English Period 2
Macbeth Final Essay Lady Macbeth isn't the only person or factor in Macbeth’s downfall but she is a person that should take the most responsibility, she does play a large role in the downfall of Macbeth. She is Macbeth’s wife and essential to him and pushes him to do what he would not have been able to do on his own. Macbeth himself is highly ambitious and determined, but Lady Macbeth is even more. At first he refuses to kill Duncan but she persuades him and eventually gets him to do it. Lady Macbeth pushes Macbeth forward by manipulating him this is important to Macbeths downfall because it makes him power hungry.Lady Macbeth by being a woman, is held back because of her sex and she’s not able to go out and kill Duncan but since she had a husband that was so strong and determined she could persuade him to do it. At this point she even wishes that she would be “unsexed” so she could commit the murder herself. Because of this, she pours her ambition and desire for power into Macbeth. Again she accomplishes this by using Macbeth and manipulating him, at one point when Macbeth is disagreeing with her idea of killing Duncan, she questions his manhood: “Art thou afeard,To be the same in thine own act and valor, As thou art in desire? Wouldst thou have that,
Which thou esteem'st the ornament of life, And live a coward in thine own esteem, Like the poor cat i' the adage?, Letting "I dare not, wait upon” Lady Macbeth knows that Macbeth is courageous and will never back down from a challenge and this is exactly what happens and this is why her words and mindset worked so well to get her husband
Macbeth to kill Duncan. The relationship between Macbeth and his wife is strong, There is much trust between the two but there are cracks in their relationship as the play goes on. The two butt heads and have opposite views many times. Even so, it is clear that Lady Macbeth is more of the “man” in the relationship.
She is one of the major driving forces of Macbeth and the making of the power hungry king Macbeth. She shows this when they are plotting the murder of Duncan. Macbeth asks her, “If we should fail?” and she
Kyle Kennedy
English Period 2 replies, “We fail!, But screw your courage to the stickingplace, And we? ll not fail?”. Whenever he is backing down she pushes him forward again. This is where a major flaw of Macbeth comes in, Macbeth cannot escape the trap of not backing down to his wife. He is always following her commands, another example is right after the murder of Duncan, Macbeth wants to stop what he is doing. But he still goes on with his new ways throughout most of the play. Even though Lady Macbeth is in control, Lady Macbeth still does care about her husband. Right after the murders she keeps him calm. She also tries to help him deal