A Study Of The Differences Between Macbeth

A Study Of The Differences Between Macbeth And Lady Macbeth Essay, Research Paper

It is the development of the characters of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth during the play that makes this character study so vital to Macbeth.

At the beginning of the play King Duncan hears of Macbeth, the bloody

hero. The battle was horrific, but Macbeth was fearless, fighting his way

through the enemy and literally cutting the rebel leader in half. King

Duncan is suitably impressed by Macbeth’s braveness.

.O valiant cousin! Worthy gentleman!.

The audience’s initial perception of Lady Macbeth is of a

confident and evil woman. In her first scene she is reading a letter from

her husband telling her about the witch’s predictions. Upon reading the

letter she instantly decides to obtain the crown for Macbeth through any

possible means.

.Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be

What thou art promised..

It is these two bold and sure views of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth

that are soon to change. Lady Macbeth forces Macbeth to murder Duncan and

when he first refuses, she appeals to his manhood and courage.

.When you durst do it, then you were a man.

Macbeth eventually gives in with the proposition of being king being too

powerful a lure for him. At this stage the audience can deduce that Macbeth

is easily subject to persuasion while Lady Macbeth is very persuasive.

As the fateful day draws near, Macbeth becomes delusional, picturing

visions of blood stained daggers, witches and ghosts. Killing Duncan

horrifies him, resulting in him imagining all the consequences of the

murder before he commits it, this is due to his vivid imagination,

something Lady Macbeth does not have. Lady Macbeth at this point has a

stronger inner conviction and uses very powerful antilife phrases in an

effort to persuade the evil spirits to make Macbeth kill Duncan.

.Come to my woman.s breasts

And take my milk for gall..

One would assume here that if one of the two were to have the strength of

mind to live through this evil tragedy it would be Lady Macbeth.

Shakespeare is entering into the very interior of Macbeth’s mind allowing

the audience to realise further differences between Macbeth and Lady

Macbeth. Macbeth at this stage is going deeper and deeper into the world of

evil.

.Nature seems dead, and wicked dreams abuse

The curtained sleep..

Macbeth realises that in obtaining the crown by foul play he is devaluing

it as the king is meant to be appointed by God. By now, Macbeth is able to

have the courage to look into the heart of fear; Lady Macbeth on the other

hand is unable to do this.

Following Macbeth’s murder of Duncan, Macbeth becomes

frightened and unsure of himself. He begins to regret his actions and

realises that this will remain on his conscience until his own death.

.Macbeth shall sleep no more.

Conversely Lady Macbeth pushes her knowledge of this

sacrilegious act deep inside her, trying to ignore it.

.Consider it not so deeply.

She believes that she will be able to do this with relative ease.

.A little water clears us of this deed.

She thinks that it is just a question of washing the blood yet the

psychological impact is as if the blood will not come off. Macbeth however

appreciates the difficulty of disregarding their deed.

.No, this my hand will rather

The multitudinous seas incarnadine,

Making the green one red.

Here Macbeth is stating that the seas are filled with the blood of Duncan.

This blood will never leave, thus serving as a constant reminder of his

regicidal act.

Shakespeare employs a great deal of imagery to depict certain situations

and in the last two quotations he has used the image of blood. At this

stage in the play Lady Macbeth is confident while Macbeth is subject to

frightened loyalty. However, what Macbeth fears is the evil of committing

the evil deed rather than the evil deed itself. It is at this stage that

one can first realise a chink of humanity in the originally confident and

cold Lady Macbeth. The murder has just been committed and Lady Macbeth

relates to Macbeth how the assassinated Duncan appeared to her.

.Had he not resembled

My father as he slept, I had done’t..

Suddenly through the hard exterior that Lady Macbeth possesses, she sees

her father as the old man lying murdered on the bed. This is a moment of

weakness that will soon broaden and leave her exposed to the evil that is

constantly present in this tragedy. Macbeth at this stage is going through

an intense period of paranoia in which he believes every noise to be that

of someone coming to arrest him.

.How is.t with me when every noise appals me..

It is when the pair relate to the other characters about the tragic death

of Duncan that additional differences between the two are discovered. Both

Внимание, отключите Adblock

Вы посетили наш сайт со включенным блокировщиком рекламы!
Ссылка для скачивания станет доступной сразу после отключения Adblock!

Скачать