...Shakespeare's play, Macbeth, Lady Macbeth has an extreme influence on her husband Macbeth. Due to Macbeth’s submissive personality, he is easily conceivable and will do whatever Lady Macbeth demands he does. If Macbeth did not have Lady Macbeth telling him what to do he would never rise to power and make the play have such an influential message. Lady Macbeth is more important to the deeper meaning of the play than Macbeth because she is influential, ruthless, and ambitious and even though she was not the one who put the most action into anything she was the one who convinced Macbeth to act on anything. First off, people gain most power...
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...MACBETH "Stars, hide your fires let not light see my black and deep desires" Macbeth is an amazing story that can show how far we can fall if we allow ourselves to accept temptation. The tragedy of Macbeth is about a loyal soldier (Macbeth) who after a prophecy is told to him by three witches that he will rule Scotland his wife then tells him to kill the king. The question is who holds the most power in the story the answer is Macbeth as he kills the king instead of turning away temptation. Unlike the other characters who affect the story on a large scale such as the witches and their prophecy's of royalty and they even prophesize Macbeth's death in a way that makes Macbeth even more headstrong however they act more of a thought in your head like "what if" this is proven as Macbeth actually loses ambition to kill the king. Lady Macbeth holds much more power than the witches as...
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...Limitless Macbeth In Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, the main character of Macbeth has many goals and does anything he needs to in order to make those dreams come true. Shakespeare develops Macbeth’s ambitions in the play which usually revolve around him trying to gain power. Shakespeare indirectly shows how the acceptable limit of ambition relates to death. He develops the idea that when death occurs Macbeths ambitions become darker and less acceptable. At first Macbeth is loyal and fights for his country but when the ambition of being king comes along he hesitates to kill Duncan. Once Macbeth becomes less humane and after Duncan’s death Macbeth’s ambition goes over the limit and he kills Banquo and MacDuff’s family, hungry for power. But is Macbeth now being king make him able to cross the acceptable limit of ambition without being questioned. Shakespeare in the beginning of his play suggests to his audience that Macbeth is a loyal, fearless, selfless warrior as shown in the quote “For brave Macbeth (well he deserves that name)/ Disdaining fortune with his brandished steel” (1.2 18-19). It’s showing how Macbeth battled his way through the Norwegian soldiers all the way up to Macdonawald and cut him from his stomach to his head. Duncan, the king, has a great response by breathlessly saying out, “O valiant cousin, worthy gentleman!” (1.2 26). This shows just how satisfied the king along with the whole country is of Macbeth for fearlessly fighting off the Norwegian invaders...
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...has the ability to make living-beings change for the better or for the worse, depending on the individual’s personality. William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth shows many incidents resulting in the want for power, or to become powerful. The characters in Macbeth show how the outcome of becoming powerful can be both negative and positive. Macbeth’s personality drastically changes for the worse after hearing the witches’ three prophecies about the power that is ahead. Malcom and Macduff are completely selfless; they have the desire to become powerful to help their people, not for self-gratitude. These events would not have happened if it was not for the three witches and their prophecies. The desire for power itself is not a bad thing. It is the outcome of having power that can be harmful depending on the intentions of the power-holder their self. Macbeth is portrayed as a hero by his fellow soldiers at the beginning of the play; For brave Macbeth-well he deserves that name Disdaining fortune, with his brandish’d steel Which smoked with bloody excecution, Like valour’s minion carved out his passage Till he faced the slave;/which ne’er shook hands from the nave to chaps, And fix’d his head upon our battlements. (I.ii.18-25) Macbeth’s character changes not long after his heroic actions had been brought to the attention of others. This happens because of one thing, the desire to be powerful. There are three witches that can tell the future, they gave Macbeth three prophecies saying;...
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...Manhood in Macbeth In today's society the traditional stereotype of manhood is that men are to be strong and powerful. Normally males demonstrate a being strong and have a powerful exterior, while females usually show that they are full of inertial emotions. Common Manhood motifs shown in in Macbeth are tied together with strength, power, physical courage, and force. The characters in the Macbeth use the idea of manhood to instigate one another into fighting, just to serve their own benefits the characters have manipulated their ideas of manliness. Masculinity becomes a trait that is manipulated by Lady Macbeth and Macbeth. Lady Macbeth manipulates Macbeth by making him questioning his manhood and convincing him to murder the King of Scotland, Duncan. The same way Lady Macbeth manipulates her husband. Another example would be how Macbeth convinces the three murderers he hired to kill Banquo and Fleance by questioning them, and making them question their own power and masculinity. One point of view of masculinity could be its dominance over femininity. The first women that appear in the play are the witches. When they meet Macbeth for the first time, he “start and seem to fear” (1.3.54) their prophecies. While it is not shown in the play, there is also a wish that...
