Michael Cimino Cimino 1
Ms. Cunningham
ENG2D1
2 November 2015
Lady Macbeth Character Profile

Lady Macbeth has character traits that make her into the cunning, clever and deceptive character that she is. Her traits are often an antithesis to those of her spouse, Macbeth. First off, she is a character that lacks all humanity, as she has no qualms about planning and carrying out murders and evil actions, nor does she care about the people it will affect. An example is when the murder of King Duncan is being plotted, she has no doubt about whether it should happen. This is in sharp contrast to her husband, Macbeth, who is indecisive regarding the matter. Next in order, she is incredibly deceptive, frequently acting as a good, moral person in front of other characters, tricking them into thinking she is their friend or ally. However in reality, she has other, more sinister plans. This harkens back to the witches saying “Fair is foul, and foul is fair.” This phrase establishes the theme of reality vs. appearance within the story of Macbeth. For example, when King Duncan arrives at the castle for dinner, Lady Macbeth escorts the monarch in, holding his hand. When doing this, the king thinks that Lady Macbeth is loyal, even though she has plans to murder him later that night, a traitorous act. Thirdly, she is very manipulative, she taunts and torments people into doing things that she wants to be done. For example, when Macbeth has moments of indecision about whether he should murder Duncan, Lady Macbeth questions Macbeth’s masculinity, basically saying that he is not a true man. This drives Macbeth to the point where he feels that he has to kill in order to prove himself. She also calls his courage into question, calling him a coward. She becomes so frustrated with the situation that she threatens to do the killing herself. Fourth, she is persistent. Lady Macbeth will stop at nothing to
Cimino 2 achieve the goals she has set for herself, even doing unethical or immoral things throughout the story. Through all of the beginning of the story, up until the murder of Duncan, she tricks, manipulates and harasses people, even those close to her, namely her husband. For example, the whole dinner at the castle, everything, including the fainting, is just a cover up for what she plans to do, this shows that she will do even the most convoluted things to become the queen. Finally, she is a character filled with guilt and worry, towards the end of the story at least. This is demonstrated by the fact that after the murder of Banquo, both she and Macbeth are driven to madness by their guilt for the murders. She is eventually caught sleepwalking around the castle. She also, more weirdly, washes her hands compulsively, trying the clear blood off of them that simply is not there.