Understanding Lady Macbeth

English 110

1-10-07

Understanding Lady Macbeth

No matter how many years have passed, whether is be decades or centuries, all women are the same: manipulative, deceptive, and emotional. In William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, there is no greater prime example other than Lady Macbeth herself on how women are the downfall of men. By probing into the small, but very important character’s mind, there will be an almost surreal realization of how much influence women actually have on men.

Lady Macbeth is a strong, dominate woman married to a weak, submissive man and is always in Macbeth’s ear telling him her opinions on what she thinks that he should do. For example, when Lady Macbeth tells her husband it would be in his best interest to kill King Duncan; however, when he refuses, she begins to ridicule his masculinity, which then makes him feel the need to impress his wife by slaying his beloved king. Manipulation is something all women today use at some point to a male, because by playing mind games with him, the woman maintains a sense of power in a relationship.

Whether it be deceiving her friends, servants, or husband, Lady Macbeth always finds a way to make everything go according to her plan. Some women may not even realize they are capable of deceiving someone; however, they probably have been doing that their entire life. Unfortunately for Lady Macbeth, her deceptive actions led her to a more dramatic outcome than she herself ever saw coming.

Women are the most emotional creatures on Earth without question. Although Lady Macbeth appeared to have a hard personality, even she could not deny her own femininity. After she helped with the murder of King Duncan, she became overwhelmingly consumed by fear and guilt, and slowly began to losing her sanity.