ShakespeareS Macbeth Essays - Characters In Macbeth,

Shakespeare'S Macbeth Shireen Owlia Ms. Fisher English IV ? 5 14 November 2001 A Woman Before Her Time During the Elizabethan era, a woman did not have any say in the relationship with her husband, but Shakespeare's Macbeth changes this accepted theory. Lady Macbeth is a woman ahead of her time; she is caught between today's ambitious, powerful woman and a fragile, powerless creature of the Elizabethan era. At the beginning of this tragedy, she is vicious, overly ambitious, without conscience, and willing to do whatever it takes to get what she wants. As Macbeth becomes less dependent on his wife, Lady Macbeth loses control of her husband, but mostly of herself. She is so wrapped up in the greedy world Shakespeare creates that she fails to consider the consequences of her actions more realistically. Lady Macbeth lives as if she is a woman ahead of her tiime, but she dies like she is from the ?golden age of drama?. Initially, Lady Macbeth is introduced as a dominant, controlling, heartless wife with the ambition to achieve kingship for her husband. These words are characteristics of today's woman. She does not let her husband run her life, but instead, a modern woman seeks the best for both herself and her husband. This weak, unsure, and unstable condition of Lady Macbeth, which is only revealed towards the end of the play, displays the characteristics of a woman from the Elizabethan times. However, the audience begins to see hints of this hidden nature by the way Macbeth addresses her. The first time Lady Macbeth appears on stage, she is reading Macbeth's letter, which shows her desire to become Queen of Scotland. Lady Macbeth reads, ?This have I thought good to deliver thee, my dearest partner of greatness; that thou mightst not lose the dues of rejoicing, by being ignorant of what greatness is promised thee? (I.5.10-13). This portion of her husband's letter shows she has trained him to report the important events that occur while he is away. At this moment, she decides that quick action will be the basis of her reasoning and planning. Her spur-of-the-moment orders will affect Macbeth so deeply that his character will be forever changed. Lady Macbeth intentionally tries to ignore consequence and concentrates on securing Macbeth's future as king of Scotland. She looks to the quickest way as one that may lack rationality, but shortens their path to the throne. Lady Macbeth has been the authority icon for Macbeth, yet deep down, she never carried such traits to begin with. Because Lady Macbeth is a woman, she does not have the strength in her female heart, body or mind to carry out the deed of killing the King. Therefore, she calls upon the aid of the supernatural to give her male powers, so that she may have the audacity to go through with the plan to murder the King and allow Macbeth to obtain the throne. ?Women have always been considered as the gentler and fair sex. Lady Macbeth feels that to commit this crime, she must become as cruel as she believes men are. She calls for the spirits to unsex her, so she may act as a man would? (Lenz, 238). Although Lady Macbeth is unstable and vulnerable at the end of Act I, she uses dramatic analogies to persuade her husband to follow through with the first murder: ?I have given suck, and know how tender 'tis to love the babe that milks me: I would, while it was smiling in my face, have pluck'd my nipple from his boneless gums, and dash'd the brains out, had I so sworn as you have done to this (I.7.54-59). By h earing a woman who seems to be fearless of his anxieties, Macbeth is soothed. Lady Macbeth knows her husband is a strong person, and she knows she must seem stronger in order to convince him to go along with her plans. Lady Macbeth imagines that she has the ability to hide her true emotions, though her mind is as frail as an ?egg?. She claims that she can act to look like a flower that is innocent, but be a serpent in disguise. After the murder is plotted between the two, Duncan decides