Characters Lady Macbeth


Ambitious Like her husband, Lady Macbeth is characterised by ruthless ambition. When Macbeth writes to her about the witches’ prophecies, her thoughts immediately spring to murder as the most expedient way of attaining power.UnlikeMacbeth, this dark idea is not tempered by anymoral considerations. For Lady Macbeth, the prospect of power is all consuming: ‘Which shall to all our nights and days to come / Give solely sovereign sway and masterdom’ (Act 1, Sc 5). Her unrestrained ambition is signalled by her eagerness to kill Duncan; she seems to almost relish


the idea: ‘The raven himself is hoarse / That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan / Under my battlements’ (Act 1, Sc 5). It is interesting that she says ‘my battlements’ thus signalling her personal ambitions. She embraces the idea of murder in her appeal to evil spirits: ‘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!’ (Act 1, Sc 5)


Here she hopes to suppress her conscience to facilitate her desire to be queen. WhenMacbeth returns toDunsinane, LadyMacbeth displays her obsessionwith power.Her first


words to her husband seek to flatter and appeal to his sense of ambition: ‘Great Glamis! Worthy Cawdor! / Greater than both, by the all-hail hereafter!’ (Act 1, Sc 5).


Manipulative Lady Macbeth is instrumental in encouraging Macbeth to proceed with the murder of Duncan. Upon reading Macbeth’s letter, she fears that her husband lacks the necessary murderous resolve: ‘yet do I fear thy nature; / It is too full o’ themilk of human kindness / To catch the nearestway’ (Act 1, Sc 5). She therefore states her intention to aggressively manipulate Macbeth: ‘Hie thee hither, / That I may pour my spirits in thine ear, / And chastise with the valour of my tongue’ (Act 1, Sc 5). In Act 1, Scene 7, Lady Macbeth uses her powers of persuasion to overcome Macbeth’s


reservations. She appeals to his ambition by focusing his attention on the crown: ‘Wouldst thou have that /Which thou esteem’st the ornament of life’.When he displays his reservations about the murder she uses emotional blackmail ‘From this time / Such I account thy love’ and then proceeds to taunt him: ‘Wouldst thou…live a coward in thine own esteem, / Letting “I dare not” wait upon “I would,” / Like the poor cat i’ the adage?’ She attacks Macbeth’s masculinity in an attempt to play upon his pride in himself as a man:


‘When you durst do it, then you were a man!’. Finally she shocksMacbeth with the chilling image of murdering her own child to illustrate her commitment to him: ‘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’.


This appeals to his sense of honour, making him feel that he has broken a promise to his wife. As a manipulative character, Lady Macbeth cleverly focuses on Macbeth’s ambition, manly pride and sense of honour. Her influence over Macbeth wanes as she becomes an increasingly marginalised character.


This is most evident when Macbeth fails to consult with her about the murders of Banquo and Macduff’s family. He says, ‘Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck, / Till thou applaud the deed’ (Act 3, Sc 2). Lady Macbeth’s manipulative personality influences Macbeth at the start of the play. However, her sway lessens as the play continues.


Macbeth


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