Lady Macbeth Flashcards
What type of character is Lady Macbeth?
Lady Macbeth is a tragic heroine and a femme fatale.
‘Too full o’ the milk of human kindness.’ - ACT 1 SCENE 5 (Ambition, Femininity)
Maternal imagery. Noun ‘milk’ has connotations of femininity and maternal nurturing, used for a baby’s vitality. This could elucidate thatch thinks Macbeth is too infantile and weak since a baby relies on milk to grow and the fact that he is ‘full’ of it shows how innocent and pure he is before Lady Macbeth waters the seed of ambition in his mind that the Witches’ planted. She recognises that kindness will get you no where and instead he needs to have no compassion and no emotions like humans to fulfil his and her’s ambition.
Come you spirits, that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here.
Imperative ‘Come’ shows her commanding the supernatural and highlights her power since she can summon the supernatural whenever she pleases which could elucidate to her being a 4th witch. The fact that she wants to be ‘unsexed’ shows how she wants to be rid of any feminine traits that she has and perhaps it could suggest that she wants to appear androgynous in her ways so that she can use femininity when she needs it but can also use masculinity to dominate and manipulate Macbeth to fulfil her ambition. She may want to appear more witch-like aswell to grant her those powerful and enriching supernatural forces.
‘Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under’t’ - Ambition, Appearance vs. Reality
Imperative ‘Look’ shows LM to be demanding of Macbeth and signifies her power and control over him. Noun ‘Flower’ has connotations of beauty and purity, something delicate and feminine. This is what LM wants to rid herself of but what she wants Macbeth to pretend he has (recognising that femininity can be utilised in some aspects but using it for malevolent reasons). This juxtaposes with the danger and venom of the noun ‘serpent’ which is a biblical allusion to the story of Adam and Eve where the devil disguised himself as a snake to deceive them. This implies that she wants Macbeth to be more devilish and deceive the nobles of Scotland into thinking he is pure and valiant, when in fact he is going to sacrilegiously murder King Duncan for his own gain.
“Coward” and “Dash’d the brains out”
Lady Macbeth uses the epithet ‘coward’ to emasculate Macbeth. It threatens his entire sense of being a soldier, not only is she questioning his masculinity but also attacking his livelihood.
She makes an example of herself to quantify her weakness where she would have ‘dash’d the brains out’ of her newborn child. The merciless act of rejecting maternal inclinations characterises Lady Macbeth as violet, determined and alike to a femme fatale. She competes with Macbeth, who as a man of that era could not be seen weaker as his wife. The fact that it is ‘dash’d’ means it is a quick movement that is done without thinking, showing her cruel and selfish nature.
‘A little water clears us of this deed.’
The litotes and euphemism is used to downplay the murder and Macbeth’s guilt, it is laced with irony as later on in the play Lady Macbeth descends into a melodramatic state of insanity. The euphemism of ‘deed’ shows how Lady Macbeth cannot face up to what she’s done and has to use less heinous words to keep her composure. It could also show how Lady Macbeth hasn’t fully realised the true horror of what she has done and only realises it when she starts drowning in guilt. The noun ‘water’ shows how Lady Macbeth only has to rinse her hands for the metaphorical blood to wash off, signifying that guilt of the murder can be cleaned from their conscience with ease. The personal pronoun ‘us’ is interesting since she sees herself equal to her husband and in a typical Jacobean society, this would not be the case.
‘My hands are of your colour, but I shame to wear a heart so white.’
Motif of blood on hands shows how she is just as responsible for the death as Macbeth is but she doesn’t feel guilt about it and actually ridicules Macbeth for it. Instead of being a loving, caring wife she is mocking Macbeth and manipulating him to feel differently. Noun ‘white’ connotes purity which Lady Macbeth sees as weak and fable. The verb ‘wear’ shows how Lady Macbeth thinks that this guilt and cowardice in Macbeth doesn’t have to be permanent and can be removed if he listens to her.
Does Lady Macbeth’s power start to be lost in Act 3?
Yes, her power over Macbeth is starting to diminish and because of her manipulation and emasculation, Macbeth can now stand on his own and their relationship is now emerging as one of a typical Jacobean society. She is flooded with feminine epithets like ‘Be innocent of the knowledge dearest chuck.” this term of endearment shows their power shift and how he does not need her anymore.
‘Are you a man?’ - Banquet scene
She asks Macbeth if he is a man after his outburst infront of the nobles showing that she still wants to maintain the power she has over him. He replies with saying that he is a actually a ‘bold’ man which shows how his mind is becoming stronger and more independent.
Why does Lady Macbeth not appear at all in Act 4?
She doesn’t appear in Act 4 and this shows how the power dynamic has shifted between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Her manipulation has backfired on her and now she is paying the consequences, especially since the root of this was her ambition, signifying that her ambition is the reason of her downfall as-well as Macbeth.
In act 5 she speaks in…
disjointed prose, alike from speaking in blank verse early on in the play, which signifies high status! Disjointed prose is normally associated with characters of a low status, signifying her fall from grace due to her guilt that was caused by her ambition.
[Enters with a taper]
A taper is a candle and the fact she is entering with a candle is emblematic of how Lady Macbeth is seeking solace and light in her eternal mental darkness. Jesus was seen as the light of the world and this could illuminate to how she is seeking redemption from God for her sins and how she disrupted the divine right of kings and great chain of being, knowing she will be eternally punished in hell. This is antithesis to her want for darkness in Act 1 with ‘Come thick night’.
‘Out damned spot. Out I say!’
The exclamative phrase shows her now melodramatic state of insanity. Her hallucinogenic madness juxtaposes her litotes in Act 1. The ‘spot’ is emblematic of the scar that has been imprinted on her mind. However, this may have been interpreted differently by Shakespearean contemporaries. Madness was seen as a sign of being possessed by demons. Witches were believed to have a ‘spot’ on their body which was called the Witch’s mark which marked them as evil and is reinforced by ‘damned’ which has connotations of hell. It could suggest how she is regretful of what she has done and does not want to be a-like to the Witches anymore. Now that this scarred ‘spot’ is there it shows how she is permanently like this and there is no going back from her hamartia.
