Lady Macbeth Flashcards
‘too full of the milk of human kindness’
interpretation: Lady Macbeth doesn’t think that Macbeth has the ruthless nature required to become king
Analysis:’too full’ he isn’t only good natured, it will lead him to not be able to take the crown.
‘milk’ is a comforting soothing nature, not the qualities Lady Macbeth thinks are required to become King ‘human kindness’ shows he needs to be inhumane, and that at this time women were meant to be the comforting and soothing characters not men.
‘come you spirits’ ‘unsex me here’
Interpretation: Lady macbeth must reject her female nature to help Macbeth- she must be evil to gain power as delicate women can’t be any power.
Analysis: She invites the spirits, she embraces the supernatural unlike Macbeth,
‘unsex me here’ rejection to an ideal female
‘Look like the innocent flower but be the serpent under it’
Interpretation: Lady Macbeth shows that manipulation and deceit are the most effective methods of gaining power.
Analysis: The imagery of the “innocent flower” highlights the goodness, but also the vulnerability, of honest human behaviour. The juxtaposition with “the serpent under’t” is a clear biblical reference to the serpent in the Garden of Eden, who helped to bring original sin into the world. The audience would certainly link this with the Devil. This suggests Lady Macbeth would rather act like the devil than as a moral human being - like the witches, she sees that “fair is foul, and foul is fair.”» The word “under’t” implies evil is underneath all of our behaviour.
“smiling in my face,/Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums,/And dashed the brains out.”
Interpretation: Producing and caring for children was a main role for women - Lady Macbeth states she would cruelly reject, even destroy, her child in the pursuit for power.
Analysis: Lady Macbeth’s ability to feel no guilt is highlighted by the fact she believes she could kill her child even if it were “smiling in my face”, also showing her willingness to destroy something innocent. Her ruthless nature is accentuated by the speed with which she is willing to act - the words “plucked” and “dashed” both suggest swift, clinical movements. The use of the phrase “dashed the brains out” foreshadows the horrors acted children later in the play. She is again rejecting her traditional womanly upon role as a mother.
