Lady Macbeth Flashcards
Femme Fatales
Otherwise knows as the maneater or vamp, this is a common archetype for female characters in literature and art. Refers to a woman who is mysterious and seductive, using her charm to ensare men and lead them into dangerous or deadly situations.
Key aspect is use of feminine wiles (beauty or sexual allure) to exploit men and accomplish her own goals. Shakespeare uses these aspects of the femme fatale archetype in the character of Lady Macbeth. She threatens to emasculate Macbeth, and uses her power over him as his wife to get her own way. Demonstrating dangers of unrestrained female ambition and power.
Act 1 scene 5: Tongue
“and chastise with the valour of my tongue”
Literally, this means that Lady Macbeth is simply confessing to her persuasive abilities. Figuratively, abstract noun, “valour” has connotations of defiance, bravery and fearlessness, which creates the impression that Lady Macbeth intends on defying societal norms in terms of taking control of her husband.
This coupled with the verb “chastise’ symbolises the power imbalance between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, which links to Macbeth being reprimanded and corrected by his wife.
Symbolically, Lady Macbeth has taken on the role of a Machiavellian villainess; she is excessively ambitious and disrupts the great chain of being, causing the audience to feel disgusted as this highlights that Lady Macbeth’s moral values are questionable and even heinous.
Wanting to become a man
“Come you spirits (..) unsex me here”
Literally, this means that Lady Macbeth is asking for the witches to make her less like a woman as she is a victim of a patriarchal society. Therefore by extension, it does not allow her to then take control and have her desired as she wishes to. The imperative verb”come” has connotations of invitation, which links to the words “spirits” to create the impression of that lady Macbeth is inviting the supernatural unto herself so that she can fight for Macbeth’s kingship.
Alternatively, the imperative verb “Unsex” can also be taken symbolically to imply that Lady Macbeth wishes to castrate herself as it is a harsh reminder of her inability to complete her societal duty as a female: to provide children to Macbeth. This symbolises a need for validation elsewhere - i,e royalty - as she has already “given suck” - being a queen is used to fill the void of the lost child, causing an audience to feel shocked at Lady Macbeth’s primitive and materialistic desires.
Shakespeare mocks this materialistic attitude through his portrayal of Lady Macbeths anguish, as she becomes aware of her inability to escape guilt and subsequently becomes overcome by it, which further praises the idea within society that women are unable to handle anything other than their primitive roles in society.
Milk
“And take my milk for gall, you murdering ministers”
Literally, this means that lady Macbeth demands the spirits to remove her gender and with that her femininity so that she can persuade Macbeth to kill Duncan.
Figuratively, the disturbing imagery “take my milk for gall” has connotations of a refusal of any maternal instinct or any feminine trait that would make her vulnerable.
Shakespeare portrays two contrasting characters between Lady Macbeth and Macbeth through the juxtaposition of Macbeth being “full o’th milk of human kindness” and Lady Macbeth being full of “gall” - which has connotations of bitterness, suggesting she is greedy for power. This symbolises the shift in power from Macbeth to Lady Macbeth, which further exposed Lady Macbeth’s forceful and power-driven nature which blurs gender boundaries.
Given that the Witches have “beards” they are also doing the same - implying that Lady Macbeth is therefore amalgamating with the supernatural.
During the Jacobean era, religion would have played a large part in the lives of an audience; as such, they may have related Lady Macbeth’s character to Eve (who at the time was said to be deserving of blame for the downfall of mankind). In a similar fashion, lady Macbeth - unknowingly- is inducing the downfall of Macbeth.
Going crazy
“Out damned spot! Out I say!”
This is a pivotal moment in the play where the relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth begins to break down, as well as her mental stability. The imperative, “out”, reiterates a desperation where she is pleading for her remorse to disappear. The loss of iambic pentameter highlights Lady Macbeth’s inability to think due to her overwhelming sense of guilt, a notion supported by her statement of: “hell is murky.” The usage of the word, “spot”, has metaphoric interpretation for washing of the hands of blood, which symbolises the fact that Lady Macbeth now has blood dyed into her conscience. This creates an impression of duality within Lady Macbeth’s character; she now embodies the theme of appearance vs reality. This juxtaposing her dominant persona earlier in the play, causing an audience to feel relief that the reign of Lady Macbeth over her husband has come to an end and power balance is restored.
Symbolically, it is possible that Shakespeare uses Lady Macbeth as a construct to warn that audience of the consequences of a woman creating power imbalance between herself and her husband using religious imagery such as “damned” to strike fear into the auto.
Lady Macbeth: Machiavellianism
Machiavellianism is a personality trait that denotes cunningness, the ability to be manipulative, and a drive to use whatever means necessary to gain power. Machiavellianism is one of the traits that forms the Dark Triad, along with narcissism and psychopathy.
LM is a Machiavellian villainess
Lady Macbeth: garden of Eden
Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under”t
The enjambment and the turning point in the message through the lexical choice of “but” highlights the deliberate slyness and the contrast between outward appearance and inner reality
The imagery reminds the religious Jacobean audience of Eve in the Garden of Eden as lady Macbeth language links her to a women that manipulated Adam ( a man like Macbeth) to disobey God. Shakespeare shows her Machiavellian characteristics, through this manipulative nature to achieve her goals.
