Characters


Macbeth


Calculating LadyMacbeth possesses amind that is coldly calculating. It is she rather thanMacbethwho devises the plan to killDuncan.Macbeth notes her steely determination and unfeeling nature: ‘Bring forth men-children only; / For thy undaunted mettle should compose / Nothing but males’ (Act 1, Sc 7). She recognises the power of deception and uses it in a calculating way to avoid suspicion. She


instructsMacbeth to ‘look like the innocent flower, / But be the serpent under’t’ (Act 1, Sc 5). Before the banquet she makes a similar plea: ‘sleek o’er your rugged looks; / Be bright and jovial among your guests tonight’ (Act 3, Sc 2). AfterMacbeth killsDuncan’s chamberlains,Macduff begins to questionMacbeth’smotives. Lady


Macbeth’s fainting spell distracts the thanes from her husband. She may faint because she is overcome by emotion or is shocked by Macbeth’s killing of the chamberlains, but most commentators see this as another example of her calculating nature.


Composed AfterDuncan ismurdered (Act 2, Sc 2) both LadyMacbeth andMacbeth appear nervous and shaken by the crime. However, while Macbeth remains distraught throughout the scene, Lady Macbeth regains a chilling calm. Macbeth is so distressed that he mistakenly forgets to leave the daggers in Duncan’s room.With implacable composure his wife returns to the room to ‘gild the faces of the grooms’ with Duncan’s blood. While Macbeth hears imaginary voices and expresses immediate remorse, Lady Macbeth remains practically focused on the task of getting away with murder. She coldly tells Macbeth ‘A little water clears us of this deed’. During the banquet scene (Act 3, Sc 4), Lady Macbeth exhibits similar composure. Overwrought


by his crimes, Macbeth becomes hysterical at the sight of Banquo’s ghost. Lady Macbeth remains calm and attempts to explain away Macbeth’s behaviour as resulting from illness: ‘my lord is often thus, / And hath been from his youth: pray you, keep seat; / The fit is momentary’ (Act 3, Sc 4). However, as the play begins to reach a conclusion she loses her self-control as she becomes consumed by her own guilt.


Burdened by Guilt Although Lady Macbeth is complicit in the murder of Duncan, she is still a conscionable character. As she contemplates regicide, she calls on evil spirits to ‘Stop up the access and passage to remorse’ (Act 1, Sc 5).However, the spirits do not answer her prayers.Unable to suppress her conscience, she is left burdened with guilt over Duncan’s death. Unlike Macbeth, Lady Macbeth never publicly expresses her doubts about the murder of Duncan. As she is a guarded individual, the audience only witnesses her personal guilt in her most private moments. Shakespeare suggests a more human side to her character when she privately confesses that she


could not bring herself to murder Duncan as he looked like her father: ‘Had he not resembled / My father as he slept, I had done’t’ (Act 2, Sc 2). This aspect of her personality is emphasised in the second half of the play as she reveals her guilt and remorse. The first signal of regret appears in Act 3. In a short soliloquy, Lady Macbeth explains that power has brought her no contentment and confesses that she envies the peace Duncan has achieved in death:


‘Nought’s had, all’s spent, Where our desire is got without content: ‘Tis safer to be that which we destroy Than by destruction dwell in doubtful joy’ (Act 3, Sc 2)


It is interesting to note that once Macbeth arrives on stage, she makes no mention of these personal 148


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