Lady Macbeth in 'Macbeth

LANGUAGE

Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth is shown with a lack of power through the lexical field of supernatural. In Act 1 Scene 5, she initially preaches the 'spirits' to 'come' and 'tend on [her] mortal thoughts'. The use of 'spirit' may contrast with the idea of religion; 'spirits' may be associated with the supernatural. Contemporaneously, the Jacobean audience were able to choose between beliefs in the supernatural or religion (Christianity) thus the use of spirits and clash with religion appeals to all audiences, including King James I, who was a patron for Shakespeare's theatre company and had a thriving interest in witchcraft (wrote a book on his finds called 'Daemonologie'). The lexical field constantly reminds the audience of Lady Macbeth committing regicide and the troubling nature of it, for the King was often seen as God's chosen representative which may bring about the idea of Lady Macbeth committing sins, possibly leading her to hell. Thus, the audience may conjure horrible images in their mind which may demonstrate Lady Macbeths lack of power, as she is being held down and punished by God. In the bible,it says 'better is an handful' than to have 'spirits' which suggests even though Lady Macbeth's desires have been fulfilled, she is miserable. One might argue, Lady Macbeth is already being punished and is therefore powerless.

Could talk about repetition of 'blood'.

STRUCTURE

Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth's declining power is defined through the use of free verse. In act I scene V, Lady Macbeth describes the 'fatal entrance' of Duncan into Macbeth's castle using iambic pentameter although in Act 5, Scene 1, Lady Macbeth speaks in free verse, for the 'smell of the blood' taunts her. The use of iambic pentameter was used by Shakespeare to present the most important characters in the play thus the change in the way Lady Macbeth talks suggests her growing insignificance as the play grows on which strips away her power in the play. Lady Macbeth's lack of power may represent the consequences of committing regicide. Although her ambition has been fulfilled, committing a sin of killing the King (Jacobean audience often saw Kings as God representative) led to huge consequences like going to hell and perhaps a tumultuous mental breakdown from guilt. Both a modern and Jacobean audience may draw their knowledge on murder, in general being a sin so they may look down on Lady Macbeth's character after she killed Duncan, hence the sound of iambic pentameter resembles that of the heart-beat which may cause the audience to feel relatable towards the characters using such verbal structure, as they did with Lady Macbeth before she committed regicide. The free verse sounds irregular and unrelatable which may cause the audience to feel distant towards the minor characters. Her lack of dominance in the play exemplifies her lack of power.

Shakespeare defines Lady Macbeth's initially great powers through the use of character entrance and exits. In Act 1, Scene 5, Lady Macbeth begins and ends the scene which establishes her importance and dominance in the play. She reads a letter from Macbeth in which she claims he is 'too full' of the 'milk' from 'human kindness'. A Jacobean audience would have deemed it peculiar to have women start and end scenes as they were often believed to be subservient to men, objects almost. Women were often less educated than men and considered to be soft creatures. Therefore, the audience might find it ironically empowering that Shakespeare breaks conventions and stereotypes of contemporaneous gender roles. Her control over Macbeth's life is demonstrated as she controls the scene which enhances her power, for Macbeth may be considered the protagonist of the play. A significant character such as himself being manipulated and made vulnerable amplifies the person who wrought him.

FORM

Lady Macbeth is seen as powerful before the climax of the play, and less power after the novel as she no longer takes part in Macbeth's motivations to murder more people. Initially, she motivates Macbeth by threatening his masculinity 'durst do it if you were a man', then after the climax, she no longer takes part in Macbeth's ambitions. Lady Macbeth's decline happening after the climax conveys her lack of power and self-strength as she is overcome by guilt ("out! Out to the 'spots' of 'blood'). One might suggest Lady Macbeth is used as a tool to allow the audience to focus on Macbeth's downfall, which enforces the Tragedy form and allows the audience to feel a greater catharsis. Shakespeare moving the focus from Lady Macbeth to simply Macbeth's downfall allows the audience to focus solely on the witches and Macbeth's actions and the fight for the throne which would create more tension and satisfaction for the audience. Hence, Shakespeare strips Lady Macbeth's power from her in order to move the plot.