Lady Macbeth Flashcards
What are the personality traits of LM
she can easily influences Macbeth, she is ambitious and does not mind committing crimes to get what she wants, she changes over the course of the play - beginning = dominant and confident, end = slowly driven mad by guilt and as Macbeth distances himself she cannot live because of what they have done, disturbed
How is LM seen as ambitious
when she gets the letter she immediately assumes that they need to kill Duncan and is more ruthless that her husband, she thinks that no ordinary woman would plan this woman so she appears to the spirit world to ‘unsex’ her, she knows Macbeth’s weak spots and uses his ambition and fear of being seen as a coward to manipulate him
How is LM seens as clever and quick-witted
she comes up with the cunning plan to drug and frame Duncan’s servants this shows she is clever as well as cruel and heartless, when the murder is discovered she faint - this cleverly draws attention away from Macbeth, she also covers up Macbeths strange behaviour at the dinner - she is in control, Shakespeare juxtaposes her welcoming Duncan into the castle and her murderous intentions
How is LM used to explore geneder and power
women were traditional seen as kinder and weaker than men but Shakespeare uses LM to show that this is not always true as she says that she would kill her own baby if she had sworn to do it which contrasts Lady Macduff who is a caring mother, LM does have a softer side as she says that she couldn’t kill Duncan as he reminded her of her father - she can only achieve her ambitions through Macbeth
How it is seen that Lm goes mad with guilt
at first Macbeth struggles with the guilty conscience but by the end it is LM who is driven mad, she keeps washing her hands in her sleep to wash away the blood which is a motif for guilt, guilt and isolation affect LM so much that she kills herself
How does the Macbeth and LM relationship change
beginning = loving and passionate, as it develops = LM dominates Macbeth and manipulates him into killing the king, end = he reveals less about his plans to her and LM becomes increasingly anxious and alone even though she is domineering at the beginning she cannot cope without her husband
Lady Macbeth overall
ambitious, clever and quick, gender and power, mad with guilt, relationship with MacBeth
