Lady Macbeth Coursework

Q - How far do you think Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth as a strong and influential
female character?
Lady Macbeth is a fascinating character, but she has always been bilateral, one side of her
being a loving wife and supporting her husband which she shows later in the play and her
other side, where she craves power and won’t stop until she gets it. Some would argue that
she is the most key person in the play whilst others would object this view, contending that
Macbeth is the most vital character in the play.

In the Jacobean era woman were portrayed as weak and were stuck in a patriarchal society,
however Shakespeare always portrayed woman with a stronger side in his plays, Lady
Macbeth being one of many. Nonetheless some interpret that the only reason Lady
Macbeth had power is because she is linked to the supernatural and can sometimes be
called the fourth witch. Throughout the play she shows moments of strength and moments
of vulnerability, and these moments usually reflect on how Macbeth is acting at the time.

In Act 1 Scene 5 we don’t know much about Lady Macbeth going into it, so we don’t know
what to expect and I believe that this first impression is crucial to understanding Lady
Macbeths character. When she first appears on stage, she is reading a letter sent from
Macbeth, and I believe that this is important, because she is speaking Macbeth’s words this
shows that she is representing Macbeth and will continue to do this throughout the play. In
the quote, “That I may pour my spirits in thine ear and chastise with the valour of my
tongue.” This quote is showing us how she is wanting power and she knows that due to her
sex the only way for her to achieve this is through her husband. She is afraid that her
husband will back out if it gets too precarious so she will have to spark his ambition to keep
him in with the plan. In the quote, “Art not without ambition, but without the illness should
attend it.” This quote shows us how strong Macbeth’s ambition truly is that even his own
wife is afraid of it, it also explains that Lady Macbeth knows she will have to trigger his
ambition in order to make him kill the king.

Later on in Act 1 Scene 5 Lady Macbeth is trying to persuade Macbeth to murder the king,
an action that he is not sure about doing. And to do this task, she attempts to spark her
husband’s ambition by saying, “Greater than both by the all-hail hereafter.” This quote is

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vital to understanding the way in which Lady Macbeth influences Macbeth to kill Duncan. By
reminding Macbeth that he will be king if he succeeds in this regicide attempt, and this will
spark Macbeth’s ambition. This quote also shows us who instigates the murder of Duncan,
Lady Macbeth. And tells the reader that she is the one who truly craves power and is using
Macbeth to get it, because she can’t do it herself due to the patriarchal society that she
lived in. At the end of the scene Lady Macbeth is explaining the plan to her husband and
whilst doing this she senses some doubt in him, so she decides to try and get him back on
board with the plan. She uses the quote, “look like th’innocent flower, but be the serpent
under’t.” In my opinion this is the most important quote in the play because it resembles so
many things, firstly when she talks about snaking the king this means go behind his back and
kill the king to get what you want. However a snake can be mirrored as the animal of
deception and stealth due to its mention in the bible, in the bible the snake offers eve the
forbidden fruit and she decides to eat it and according to the bible this curses all humanity
for ever. In this case the snake represents the devil, and the devil is telling Macbeth to kill
the king to achieve what he deserves.

In Act 1 scene 6, appearance vs reality is a very important concept. In this scene Lady
Macbeth welcomes Duncan into her house very politely and kindly, to hide her true
intentions which are to assist in the murder of him in only 24 hours’ time. The quote, “This
castle hath a pleasant seat; the air nimbly and sweetly recommends itself unto our gentle
senses.” This quote shows how Duncan is so clueless to what he will entail later on. When
he uses the words nimbly and sweetly to describe the air, these words are metaphors for his
trust and affection towards Macbeth and represents how safe he feels around them and
their house. However the quote, “Your majesty loads our house.” this quote shows how
Lady Macbeth is happy that Duncan feels welcome in their house because if he didn’t then
the plan would become much harder. This shows both sides of appearance and reality by
her saying that she is happy that the king likes their house, but she is also glad that he does
so he will not be expecting to be killed in under 12 hours.

In Act 1 Scene 7 it starts off with Macbeth giving a soliloquy, he is deciding whether he
should kill the king or not and you can see that towards the end he is turning towards not
doing this action. However when Lady Macbeth arrives, he tries to explain his feelings
towards her, and she does not react well. The quote, “We will proceed no further in this

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business.” Now I believe that this quote shows how Macbeth’s ambition has not fully kicked
in yet and when he attempts to back out this make lady Macbeth very enraged. We know
this from the quote, “Was the hope drink wherein you dressed yourself?” this is one of
many quotes that shows Lady Macbeth’s rage for her husband, because she craves power
and the only way she can ensure that is by exploiting her husband and she will do
everything she can to get her there. She also says, “I dare do all that may become a man.”
This is basically her saying that I have done everything that a man would do and more, and
this is one of the key quotes to interpret lady Macbeth as a strong and influential character
in the play.

Later on in act 1 scene 7 lady Macbeth threatens Macbeth’s masculinity which is the turning
point of making him kill the king. In the Jacobean era a man’s masculinity was very
important to him because that’s what made them strong and appealing to woman, so when
lady Macbeth says he is not masculine at all and that killing the king would be so manly, this
persuades Macbeth to endeavour in this action. This is evident in the quote, “And to be
more than what you were, you would be so much more the man.” This quote truly shows
how lady Macbeth abuses masculinity in order to convince Macbeth to do things he does
not want to. And this makes her a very strong character by being able to control a man and
make him do whatever you want him to. This quote also shows that lady Macbeth is an
influential character because if she were not there, Macbeth’s ambition would not have
been sparked and the king would still be alive.

