Introduction to Lady Macbeth : Act 1 Flashcards
(16 cards)
lady macbeth’s signficance
- she subverts (goes against) audience expectations of a woman as weak and passive
- instead, she is arguably a driving force which prompts macbeth’s tragic downfall
- femme fatal
what does lady macbeth plan to do in act 1 scene 5?
- ‘pour my spirits in thine ear’
‘pour my spirits in thine ear’
- depicts her manipulative and evil qualities
- noun ‘pour’ builds a connection to her emasculating threat that he is ‘too full o’th’milk of human kindness’ suggesting she will replace this milk with evil
- noun ‘milk’ is a symbol for femininity and maternal nurturing, lady macbeth rejects notions of femininity
- ‘spirits’ - reminiscent of the supernatural - fourth witch?
lady macbeth is ALMOST like a…
fourth witch in her manipulation
lady macbeth’s emasculation in act 1 scene 5
- ‘unsex me here’
- ‘come thick night’
- ‘come you spirits’
‘unsex me here’
‘come thick night’
‘come you spirits’
- almost like she is casting a spell - the noun ‘spirits’ and ‘night’ allude to a dark, supernatural force
- she yearns to be rid of her femininity to encompass the inhumane and witch-like role that would grant her power
COMPARISON OF LADY MACBETH FROM THIS POINT IN THE PLAY TO THE END
- later in the play, lady macbeth descends into insanity, causing a polarisation of her character
- act 5 scene 1 - she enters with a taper, which is a candle (a source of light) - IRONY - she was previously commanding darkness, yet now she cannot bear to abandon a source of light
LADY MACBETH ESSAY START
lady macbeth could be regarded as femme fatal; she mobilizes macbeth’s temptation into evil and almost mirrors the witches in her desire to influence and manipulate macbeth
- she is used as a construct to introduce the question of gender into the play and the role this played within society at the time.
lady macbeth mobilises the plot of regicide through…
her manipulation and emasculation of macbeth
act 1 scene 5 - lady macbeth’s initial manipulation and emasculation of macbeth
she belittles him by saying his ‘face’ is a ‘book where men may read strange matters’
‘a book where men may read strange matters’
- she mocks the candidness of his expression
- this introduces his manipulation as it portrays macbeth as weak and vulnerable - these were qualities which fail to align with the ideal masculine archetype of the era
- she indirectly tries to fulfil his role, and it would almost be embarrassing and atypical for him to have to be instructed by a woman
act 1 scene 7 - progression of lady macbeth’s emasculation of macbeth
- she interrogates him with a rhetorical question - ‘was the hope drunk wherein you dress’d yourself’
- to ridicule and question his state of mind
lady macbeth’s use of rhetorical questions
- calculated
- she gives him time to ponder and think about his actions
- it is clear she wants to exploit his emotion of embarrassment or shame
act 1 scene 7 - lady macbeth calls macbeth a…
‘coward’
‘coward’
- lady macbeth uses the epithet (insult) ‘coward’ which threatens his entire sense of being a ‘solder’ - not only is she questioning his masculinity, but also his livelihood
lady macbeth’s rejection of matrnal inclinations - act 1 scene 7
- she blackmails him and makes an example of himself to quantify his weakness
- she claims she would’ve ‘dash’d the brains out’ of her own child if she had sworn to like macbeth had sworn to commit the murder
- the merciless act of rejecting maternal inclinations characterises lady macbeth as violent and determined - she effectively competes with macbeth, who, as a man of that era, could not be weaker than a woman
