation on Macbeth when she flatters his ego by telling him that he is a strong man for wanting to kill the King. When the time is close, Macbeth is second guessing Lady Macbeth's plan. “ 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 than what you were, you would be so much more the man. Nor time nor place did then did then adhere, and yet you would make both. They have made themselves, and that their fitness now does unmake you.” (1.7)

Lady Macbeth has a hard time dealing with the killing of King Duncan and with the consequence of feeling guilty afterwards. This guilt feeling led Lady Macbeth to, constantly would wash her hands, trying to rid herself of King Duncan's blood, instead of being in her chamber sleeping, Lady Macbeth is sleepwalking around the castle. Lady Macbeth doesn't know what is causing these problems so she consults a doctor who comes to the castle and watches over her while she sleeps. From observing Lady Macbeth in her sleep, the doctor comes to the conclusion that she was involved in someway with King Duncan's death. The doctor realizes that Lady Macbeth's problems are caused by guilt. After the doctor's visit, Lady Macbeth comes to the realization that there is no escaping the guilt and she will never be able to over come it. Soon afterwards, a distressed Lady Macbeth proves she is not a strong willed woman, as she was portrayed earlier in the play while she was planning the murder of King Duncan. Rather than live a life full of guilt Lady Macbeth feels the only solution is to commit suicide by jumping off the roof. Macbeth “She should have died hereafter. There would have been a time for such a word.” (5.5)

Lady Macbeth's plan to kill the King was achieved by using greed and ambition. This came about at a very high price ie, her suicide and Macbeth's death. The plan itself was successful but Lady Macbeth could not conquer the consequence of her actions. Her only focus was killing King Duncan and gaining power and not the outcome there of.