6 November, 2022
Hello dear friends, here I am writing a blog on Character sketch of Lady Macbeth.
Macbeth
∆ Character sketch of Lady Macbeth :
• Introduction:-
The play "Macbeth" can be divided into two parts. The first part constitutes the rise of Macbeth and the second half constitutes the fall of Macbeth. In the very first part are found the roots of Macbeth's fall. Lady Macbeth is the guiding force and deciding factor during the first half of the play. without her the tragedy would not have been possible.
• Her ambition:-
Both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are highly ambitious. The germ of ambition in Macbeth comes through the witches.The same Germ creeps into the mind of Lady Macbeth through the letter of the Macbeth. She is excited at the prophecies of the witches and becomes inpatient to commit the murder of Duncan. She wants the immediate presence of her husband.
• Good planner:-
Lady Macbeth is wise and tactful.her husband to beguile the time.Shw plans the murder of Duncan. She performs all that her husband cannot do. Macbeth murders Duncan but he leaves the work half-done.
• A Contrast to Her Husband :-
Lady Macbeth is a contrast to her husband. When Macbeth hesitates to kill the king Duncan and says - "I shall proceed no more in this business", Lady Macbeth scolds him- was the hope drunk,wherin you dressed yourself' ? and bring him to the right point of murder. The sense of morality is always alive in Macbeth but it is totally wanting in Lady Macbeth. She wants to be a criminal. She wants to unsex herself. She wants to fill herself and her husband with the cruelty from top to the toe.
• A Tragic Woman:-
Lady Macbeth commits unnatural deeds. She suffers abnormally from Somnambulism. She can not let the blood of Duncan disappear from her hands. She says- "All that perfumes of Arabia cannot sweeten this little hand". Lady Macbeth refers to all the crimes that have been committed by her husband in which she had the guiding force and was the sole motivator.
Macbeth is one of Shakespeare's most famous and ruthless female characters. She is the leading character of the tragedy play, 'Macbeth'. She is the wife of the protagonist of the play. When the audience first sees her, she is already plotting Duncan's murder, and this makes her the most frightening and villainous character. She is strong-headed and ambitious and knows how to take charge. As soon as she reads Macbeth's letter informing her about the prophecies given by the three witches, she knows that she will have to push Macbeth into doing what she believes needs to be done. She thinks Macbeth is weak-minded and will not have the heart and courage to kill Duncan.
She provokes her husband to kill the king Duncan. After she becomes the Queen of Scotland. Later she also develops madness due to guilt of crime. Eventually she kills herself offstage. She is the female protagonist of the play. The plot depends on her actions. She is the one provokes and forces as well to kill the king Duncan. Being a wife she always stands for her husband. She is also aware that she has taken a wrong step which is very disturbing. She realises it but it was too late. She cannot undo her mistake and it makes her feel guilty. This is also the reason that she kills herself in disappointment. Through, she is the only reason for the fall of Macbeth, yet, she is regarded as the protagonist of the play. This is so because she never leaves her husband even in bed times. In fact she considers herself the reason and so she decides to kill herself.
Lady Macbeth is one of the major characters of the play. She makes the plot interesting. Although she is still very ambitious, she is a responsible wife. She tries her best to protect her husband. When she comes to know that it is impossible to deal with the situation, she leaves his company forever. She seems to be a favourite of both the playwright and the readers as well ; without her, the play would not have been complete.
Her personality is portrayed as forceful and dominant. Unlike Macbeth who constantly struggles with his conscience and loyalty before finally murdering Duncan, Lady Macbeth has no problem or hesitation with the plan of murder. She gives priority to her ambition and no amount of loyalty or conscience succeeds in making her give it a second thought. Although Macbeth has hoped to find some other alternative to become king without committing murder, Lady Macbeth unflinchingly accepts murder as the only necessary way to fulfil her ambition of becoming the queen.
She is also seen as wishing to strip herself of all feminine qualities so that she can carry out the task of murdering Duncan. This shows Shakespeare's perception regarding the dynamics between gender and power. It is evident that Lady Macbeth merely reflects the general perception of that time that ambition and violence are inextricably linked to masculinity.
