Shakespeare, the Einstein of his time has changed the intrepid minds of many influential people in the Elizabethan era which includes King Edward I. In his greatest play, Macbeth, has showed us that ‘foul is fair and foul is fair’ in the relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth; revealing the dominant role of women over men. Lady Macbeth achieves great dominance over Macbeth’s will by shattering his manhood. She conveys that his doubts on the assassination signify his lack of ambition and valour of being a man. She mentions that a real man should not only have boldness to create a tight situation, but should also implement his honourable word. Lady Macbeth then strategically gives the most horrendous example about the smashing of the skull of the baby, which further criticises Macbeth’s scared attitude which contrast to the majority of women. This provokes Macbeth to act in accordance to his male honour.
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Shakespeare shows how Lady Macbeth shows her true self as she says in the play “Had he not so closely resembled my father, I would have done it.” This triple meaning is clearly shown. The first meaning if you look at it literally, it is trying to convey that he looked very similar to her dad which shows full commitment and trust to her parents. This showed how inside of her there is a lot of undivided love to her parents which has disable and caned her, much like any another child would do. However, it may be that because her parents gave birth to her, she is grateful for that and does not want to kill them As Macbeth has been called ‘noble’, he would surely give the same respect to Lady Macbeths’ parents as Macbeth would to his parents and would never think about scratching his parents, let alone kill them. This shows how Lady Macbeth has slowly and careful invaded into Macbeths mind and brainwashed him so much that he does not truly denied the thought of killing King Duncan. This also shows that Macbeth has not given her anything and so ultimately the relationship is futile and her love is false. The second meaning would be the biblical imagery of God as Lady Macbeth said “he” which shows that Lady Macbeth thoughts are that the more powerful you are, the more godlike you are. She could not kill God as she did not have enough power. She wanted the lust for power and although she has committed sinful acts like killed a child, she is not in the level where God is and so could not kill him. As Macbeth has been given the title of Thane of Glamis and Thane of Cawdor, she believes that he has power. In spite of this, Lady Macbeth want more and more power and so forces Macbeth to kill King Duncan so that as his equal half in the relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, in the eyes of the pubic, would ultimately receive more power. This strongly shows how the relationship is not a relationship but is simply a ventriloquist and a puppet, where the ventriloquist is Lady Macbeth where she is manipulating the puppet which is Macbeth so that she can receive the laughter and money, which is very similar to power and greed. The third and most important, is the power of greed that she has truly desired. She single-handedly heavily persuaded Macbeth to kill King Duncan. The perception that Lady Macbeth put forward is very strong as she said “I would have done it”. This showed that she put it about as an excuse rather than to show a weakness; showing how she did not want to look weak in front of Macbeth which would convey to the audience that in the relationship she wants to be equal or even higher than Macbeth. This competition between each other shows how it is a mere game rather than a relationship made by God as Lady Macbeth is not being serious about it.
Shakespeare shows how powerful reverse psychology may cause havoc in a relationship. When Lady Macbeth said “When you durst do it, then you were a man” she shows how cunningly and deceitfully she is trying to motivate him to do what he was previously going to do. When she says “then you were a man”, it shows before when he was going to kill King Duncan, he was a man, but now as he has refused he has become much less than a man, a lady who has no place in society. Macbeth who has reached the pinnacle of his courier after many countless, hardworking years and now has been called less than a man even though Kings Duncan addressed Macbeth as ‘noble’ and also gave him the highest achievement that any man could have: Thane of Glamis and Thane of Cawdor. This shows how demandingly she says a lot of Cruel words which hurts Macbeth but also at the same time using reverse psychology to show to Lady Macbeth that Macbeth can do relentless acts and so is a man. This showed that the relationship is mainly one sided to Lady Macbeth and has used strategic planning to command Macbeth into killing King Duncan. This shows that she understands Macbeth as she knew that Macbeth would question the killing. This shows that in the relationship, Macbeth has true love for her as he had told her his most dire secrets. However, it shows that instead of helping Macbeth out of a dreadful situation, she is using it to her advantage which also explicitly shows than she in manipulating Macbeth.
Shakespeare shows how the depiction of extreme acts shows a downfall of a relationship. “Dash’s the brains out, had I so sworn as you have done to this. “This shows how as a woman who has small place in society would uphold her promise even when it is as tragic as killing a baby in a gruesome way, but a man who is respected thoroughly in society would go against his promise. It shows how Lady Macbeth has immense power to crack open the skill and ‘dash’ the brain out. As child mortality was high, the baby would be considered to be a present of God. The word “dash” suggest how without a doubt she would do it quickly for her solemn oath and she does not care that she will have to face the wrath of God and also be massively looked down upon in society. This shows how loyal she is and will keep her promise unlike Macbeth. Lady Macbeth is seen as unusual as she admits the situations she had been. This unusual statement contracts the belief that a women’s desire is to protect a child and this shows that she is different from the other woman who live their whole life to protect and care for their children. This shows how she has been hiding things from Macbeth and this shows how the relationship from the start of the play sets a countdown to get worse and even worse.
The old saying which is behind every successful man stands a strong woman. Surprisingly, it is very true; in his quest for supreme power, he is thoroughly led by his wife. Lady Macbeth strengths his determination and motivate him to commit this sinful murder. This manipulation of Macbeth is clearly shown throughout the play and shows easily how Macbeth fell into the trap of Lady Macbeth of greed and power. Shakespeare is being portrayed as misogynistic to perhaps warn the world that this may happen in the future.
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This shows how the relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth is like the inside of an onion. It is definitely seen that Macbeth is not hiding anything about himself and has also given his most vital secrets to Lady Macbeth. However, Lady Macbeth is hiding numerous amount of things; one being of dashing the brains out of a baby. Sadly, as you peel each layer, the audience weeps for Lady Macbeth for her greediness and devil like thoughts. With this analysis it is fully seen that Lady Macbeth is manipulating/controlling Macbeth as if he was a ragdoll puppet and also shows that the relationship relies heavily on her thoughts and Macbeth acts upon them mindlessly and cowardly.
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