the character of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. What is troubling Macbeth at the beginning of the scene and how does Lady Macbeth persuade him to go through with the murder of Duncan?William ShakespeareTask: – Explain what act 1 scene 7 tells us about the character of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. What is troubling Macbeth at the beginning of the scene and how does Lady Macbeth persuade him to go through with the murder of Duncan? My aim in this essay is to explain what Act 1, scene 7 tells us about the characters of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, and what troubles does Macbeth come across and how does Lady Macbeth persuade him to murder King Duncan. The purpose that Shakespeare wrote act 1, scene 7, is to notify the audience more about Macbeth’s and Lady Macbeth’s feeling and thoughts about murdering King Duncan. For example, when Macbeth leaves the dinner table, deciding on what he should do, he is worried and is having second thoughts on whether to murder him, Lady Macbeth stirs up Macbeth’s spirits and manipulates his mind.
When Lady Macbeth says “When you durst do it, then you were a man. ” Lady Macbeth is manipulating his mind. Before this scene, we are told that the king Duncan hears good news of the Norway battle. On the way home Macbeth and Banquo meet three witches who tell Macbeth that he will become king and will be Thane of Cawdor.
The belief from the three witches led Macbeth to write a letter to Lady Macbeth to tell her the exciting news. The bravery and courageousness in the battle of the Norwegian army by Macbeth, led the king to reward Macbeth Thane of Cawdor. After act 1 scene 7, Macbeth becomes king by the death of Duncan. Act 1 scene 7, plays an important part of the play because in this scene Macbeth can not control him self, of knowing what he will do. “First, as I am a kinsman and his subject, Strong both against the deed; then, as his host.
. . ” Macbeth knows that he should not kill the king instead he should protect him, but in the other hand he could be king and do anything he wishes. The character of Macbeth in act 1 scene 7, tells the readers that Macbeth is weak and that his wife is the dominant figure in their conjugal relationship.
Before this scene Macbeth was portrayed as a courageous and powerful warrior. We also established that Macbeth is greedy and famished of getting power to be king, but in this scene the conscious and fear troubles Macbeth of killing Duncan. In my opinion Macbeth is torn between two options, one being that if he murders King Duncan, he will please his wife. The other option being that if he does not kill the King his wife will insult his coward ness.
In this scene Macbeth is having second thoughts of killing King Duncan. When Macbeth is deciding whether he should murder King Duncan or not, Lady Macbeth comes and uses her manipulative ways to persuade Macbeth to go ahead in murdering the King. Macbeth’s greed of becoming king in order to inherit the power of the monarchy and the persuasion of his manipulative wife, leads to Macbeth murdering King Duncan. When at first Macbeth was introduced in the play, he was portrayed as an honest and truthful man who was a close friend of the king. Who will expect a man who protects the king so solemnly will kill him cold blooded? Before act 1 scene 7, Lady Macbeth was recognized as an ” honour’d hostess. The love that follows us sometimes is our trouble.
. . Herein I teach you how you shall bid God yield us for your pains and thank us for your trouble. ” In this part of the scene Lady Macbeth is portrayed as an honourable and innocent woman. After act 1 scene 7, Lady Macbeth helps Macbeth kill King Duncan by drugging the two guards in order to show that the guards killed the king. Further on in the story, Lady Macbeth dies by the cause of her guilty conscious of murdering the King.
In act 1 scene 7, Lady Macbeth changes into a role where she becomes self-centred and malicious. She only wants power and control. Being the dominated one in her relationship is still not enough for her. The words and actions that were said by Lady Macbeth were unusual because before this scene Lady Macbeth had acted in the love of Macbeth, but in scene 7 she started to love the power and control more than Macbeth, greed overcame the better of her. Overall I think that in act 1 scene 7, Lady Macbeth used Macbeth for her own selfish reasons.
Lady Macbeth persuaded Macbeth to murder King Duncan, which is one of the major tragedies in the story, so Lady Macbeth has an important role of the incident, which had occurred. As being the dominated one in their relationship Lady Macbeth uses all her control over Macbeth to make Macbeth murder king Duncan. She also challenges his patriarchy to make him murder the King. For example, when Lady Macbeth says “When you durst do it, then you were a man. ” Now that Macbeth is trying to back out of it, Lady Macbeth is calling him a coward and torments him to do the murdering.
She also says ” Wouldst thou have that which thou esteem’st the ornament of life and live a coward in thine own esteem. . . ” In other words, Lady Macbeth uses the power of love to persuade him.
She also says if you love me you would kill him straight away with no hesitation. Lady Macbeth says “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. ” In this quotation Lady Macbeth stirs Macbeth even more when Lady Macbeth challenges their love relationship on the basis of the decision, he eventually gives in and murders King Duncan. I think that Lady Macbeth is presented as an innocent and loving wife but in act 1 scene 7 she really is an malicious and selfish wife, and this is when her true colours show. At first Lady Macbeth is perceived as a wife that is dominated by her husband, what ever Macbeth says and does goes, but in act 1 scene 7, it tells us more about her true character. Lady Macbeth tells Macbeth what to do and how to do it.
Lady Macbeth persuades Macbeth so much that she takes his manhood away and turns him into a slave where he has no power and no control over the decisions he makes. Macbeth is not fully convinced to kill the king he is confused and fear of appearing as a coward in front of his wife, this is why, Macbeth kills king Duncan to prove how much he loves his wife and that he is man enough to do so. If Lady Macbeth did not persuade Macbeth to murder the king, I think that Macbeth would have not did it because when he left the table he had made his decision, which was to not to kill the king. Lady Macbeth uses all of her power and womanhood to persuade Macbeth but the major impact on his decision that persuaded Macbeth to go ahead with the murder was when Lady Macbeth involves there love for each other. The main theme and issues in act 1 scene 7, are that Lady Macbeth and Macbeth are presented differently because Lady Macbeth is shown to be an loving wife but really she is a wife who is malicious.
Macbeth is recognized as a fearless warrior and in front of Lady Macbeth it is a different matter because she has control over him. The tragedy that occurred in the play Macbeth, was when Macbeth was challenged by Lady Macbeth and by the three witches. The story Macbeth is a tragedy because he is forced to become evil and gets caught up in the situation to murder the king. This all started when the three witches said that he could become king, Macbeth’s greed of the monarchy lead him to murder the king, where on the other hand he should have reacted in the same way that Banquo did. The character in the story that was responsible for the murder was Lady Macbeth because she was the one who thought of what to do, and persuaded him to kill the king.
Lady Macbeth was the one behind the murder, but Macbeth could too be blamed because he could have stood his ground but instead he was manipulated by his wife. Blaming Macbeth, I also feel pity for him because he suffered through out the act where he talked to himself and this showed a sign of madness and then his wife dies, the one who he loved. He also had to murder his good friend, Banquo. Overall, I conclude that in act 1 scene 7, Shakespeare has expressed the true nature of the characters and what they go through in the murdering of the true King. In this scene I have come across the characters changes, in a quote from the play Macbeth was regarded as ” Brave Macbeth well he deserves that name.
. . Which smok’d with bloody execution. .
. Which ne’er shook hands, nor bade farewell to him. . . ” In other words, Macbeth was recognized as a brave warrior whom loved blood, but then Macbeth changes into a coward and an insignificant person. Lady Macbeth changes into an authoritative lady who controls Macbeth, to do what she say, for example the murder of King Duncan.
This scene was an important role in the play not only realising what the characters thought and felt but the scene also inspired the audience to read on.
