According to literary criticisms of Shakespeare's work, Lady Macbeth is one of the most evil female characters he wrote. She is manipulative, cunning and more ambitious than Macbeth in the beginning of the play.
After she receives her husband's letter detailing the witches prophecy which predicts that Macbeth will be king, she immediately begins to plan Duncan's murder.
Lady Macbeth, in Act I Scene V, as she reads her husband's letter, she decides that Macbeth:
"Is too full o' the milk of human kindness
To catch the nearest way; thou wouldst be
great,
Art not without ambition, but without
The illness should attend it; what thou wouldst
highly,
That thou wouldst holily; wouldst not play
false,
And yet wouldst wrongly win; thou'dst have,
great Glamis,
That which cries, 'Thus thou must do, if thou
have it;'
And that which rather thou dost fear to do
Than wishest should be undone. Hie thee
hither,
That I may pour my spirits In thine ear,
And chastise with the valour of my tongue
All that impedes thee from the golden round,
Which fate and metaphysical aid doth seem
To have thee crown'd withal"
Deciding that she will instill in him the courage and strength that he will need to kill the king. She challenges his masculinity, which in the beginning of the play, she defines as aggressive and violent. Lady Macbeth's role is co-conspirator, accessory to murder, all motivated by unchecked ambition and a lust for power.
No comments:
Post a Comment