In this essay I am going to talk about Lady Macbeth and whether she was a good or bad person. This is a very contentious argument. There are many obvious reasons as to why we could see Lady Macbeth was a bad person such as she was involved in the murder of King Duncan. However, she repented for what she did and felt very guilty about it which could show that she changed to become a good person. In Act 1 Scene 5 Lady Macbeth reads a letter from her husband detailing the encounter with the witches and how they said that he would be thane of Cawdor and then king and Banquo would be a father of a line of kings.
She immediately resolves to have Duncan killed to fulfill the prophecy. A messenger brings news of the king’s imminent arrival. Macbeth appears and they begin to plot the assassination of the king. By reading and analyzing this scene I think that Lady Macbeth was very power-hungry and she would do anything to get what she wanted. She was overly-ambitious. She knew that Macbeth would not agree as she says, “Yet do I fear thy nature. It is full of the milk of human kindness” so she tried to think of ways to persuade him to go through with it.
She said to him that if he did not kill Duncan he would not be a man. This suggests that she was very possessive and controlling and manipulative over her husband. It also suggests that Macbeth was a very loyal and valiant man but Lady Macbeth made him bad. She then starts talking to god and the spirits asking them to make her more man-like. She says things like, “Come to my woman’s breasts, and take my milk for gall… “, “Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts unsex me here… “, “Come thick night, and pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell… etc. this shows that she was preparing herself to do something evil.
When Macbeth came back she tells him to kill Duncan in order to get the crown. She says, “Only look up to clear. To alter favour ever is to fear. Leave all the rest up to me. ” which proves that she was the one who came up with the idea of the murder and she was more involved in it than Macbeth was. And in the movie she was the one that killed Duncan, not Macbeth. So looking at theses points I believe that Lady Macbeth was evil in this scene. However some people do not agree.
They think that it was Macbeth’s idea and he is the one who sent the letter and she just responded. Also, she was a very good and supportive wife towards her husband and she wanted him to be king and so she helped him do this. She isn’t bad, she is just ambitious. And it was also the witches fault as they are the ones who started all of this and they are the ones who told Macbeth about the prophecies and encouraged him. The body language she uses in this scene are quite strong and powerful which shows that she was ready to do anything. In Act 2 Scene 2 Lady Macbeth waits in the courtyard for her husband.
A shaken Macbeth appears and informs her that he has done the deed. She is horrified to discover that her husband did not leave the bloody daggers at the murder scene and he refuse to go back to Duncan’s chamber. As Lady Macbeth leaves to return the daggers, a loud knocking is heard. When she rejoins Macbeth, they retire to their bedchamber to make it appear that they had been sleeping. After analyzing this scene I think that Lady Macbeth was also evil in this scene. This is because she was not afraid of killing Duncan or ashamed although Macbeth was.
When Macbeth had come back with the daggers she said “Give me the daggers” in quite a forceful tone which indicates that she does not care about the blood. She also says “if he do bleed, ill gild the faces of the grooms withal” which suggests that she was not scared or worried and was quite confident. When she comes back she says “my hands are of your colour… ” which implies that she was proud to have the blood on her hand. However, some people may say that this line was used as a form of support to her husband to show that he was not alone.
Her body language also suggested that she was quite confident as she did not look worried and she didn’t think twice before going back into Duncan’s room. In Act 5 Scene 1 Lady Macbeth has been observed sleep-walking and talking for several nights. A doctor has been summoned by her attendant to observe her nightly ritual. Lady Macbeth appears and in her sleep-walking state, she reveals details of the murders for which she and Macbeth have been responsible. Both the doctor and the gentlewoman are shocked by what they witness.
The doctor realizes there is nothing he can do to help and advises that a careful watch be placed on Lady Macbeth. I analyzed this scene and have concluded that she was also evil in this scene as she was not sleep-walking because of guilt; she was sleep-walking because of paranoia. She was also feeling nervous and she feared that someone might find out what she did. She says things like, “I tell you yet again, Banquo’s buried. He cannot come out on his grave. ” and “what need we fear who knows it, when none can call our power to account…. to reassure herself that no one will find out. Eventually, in later scenes, the paranoia manages to kill her.
However, there is some evidence that she was feeling guilty and she repented what she did as she says “out, damned spot! Out, I say! ” This could be representing the tiny spot of guilt that she has that she can not get rid of. In this scene Lady Macbeth is less confident and controlling and power-hungry and is more sympathetic and paranoid. Her body language also tells us that she was paranoid and nervous as when she walked she was very cautious and quite jumpy.
There are many reasons on both sides of the argument. She could be seen as a good person because she was a good and supportive wife who was just a bit over-ambitious. It wasn’t really her fault; the witches are the ones that encouraged them. And near the end she started to feel guilty about what she did and repented it and she killed herself because of the guilt. However she could also be seen as a bad person because she was the one that convinced her husband to kill the king and at that time killing the king was a very big sin.