In act 2 scene 1 we don’t actually get to see lady Macbeth, but I think that Shakespeare has
done this on purpose so the reader can see the affect that she has on Macbeth even though
she isn’t there. And this is vital to realising how much influence she has on Macbeth. In the
quote, “[a bell rings]. I go and it is done. The bell invites me.” In this quote lady Macbeth is
personified as a bell, a bell is used to tell someone when they have to do something or have
to leave somewhere. In this case the bell represents lady Macbeth calling Macbeth to go
and kill the king. This proves that lady Macbeth is a very powerful character in the play once
again by setting up the murder and telling her husband when to do it.

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In act 2 scene 2 lady Macbeth can be seen as both strong and weak, in this scene Macbeth
has just murdered the king and lady Macbeth is trying to calm him down. And whilst doing
so she shows a weaker side, by claiming that she could not bring herself to kill the king
because he looked to much like her father. This is in the quote, “Had he not resembled my
father as he slept, I had done’t.” this quote shows us a different side of lady Macbeth,
because earlier in the play she says that she would dash the brains out of her own child but
now she couldn’t kill the king because of the slightest resemblance of her father. I think this
is key to showing the reader that lady Macbeth is slowly losing her strong and masculine
side and is slowly abiding to the feminine patriarchal stereotypes of the Jacobean era.

Later on in act 2 scene 2 Macbeth is filled with guilt and cannot handle the deed in which he
has just committed, and he portrays this feeling with the metaphor, “Will all great
Neptune’s Ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?” this quote hyperbolises Macbeth’s
guilt and remorse comparing it to all the oceans on Earth. The blood represents the guilt in
which he is feeling and the fact that he cannot wash it off shows that he is unable to strip
himself of this emotion. Lady Macbeths reaction to this idea of guilt shows us that she is a
strong and influential female character because she says, “My hands are of your colour, but
I shame to wear a heart so white.” To summarise this quote lady Macbeth is also got blood
on her hands, but she is not feeling guilty. Once again, she is trying to overpower Macbeth’s
masculinity by diminishing his feelings and making him feel weak.

At the start of Act 3 scene 4 we see lady Macbeth and Macbeth’s first public appearance as
king and queen; however, it does not go to plan. During this scene Macbeth finds out that
Banquo has been killed but Fleance has escaped, which is what the witches said would
happen. And supernatural plays a very big part in this scene with the return of Banquo but
as a ghost, or a manifestation of Macbeths guilt. In the quote, “Which of you have done
this?” shows us Macbeth’s reaction to seeing Banquo’s ghost for the first time. In attempt to
comfort her husband, lady Macbeth tries to cover up what’s going on whilst trying to sort
out her own spouse. This is the final time we see lady Macbeth acting strong and masculine
in the play and that is important to understanding the relationship between Macbeth and
her.

Act 3 scene 4 is the last time we see lady Macbeth sane on stage. This is important because
after this Macbeth stops feeling guilt and becomes a strong masculine king. Some people

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interpret this as when lady Macbeth can persuade her husband to do things, she shows
strength and is very authoritative but as soon as Macbeth starts to get back on his own feet
and then she just breaks down and from there on we only see her when she is in a
melancholy state of mind. The quote, “We are yet but young in deed.” Shows that Macbeth
is ready to move on and do whatever it takes to keep his kingship. And this is the turning
point in the play from when lady Macbeth goes from being a strong influential character, to
being a complete wreck and not being able to focus on life itself, leading her to the only way
out, suicide.

Act 5 Scene 1 is the final time we see lady Macbeth on stage. In this scene she is broken and
does not know what to do with herself. This is a completely different side to her, compared
to her strong and influential side that we normally see throughout the play. In my opinion
this is because Macbeth has become a strong and powerful king, and this undermines lady
Macbeth, so she does not feel the need to be strong and persuasive anymore. Furthermore,
this shows the reader that she is reliant on her husband to be that masculine character we
have seen throughout the play and in reality, she is a feminine character who has always
abided to the feminine stereotypes of the time. We can see this female side of her in the
quote, “What, will these hands ne’er be clean?” This quote shows how she has become a
weaker and frightened character as time goes on in the play. Because earlier on in the play
she said, “A little water clears us of this deed.” Meaning that she could easily just forget
about what has happened and could just move on with her life. But now that she is alone,
she cannot handle the deed that she has assisted in and does not see a clear way out.

Later in Act 5 Scene 1 she shows a more religious side to her. in the early 1600s most people
were very religious and believed in God and if you weren’t protestant there would be strict
laws to stop you from living like everyone else. For the duration of the play we see Lady
Macbeth doing unspeakable things that would get her sent to hell for eternity, like helping
kill the king or saying you’d dash your own child’s brains out. But in this scene, she says,
“God, God forgive us all.” In this quote she starts praying to God to help her find a way out
of this deed, and this goes against everything that she has said throughout the play, and this
shows the reader how huge of a downfall lady Macbeth has had.

Ultimately, I believe that lady Macbeth is a character whose strength changes drastically
over the play. But she is a strong character and without her Macbeth would not have been

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able to kill the king. She changes over time due to Macbeth not needing her anymore and
moving on without her, so she breaks down and eventually kills herself.

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