Lady Macbeth's Role In Macbeth

Lady Macbeth plays a key role in influencing her husband to take the path that he does. She is the catalyst that effectively unleashes Macbeth's true side of evil. Throughout the play we can see that she has a strong influence on him and is a primary cause for increasing Macbeth's ambition. Lady Macbeth's words to her husband as well as her many powerful soliloquies show us her great desire to become Queen and hence urge Macbeth to murder Duncan as well as begin his reign of tyranny. However, in no way can Lady Macbeth be seen as the sole influence on Macbeth. Although Macbeth appears to be greatly subordinate to his wife in terms of levels of evil, he is still an extremely ambitious and powerful character. She greatly helps him throughout the play to get him through various problems. The supernatural also plays an important role in Macbeth's life. Macbeth and his wife have a very loving relationship in which they have great influence in one and other. In the earlier acts of the play we can see that Lady Macbeth's words mean a lot to her husband, giving the impression that she is definitely the dominant figure in the relationship. Lady Macbeth has a strong influence on her husband however he is a strong and ambitious character without her.

Lady Macbeth is an influence on her husband in many different ways, for many different reasons. We discover that as soon as she opens her husband's letter she immediately begins to scheme and plot, showing her true evil and ambition. We can immediately become aware that she wants Macbeth to become King so she can become Queen of Scotland. She is unsure whether Macbeth is too kind and without the evil that needs to merge with his already prominent ambition. As said in her famous soliloquy, Ð''I fearÐ'...is too full'o the milk of human kindness, to catch the nearest way'. For this reason, she influences him greatly into the prospect of murdering the king. The thought of becoming Queen pushes her and causes her to act outrageously. She calls on spirits, showing the presence of the supernatural, saying such things as Ð''come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me hereÐ'...make think my bloodÐ'...take my milk from gall'. She decides to pour all her spirits of evil into Macbeth and ultimately remove any fear that would hold him back from obtaining the crown. Macbeth is slightly doubtful of her plot to kill the King, however Lady Macbeth cunningly bombards him with comments that question his courage and by saying that his love is worth nothing if he refuses to go through with the plan. She says Ð''screw your courage to the sticking-place' to make him more evil and confident about his actions.

Although lady Macbeth may be a strong cause for Macbeth's reign of tyranny, she still greatly helps him through uncomfortable situations. She supports and helps him throughout his gradual decline. Because Macbeth is not completely certain of the success of the devious plan, he is greatly assisted by his wife. Lady Macbeth is worried that her husband will give their plan away through his facial expressions so she gives him the advice, Ð''look like the innocent flower but be the serpent under't'. When Macbeth tells his wife that he will not do it she turns on him and starts to insult him by telling him he is a coward Ð''and live a coward in thine own esteem'. Lady Macbeth uses this because she knows that he is a known as a brave soldier, in hope that he will defend himself by carrying out the murder. Another example where she helps Macbeth is the incident after he has killed Duncan. As Macbeth is uneasy and mesmerised she takes the daggers back into Duncan's chamber for him and helps him wash the blood off his hands. She is very useful in this situation as she helps pull him together psychologically. When Macbeth is speaking to Macduff directly after the