Friday, December 26, 2014

Examine the character of Lady Macbeth throughout the play. How does her character change throughout the course of the play? we have to use quotes...

Lady Macbeth is strong-willed in the beginning of the play. She decides as soon as she reads her husband's letter in Act 1, sc. 5, that Duncan must be killed. She hounds her husband until he agrees, in Act 1. sc. 7, to kill Duncan. She attacks his manhood, telling him that he won't be a man in her eyes if he doesn't do this deed. In reality, she does have a conscience, even though she tries to hide it. She even chastises her husband for showing sadness and regret after Macbeth kills Duncan in Act 2.

By Act 5, sc. 1, the guilt of all the deeds gets to her and she goes insane. While she sleepwalks in that scene, she laments over the murders that have been committed - that of Duncan, Banquo, and the Macduff household. Whether Macbeth ever told his wife or not about the murders of Banquo and the Macduffs is unclear, but she knows that her husband committed them. She is able to keep her head about her until after the murder of the Macduffs.

In Act 3, sc. 4, she is the one who tries to keep order when Macbeth sees the ghost of Banquo at the banquet and reacts, startling his guests who do not see the ghost. She goes from a strong woman to a mad woman.

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