Untitled Essay Research Paper By Garth BensonThe

Untitled Essay, Research Paper

By: Garth Benson

The Guilt of Lady Macbeth

“To metamorphose ones character through years of experience and age is salutary.

To deteriorate ones character through a short period of fast decisions and

unsure actions is perilous.” Lady Macbeth gives truth to this theory. The

impulsive mistakes and power-hungry tactics littered the journey Lady Macbeth

paves throughout this play is ultimately her dramatic flaw. She feels overwhelmed

by all that is happening, both physically and mentally, and decides to end

her own life. The Tragedy of Macbeth, by William Shakespeare illustrates

two seemingly ordinary nobles whose lives intertwine in a whirlwind of power,

corruption, and the supernatural resulting in their descents. They both,

so wrapped up in this greedy world, failed to consider the consequences of

their actions and more realistically Macbeth started to succumb to the belief

of deeds that he is about to perform is the right thing to do, “I dare do

all that may become a man. Who dares do more is none.”(Shakespeare, Macbeth

291). Lady Macbeth in particular loses sight of rationality from the play’s

beginning to end. She creates an image of ruthlessness and believes she can

handle the intrusion of unearthly evil in her mind and soul. She presents

a seemingly stable foundation of control in which she clutches with an iron

fist. As Macbeth becomes less dependent on his wife, she loses more control.

She loses control of her husband, but mostly, of herself, proving her vacillating

truth. Lady Macbeth’s character gradually disintegrates through a false portrayal

of unyielding strength, an unsteady control of her husband and shifting

involvement with supernatural powers.

Throughout the duration of play Lady Macbeth’s truly decrepit and vulnerable

nature is revealed. Lady Macbeth has been the iron fist and authority icon

for Macbeth, yet deep down, she never carried such traits to begin with.

This duality in Lady Macbeth’s character plays a huge role in planting the

seed for Macbeth’s downfall and eventual demise. At the beginning of the

play, Lady Macbeth is introduced as a dominant, controlling, heartless wife

with an obsessive ambition to achieve kingship for her husband. Her weak,

sheltered, unsure and unstable condition is only revealed at the end of the

play. However, the audience begins to see hints of this hidden nature by

the manner in which Macbeth addresses her. Contrary to her supposed ruthless

nature, her husband regards her as a pure being. He attempts to shield her

from foreign agencies by saying, “Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck,”

(319). It is only in private that Lady Macbeth shows her weaknesses. As oppo!

sed to her seemingly violent persona, Lady Macbeth is horrified by blood,

and during her sleepwalking soliloquy refers to her hand as if suggesting

a delicate stature by uttering this: “All the perfumes / of Arabia will not

sweeten this little hand.” (353). Although Lady Macbeth is unstable and

vulnerable, she uses dramatic analogies to persuade her openly fragile husband

to follow through with the first murder:

I have given suck, and know

How tender ’tis to love the babe that milks me:

I would, while it was smiling in my face,

Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums,

And dashed the brains out, had I so sworn as you

Have done to this. (291).

Her shocking and persuasive effect on Macbeth convinces him that he is settled.

By hearing a woman who seems to be fearless of his anxieties, he is soothed.

But even here we begin to catch a greater glimpse of Lady Macbeth’s very

unstable mind. By using such a graphic description, she reflects her straining

desperation for Macbeth’s commitment. She knows that Macbeth is a strong

person, and she must seem stronger to convince him to go along with her.

She now has to wear a ‘mask’ of this determined and cold character, creating

more distance between her true self and Macbeth. Lady Macbeth has the persuasive

capable of humiliating someone into murder, but has no personal capacity

to execute ‘the deed,’ though she spoke, at times, as if she would take the

opportunity whenever it arose, “Had he not resembled my father as he slept,

I had done’t.” (298). Lady Macbeth imagines that she has ability to hide

her true emotions, though her mind is as frail as an “egg”. She claims that

sh!

e can act to “look like the innocent flower/But be the serpent under’t” (287).

Lady Macbeth imagines that she has the capability to be a remorseless and

determined villain, but she isn’t anything of the like in reality; in actuality,

at the end of the play Lady Macbeth is so feeble-minded she becomes overwhelmed

with the guilt that has been set upon her by her husband. In reality, the

final results are only accountable to Lady Macbeth. She is the one who

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