OL Sample Answer


Macbeth


When he has second thoughts about killing the King, Lady Macbeth questions his masculinity and criticises him. Disturbingly, she says that she would kill her own child if she had promised to do so. In my view, this influence over Macbeth makes her partly responsible for Duncan’s murder. Furthermore, it is Lady Macbeth who plans the murder and it is she who brings the bloody daggers back to Duncan’s chamber to frame the chamberlains. She has no small part in the gruesome murder and even acknowledges this to Macbeth: ‘My hands are of your colour; but I shame / To wear a heart so white.’ Lady Macbeth’s ruthlessness is clear throughout much of the play. Shortly after Macbeth


kills the chamberlains, she pretends to faint to divert attention away from her husband. During the Banquet Scene, she calmly tries to explain away Macbeth’s hysteria, blaming it on a momentary fit. As an icy villain, she helps Macbeth to conceal his terrible crime. Ultimately, however, it is Macbeth who kills Duncan. Although influenced by Lady


Macbeth, the decision to kill the King is his own. Furthermore, Macbeth orders the murders of Banquo and Macduff’s family without discussing it with Lady Macbeth and his vicious rule of Scotland has nothing to do with his wife. Lady Macbeth, along with her husband, is certainly a key villain in Macbeth. However,


my feelings towards her softened towards the end of the play. Although she does not show it publicly, Lady Macbeth is unhappy and anxious in her position as Queen. In a short soliloquy she expresses her fears about her position: ‘’Tis safer to be that which we destroy / Than by destruction dwell in doubtful joy.’ Here she seems to envy the peace Duncan has found in death. Although I cannot forget the terrible things she did, I felt pity for her as a lonely and unhappy woman. Lady Macbeth pays a high price for her villainy. This is most evident in the Sleepwalking


Scene in Act V. Lady Macbeth displays how guilty she feels for her terrible crimes. The line, ‘Out, damned spot!’ displays the blood on Lady Macbeth’s conscience. Burdened by guilt she seems on the edge of madness. We can assume that she takes her own life as a result of this.


Lady Macbeth’s part in Duncan’s murder, her efforts to conceal Macbeth’s guilt and her influence over her husband make her a key villain in the play. This should not take away from the fact that Macbeth is also responsible for terrible crimes. Although she is villainous, I did feel pity for her as she comes to see the horror of her actions. I think it is this combination of traits that makes Lady Macbeth such a fascinating villain in the play.


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