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...Lady Macbeth is seen as one of the most powerful, frightening, and ambitious female character, out of all of Shakespeare’s plays. Lady Macbeth is first seen when she had received a letter from her husband, Macbeth, as the letter states what promises the witches had made him and his promotion to Thane of Cawdor. After reading the letter, Lady Macbeth, sees this as her chance to make Macbeth, King of Scotland, by murdering King Duncan. Lady Macbeth begins to plot Duncan’s murder, during this time we see Lady Macbeth being more ruthless, more power-hungry, and more ambitious than her husband, Macbeth. Lady Macbeth can be seen more powerful than her husband as she proposes qualities, which lack with Macbeth such as power, masculinity, ambition...
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...Not so Lady Macbeth Gender roles play a huge part in history as women have always been seen as soft, very primitive, and especially proper. Lady Macbeth challenges these gender roles to an extreme as her character is highlighted as a power thirsty and sinister woman who will do anything to get to the crown. In the traditional gender roles of Elizabethan society by being characterized by Shakespeare as a very sinister woman who will goes as afar as murder and treason to obtain her darkest desires. The Elizabethan times took place during Queen Elizabeth I’s reign on the English throne. During this time period, prosperity was extremely rapid, which resulted in gender roles being exemplified even more than before. Men were the obvious superior to women and treated them like objects. Women typically...
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...Macbeth- Shakespeare Caroline Rebry January 8, 2010 Mr. Salciccioli In the Shakespearean story Macbeth, the character Lady Macbeth, Macbeth’s wife, is one of Shakespeare’s most forcefully drawn female characters he has ever created. Lady Macbeth suffers none of her husband’s uncertainty. She desires the kingship for him and wants him to murder Duncan in order to obtain it. She is one of the only characters in the play that could persuade Macbeth the way she does. Her sly and cunning plans lead Macbeth to fulfill her desires of becoming King and Queen. As well, her incredible mind tricks cause her husband to continue to achieve their goal as becoming King and Queen. Considering the relationship between cause and effect in the play, Lady Macbeth, through her manipulation, deceptiveness, and mind games, is one of the characters who is more responsible for Macbeth’s crimes in the play. When we first meet Lady Macbeth, she is already plotting Duncan’s murder, and she is stronger, more ruthless, and more ambitious than her husband. She seems fully aware of this and knows that she will have to push Macbeth into committing murder. Lady Macbeth manipulates her husband with remarkable effectiveness, overriding all his objections; when he hesitates to murder, she repeatedly questions his manhood until he feels that he must commit murder to prove himself. Lady Macbeth questions, Was the hope drunk Wherein you...
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...Essay #1 Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have a very unstable relationship. At first, Lady Macbeth was the dominant and powerful leader in the relationship, while Macbeth was the one with less power and control. Lady Macbeth’s demeanor and power weakened drastically as Macbeth became King, where she was put aside and ignored. At the beginning of the play, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth seem to be very strong. Macbeth initiates this by referring to Lady Macbeth in his letter as “my dearest partner of greatness” when he was telling her about the prophecies (1.5, 13). By telling her of the witches it shows that he trusts her to the point of telling her anything. It also shows that he values her opinion. When Macbeth told her about the prophecy, Lady Macbeth immediately had ambition to be queen (1.4, 19-20). It is shown that she is willing to do anything to get the opportunity to become powerful. Their relationship shows a significant change after the murder of King Duncan. Macbeth was very hesitant on murdering the King but Lady Macbeth was very persistent on fulfilling the task. Lady Macbeth was the superior one towards the beginning with putting together the plans, while Macbeth just obeyed them. Lady Macbeth states "My hands are of your colour, but I shame, to wear a heart so white" (2.2,67-68). This shows that she is insulting Macbeth’s manliness. Macbeth had many doubts on whether or not he should complete the task, but he just followed the plans anyways to prove his manhood to his wife...
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...Macbeth at the start of the play At the start of the play, Macbeth is a good man who knows his place. He is a loyal servant of the King. God appoints the King to rule. If the King rules well, then his subjects will love him and he will reward their love with gratitude and generosity. This is the ideal state of affairs at the start of Macbeth, though just before it, there has been a rebellion, and the play opens with an account of the defeat of the rebels. Although God appoints the ruler, it is possible for a gross disturbance of the natural order of things to happen. And this may allow a rebel (usurper) to overthrow the rightful monarch. In Macbeth, this is what happens when the witches dabble in the affairs of men. But Hecate, who must obey the higher powers of the universe, shows the witches that order must be restored, and Macbeth removed from power. Macbeth is very loyal to begin with, so his treachery against Duncan is especially shocking. It is only believable (plausible) because of the way the witches arouse powerful ambition in him. But though they suggest things to him, the witches do not force Macbeth to kill Duncan. His evil action is freely chosen and (as we say today) premeditated. In fact Macbeth sees very good arguments against Duncan's murder but is stung into firmness by his wife's scorn. She says that if she had made a promise like her husband's, she could even have dashed out the brains of her own child. (Perhaps, though, this is bravado - later she admits...
