Macbeth

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1. 
   reidalot Teacher
   College - Freshman

   Lady Macbeth is a bit more complicated than she seems at first. When we first meet her, she appears as a strong, ambitious woman, willing to stop at nothing to get what she wants. In Act I, even Macbeth says to her, "Bring forth men children only" as she urges Macbeth on to King Duncan's murder. However, beneath this strength lies a weak woman, so weak, in fact, that she goes mad and cannot wash away the blood on her hands from the murders,"Out damn spot..." Finally she kills herself prior to the overthrow of Macbeth. Another interesting aspect to her personality is that she has no children; perhaps that is the reason her womanhood appears so masculine, yet allows for her weakness.

   Sources:

   http://www.absoluteshakespeare.com/plays/macbeth

   http://www.enotes.com/macbeth

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   Posted by reidalot on Monday June 2, 2008 at 4:15 AM
   
   

2. 
   brandih

   This question has been asked before. Please see the links below and thank you for using eNotes!

   Sources:

   http://www.enotes.com/macbeth/q-and-a/role-lady-macbeth-m...

   http://www.enotes.com/macbeth/q-and-a/what-qualities-lady...

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   Posted by brandih on Monday June 2, 2008 at 9:43 AM
   
   

3. 
   gp217 Student
   Graduate School

   Lady Macbeth has many layers to her. At first the audience sees the ambitious Lady Macbeth; she receives a letter from Macbeth explaining the prophecy about his becoming king and goes about planning how she and Macbeth will murder Duncan. Lady Macbeth's ambition also makes her masculine. The audience sees her deny her womanhood when she says she would give up the milk in her breasts for the gall to commit murder. She also denies her womanhood when she tells her husband if she could she would bash the head of a baby as it drank her milk. The ambitious side of Lady Macbeth takes a turn however once she has become queen.

   Once queen, Lady Macbeth is denied any knowledge of the murders her husband is to commit. The audience sees the once dominant woman in the relationship now take a back seat. In Act I Lady Macbeth is the one who dominates the dialogue, where as in Act III Macbeth now comes off as masculine and shows dominance in their relationship.

   Finally, Lady Macbeth is used to show guilt leading to madness. At first Lady Macbeth believes that simply rinsing her hands will erase Duncan's murder; later she has gone mad, hears voices, washes her hands continuously and cannot be in the dark. All of these actions her character displays shows the weight of the guilt on her.

   Although the villain along side her husband Lady Macbeth, like so many of Shakespeare's characters, has so much to offer the audience in depth.

   Sources:

   http://www.sparknotes.com/macbeth

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   Posted by gp217 on Friday August 15, 2008 at 6:23 PM
   
   

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