Lady

Question 1

Foreboding

Answer 1

Lady Macbeth and the witches embody a foreboding darkness and malevolence that permeates the play.

Question 2

Deception and Manipulation

Answer 2

Lady Macbeth and the witches display a sense of ruthlessness and willingness to use deception and manipulation.

Question 3

Gender roles

Answer 3

Both Lady Macbeth and the witches operate beyond the constraints of traditional gender roles.

Question 4

Psychological descent

Answer 4

Both Lady Macbeth and the witches are catalysts for the moral and psychological descent of Macbeth, pushing him further into darkness and corruption.

Question 5

Exploitation

Answer 5

Lady Macbeth aligns herself with the witches, exploiting weakness and vulnerability.

Question 6

Character

Answer 6

Duplicitous, manipulative, ruthless, compelling, ambitious, enigmatic, inscrutable, machiavellian, irredeemable, unyielding, pernicious, formidable, tenacious, relentless, strategic, calculated, emasculated, redemption, blasphemous, culpable, facade, shrewd, indomitable.

Question 7

Lady Macbeth- ambitious character

Answer 7

Act 1, scene 5
Shakespeare portrays L Macbeth as an ambitious character and this can be most clearly scene in Act 1, scene 5. Lady Macbeth has just received a letter from Macbeth telling her about the “witches’ prophecy.’ Instantly, she becomes fixated on making him king and doing whatever it takes to get there.

Act 1, Scene 5
“Come, you spirits…unsex me here.”
Shakespeare uses a metaphor here “unsex me” where Lady Macbeth is asking to be stripped of her feminine qualities, the ones that she believes make her weak.

There is also an imperative verb, “unsex me” where Lady Macbeth shows her commanding, determined nature - she’s not asking, she is demanding. It’s a powerful Shakespeare shows her ambition.

Act 1, Scene 5
‘Come, thick night..nor heaven peep through the blanket of dark.”

Here Shakespeare uses imagery: words like ‘thick night” to paint a vivid picture of the darkness she is calling on to hide her actions. It shows how far she is willing to go. Even invoking hellish darkness to conceal her murderous ambition.

Shakespeare also uses personification where ‘heaven” is described as something that could ‘peep” through the darkness and stop her.This gives the moral force of heavenly human qualities, suggesting Lady Macbeth is fully aware of the moral consequences but is determined to shut it out. Nothing will stand in her way