Lady Macbeth

Lady Macbeth

"A little water clears us of this deed," (2.2.66). That is the quote of a strong woman, Lady Macbeth. In Shakespeare's play, Lady Macbeth goes through mental changes. The events that occur have much effect on her and her personality. We are able to see how she changes throughout the play. As well, Lady Macbeth has a strong relationship with her husband in the beginning, which changes from the events that occur. Momentous events have a significant amount of effect on our personality and on our relationships with others.

When Lady Macbeth first appears in the play, she has just received the news of the witches' prophecies. We immediately see that she is a strong woman. We see that Lady Macbeth is very capable of doing the evil that must be done to achieve the ultimate goal. Lady Macbeth says:

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! (1.5.38-41)

She is asking for the strength to commit the murder. Lady Macbeth wants to appear strong. She asks Macbeth to leave everything to her. "And you shall put / This night's great business into my dispatch;" (1.7.65-66). Shortly after the murder Lady Macbeth shows the strength that she has. "The sleeping and the dead / Are but as pictures" (2.2.52-53). She says she is not afraid and she goes back to frame the chamberlains. Lady Macbeth shows self-control (Howard). While Macbeth is having his fit at the banquet, she covers for him, and stays calm. She thinks quickly on her feet (Howard). "My Lord is often thus, / And hath been from his youth" (3.4.53-54). Lady Macbeth also asks for the ability to feel no remorse from doing the evil deed:

Make thick my blood,

Stop up th' access and passage to remorse,

That no compunctious visitings of nature

Shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between

Th' effect and it! (1.5.41-45)

She knows that if she can feel remorse, that if she is weak, she won't be able to commit the murder.

However, we discover later on that Lady Macbeth's plea to not feel remorse was not fully granted. Lady Macbeth shows many signs of guilt after the fact. Her guilty conscience causes her to sleepwalk. While sleepwalking she says many things that show her guilt. "Yet who would have / thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?" (5.1.34-35). A memorable part of the sleepwalking scene is when she continually rubs her hands as though she is washing them. "Out, damned spot! Out I say!" (5.1.31). She is trying to remove an invisible blood spot. This goes back to when she showed her strong side with the quote "A little water clears us of this deed," (2.2.66). Now she knows that it doesn't clear them of the deed. She notes the smell of the blood. "Here's the smell of the blood still. All the perfumes / of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand" (5.1.44-45). All of these quotes and her actions show her guilt. Shortly after this scene, Lady Macbeth commits suicide. This ends both her mental suffering and her life.

We also see that Lady Macbeth is a very ambitious person. We see that she is willing to do anything that must be done for Macbeth to become what was prophesized. Lady Macbeth's ambition is what causes her to plan Duncan's murder. Lady Macbeth shows her ambition when she says:

I have given suck, and know

How tender Ð''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. (1.7.54-59)

She is saying that she will do whatever it takes to gain the throne. She says, "Th' attempt and not the deed / Confounds us" (2.2.11-12). She believes that if they try, and fail it will destroy them. If they follow through, it won't destroy them. Lady Macbeth must help Macbeth to find his ambition. She is much more ambitious than him.

Lady Macbeth is a very manipulative person. We see early on, that she can and will manipulate Macbeth.

Hie thee hither,

That I may pour my spirits into thine ear,

And chastise with the valor of my tongue

All