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...Lady Macbeth in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth illustrates one of Shakespeare’s most powerful female characters because of her role as both a driving and destructive force, which was uncommon of women during the Elizabethan Era. Women of this time (circa AD 1000) were not very influential and did not normally have meaningful input. Despite this social convention, Lady Macbeth is an unparalleled character Shakespeare creates to entertain his audience. Lady Macbeth’s passionate desire and ambition to murder Duncan in order to gain power is a characteristic developed by Shakespeare not seen in her historical counterparts. After learning of the prophecy telling that Macbeth will become King of Scotland, Lady Macbeth ferociously pushes Macbeth to murder Duncan and cleverly uses her words to manipulate Macbeth into action “through a meticulous process of cruel and piercing emasculation, purposefully designed to attack his warrior status” (Ancona and Thompson). This exemplifies how...
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...Charlotte Higgs LVs Macbeth Essay Plan For my introduction I’m going to say how I’m going to show the character of Macbeth and explain why many people have mixed feelings about him. I am then going to discuss how I’m going to lay out the essay by exploring the different aspects to him, such as being brave, ambitious and loving. I will then say that I will conclude the essay by explaining the mixed feelings about him. Brave * For the first paragraph I will mostly be discussing the conversation between the captain and Duncan in Act 1 Scene 2. * I will point out important phrases to show that he is brave and why. * I will also mention about how other characters think of him at the beginning of the play and that overall it is very positive which makes the audience think positively towards him. * I will also discuss at this point his attitudes towards the witches and mention that most people would be scared of them and not intrigued by them. (Act 1 scene 3) * I will also point out clear lines that show his attitude towards them. * I then plan to link this to Macbeth being ambitious. Ambitious * I will then continue the witch scene and point out key lines that show Macbeth’s ambitious side. * I believe at this point it is important to show the contrast of character between Macbeth and Banquo, about how Banquo is very sceptical but Macbeth is entranced by a good offer and is completely spell bound by what the witches have said to him and of his...
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...Power and Passion – Macbeth In Macbeth by William Shakespeare, two concepts, power and passion are conveyed through the downfall of the tragic play. The characters, mainly Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, show the relationship between these two concepts. Throughout the playwright, Macbeth has an ambition to gain more power, and especially when hearing the prophecy from the three witches after the victory of his battle, he becomes passionate about possessing the throne of Scotland. This essay will also discuss a particular soliloquy acted out by Macbeth where he imagines a dagger in front of him. Macbeth’s passion to be king originates from where the three witches address Macbeth as the ‘Thane of Cawdor’, ‘Thane of Glamis’, and ‘King hereafter’ when the witches chant “All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter!” (Act 1 Scene 3, line 48). Macbeth believes in these prophecies as they are supernatural entities, and this drives Macbeth’s ambition to achieve higher status and reputation. When Lady Macbeth hears this from the messenger, she gains high ambitions for him and becomes seduced by the idea of becoming the queen. She speaks to herself “I may pour my spirits in thine ear” (Act 1 Scene 5, line 25), which means she will inspire Macbeth with her passion about an evil deed she thought of. However, she also knew Macbeth could not perform such evil deeds as she says that he is “too full o’th’ milk of human kindness” (Act 1 Scene 5, line 16), therefore she uses his weakness throughout...
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...characters push Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to become more eager in gaining possession of the crown. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth both display a controlling figure, but in aspects that contribute to their desires for power. Lady Macbeth influences and pressures Macbeth, " Must be provided for: and you shall put / This night's great business into my dispatch, / Give soley sovereign sway and masterdom" (1.6.67-70). Lady Macbeth is very convincing when it comes to the drive for power. She provides Macbeth with a great plan and time that the task—killing Ducan can easily be completed without any worries. She also provides him a desire to look up to, in which she describes the benefits that Macbeth will be gaining by completing the...
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...men and Shake Spare Macbeth. In my essay I shall compare both of the female characters the ways they are presented. “Conduct me to mine host, we love him highly, and shall continue our graces towards him” He says that he will continue to give him good things, to keep Macbeth on his side, as he would be a powerful enemy. Macbeth is a leader of the army and probably commands the loyalty of the army, which would be a powerful tool if he were ever disagreeing with the king. The king is trying to avoid a situation like that by hinting that he is going to do more things for him, so that Macbeth will wait and see what he does before taking matters into his own hands. Duncan also think that Macbeth loves him and would only do something like that as a last resort, showing his naivety again of Macbeth’s character, and specially him underestimation of lady Macbeth. In a soliloquy, Macbeth begins to think about the practicalities, showing his real intent to go through with it. “If it were done, when it’s done, then here well if it were done quickly.” Here Macbeth admits that he does want to kill Duncan, but also realises that he must take his chances while he can to avoid getting caught, or him missing his opportunity and never getting the chance to become king. He says this, so that the audience know what he is going to do it that night, so it builds the suspense. He still uses the word “if” indicating that Lady Macbeth has persuaded him to do it. Lady Macbeth was confident that...
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