Through Lady Macbeth's character, Shakespeare also seems to be showing that femininity is more closely linked with the capability of manipulation. This is also reflected in the way that three witches are shown to be manipulating the mind of Macbeth. The play shows women as using the feminine method of manipulation to realise their own ambitions. Shakespeare implies that women too can have ambitions and they too can be as cruel as men but the means through which they achieve their ambitions are shrouded in traits of manipulation which as depicted in the play are traits.
What makes Lady Macbeth more of a human character rather than a witch is the disintegration of her former ruthless self after the murder of Duncan. Just as ambition affects her more strongly than Macbeth before the crime, so does guilt plague her more strongly afterward. By the close of the play, she has been reduced to sleepwalking through the castle, desperately trying to wash away an invisible bloodstain. Once the sense of guilt comes home to roost, Lady Macbeth’s sensitivity becomes a weakness, and she is unable to cope. Significantly, she (apparently) kills herself, signaling her total inability to deal with the legacy of their crimes.
Lady Macbeth is a perfect judge of her husband’s character. She is well-aware of Macbeth’s strength and weakness:
"Hie thee hither T
ThatI pour my spirit, in thine ear
And chastise with the valour of my tongue.” (Act-I, Scene-V, Macbeth)
She rubs her hand in an abnormal way, but the spot stays in her hit-oppressed brain. This serves the dramatic irony and stands out as contrast:
“A little water clears us of his deed.”
Once she urged her husband to walk along the bloody way. Today in an insane way she exaggerates:
“All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand…”
Lady Macbeth entirely breaks the stereotype of women being kind and benevolent in the first act. After Macbeth writes home telling of his murderous plans, Lady Macbeth begins talking to evil spirits. Because women often lack the ruthlessness to kill someone, Lady Macbeth asks the spirits to make her male.
This is the first humane feeling that we see from Lady Macbeth in the play. Her desires and inspiration are very strong, but when the opportunity presents itself, she cannot carry through with the act. Therefore, she uses her husband’s vulnerability to persuasion to achieve her dreams.
The relationship between Lady Macbeth and Macbeth is based on political triumphs, not love. Lady Macbeth often accuses her husband of talking but not carrying through his ambitions. Although she often talks about becoming queen of Scotland and murdering Duncan, she never does anything to help this cause. The qualities that it takes to murder a king are not present in Lady Macbeth.
Lady Macbeth has become totally engrossed in becoming queen of Scotland. She is relentless in her pursuit of this goal, and she will kill anyone who is in the way of the throne. She is able to influence Macbeth into murder by telling him they are presented with an extraordinary opportunity.
Lady Macbeth at least can acknowledge that the murder is wrong and immoral by calling down darkness to hide her murder. She is not completely a ruthless psychotic, and she knows the difference between right and wrong.
This, however, further emphasizes the desire and ambition that Lady Macbeth possesses to be queen. She realizes the numerous negative effects of murdering Duncan, but she neglects them because, more than anything else, she wants to be a queen.
In order to accomplish her dreams, Lady Macbeth manipulates and convinces Macbeth to do things that he is against. But because of her intense ambition to be queen, nothing can prevent her from achieving this goal.Lady Macbeth had been described as the fourth Witch more diabolical because she possesses the gracious human form and effective tongue. Lady Macbeth does certainly instigate her husband to the act of murder.
Lady Macbeth is not a devilish woman. It is her love for her husband which leads her to the crime. So great is her devotion to her husband that she is even prepared to renounce her womanly nature and assumes a role of a cruel task-master. She over strengths herself in the interest of her husband and the result is total breakdown.
Lady Macbeth is certainly more resourceful than her husband. It is she who takes the initiative in planning the murder of Duncan and even partly assists Macbeth in carrying out the plan.
• Conclusion:-
Thus, like her husband Lady Macbeth is also an important character, well suited for the tragic drama. Lady Macbeth plays the role of true wife. She holds herself responsible for Macbeth's fall.
