Per: 2MacbethIn Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth the two protagonists, Macbeth and LadyMacbeth demonstrate both strength and weakness of character and action.
Through the course of the play Lady Macbeth’s early power and strengthweakens while Macbeth’s rises from weakness to a position of strength andgreat power. In the beginning Lady Macbeth is stronger, however towards theend Macbeth becomes the stronger one. The short tragedy of Macbeth is amorbid story of ruthlessness, power, and murder. Shakespeare’s shortestplay, Macbeth shows the effects murder can have on a person’s soul. Early in the play, Shakespeare develops the strengths of Lady Macbethas contrasted with the weaknesses of her husband.
For example Lady Macbethpersuades her husband to kill King Duncan to give Macbeth air to thethrone, she organizes the murder and frames the guards. Without herpersuasion and planning Macbeth wouldn’t have committed the murder. Thisquote by Lady Macbeth shows her ruthlessness: “My hands are of your color,but I shame to wear a heart so white. . .
a little water clears us of thisdeed. How easy it is then! Your constancy hath left you unattended. ” She isable to cleanse herself of the blood without being affected, howeverMacbeth is not, she calls him cowardly. He is so troubled by his guilt thathe cannot sleep. He shows this in the quote “Me thought I heard a voice crysleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep-the innocent sleep, sleep thatknits up the raveled sleeve of care, the death of each day’s life, sorelabor’s bath.
. . ” Lady Macbeth is able to manipulate King Duncan’s murderwith no remorse, she is stronger than her husband, Macbeth who struggleswith the guilt he feels for the murder. Midway through the play we find that Lady Macbeth is beginning tolose her power and strength while Macbeth, now the king is at the same timefinding his. For example Macbeth quotes: “They are vulnerable then becheerful.
Before the bat has finished it’s blind flight, before black whichwith it’s droning proclaims night’s sleepy presence, there will becommitted and awful and infamous crime. ” He is referring to his plans tokill Banquo and his son Fleance in the dead of night. Lady Macbeth wasunaware of this; Macbeth is now arranging murder by himself without themotives of Lady Macbeth. After Macduff fled to England Macbeth had hisfamily killed in his absence. Macbeth was angered with him for notattending his banquet and fleeing to England.
Macbeth has become soruthless that he killed Macduff’s innocent wife and children, lives of theinnocent were taken to torment the soul of Macduff. Macbeth has nowovercome his kind soul’s guilt over King Duncan to go on and cold-heartedlycommit two more cases of murder. By the end of the play, Shakespeare shows us a king who is using allof his strength and power to save his position, while showing how the LadyMacbeth has lost all of her strength and has been reduced to a weak,suicidal, nervous wreck. Lady Macbeth expresses her guilt in her sleep,this quote portrays her feelings-“All the perfumes of Arabia will notsweeten this little hand. ” Earlier in the play when she was strong she hadbeen able to wash the blood off with water, now she feels she’ll never ridherself of the burden.
The doctor is called to go see Lady Macbeth for hersleep talking. The doctor quotes “This sickness is beyond my medical skill,however I’ve known sleep walkers who’ve died piously in their beds. ” LadyMacbeth’s problem is in her head; she needs the calamity removed from hersoul. The witch’s prophecies begin to come true, as they predicted; thewoods are going to march (the army). Macbeth decides to fight Macduff,Macbeth’s ‘charmed life’ is broken however he still fights Macduff becausehe’d rather die fighting for his position than be captured by the army.
Macbeth is now using all his strength to keep his position as king whilethings are going down around him, his wife commits suicide and the army’scoming after him so he fights Macduff to go down with glory. As we have seen Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have demonstrated bothstrength and weakness of character and action. I’ve showed how in thebeginning of the play Lady Macbeth was stronger than Macbeth was, as theplay progressed the scales switched sides and Macbeth became the strongerone. Lady Macbeth becomes so burdened and weakened that she commitssuicide. I’ve learned that murder can ruin a person’s soul, it is so muchbetter to lead a wholesome, honest life than it is to be evil and corrupt.
My essay goes to show that no matter how good the outcome of evil doing mayseem at first the evil will catch up with you and take over. Goodness isalways the way.
