Lady Macbeth Essay Plan Flashcards
Paragraph 2 - Act 1, Scene 5
‘my dearest partner in greatness’
• superlative of ‘dearest’ reinforces his confidence in her to act/plot, emphasises a manipulative nature in Macbeth
• noun ‘greatness’ - implies she can achieve as a woman - an unorthodox belief, reveals Macbeth is already twisted as he manipulates her by employing societies’ rigid gender roles, and here is already emasculating her in their marriage, to draw upon her heinous potential and achieve his own personal power
• Act 1 Scene 3, Banquo says Macbeth is ‘rapt withal’ - verb emphasises he is already consumed by desire - writes a letter as he knows she will prepare for him
Three thesis statements
• embodies the Jacobean perception of a woman’s mind being weak/susceptible to evil and temptation (Shakespeare warns of the appeal of pursuing ambition through unnatural and non-Christian means’
• heinous woman as a consequence of her limitless fidelity to Macbeth - calls for greater flexibility of gender roles
• Macbeth draws on her dominance in their marital relationship to fulfil his personal power, until she is a broken shell of her previous self - her desperation to reject her femininity was downfall, shows consequence of extreme gender roles/power distribution of these
Paragraph 3 - Act 1, Scene 5 ‘take my milk for gall’
• milk is symbolic of her ultimate purpose therefore this is a huge sacrifice to make for Macbeth
• eventually she sacrifices her relationship with God by rejecting natural order, ironically her femininity is her downfall
• Act 5, Scene 1 - demands a ‘light’ as she needs the salvation of God but is denied this as she sleepwalks - price of her vulnerability of mind - Shakespeare warns of the danger of pursuing ambition through unnatural means
• also suggests she is still producing milk from a dead child - acting for grief to fill a hole in her psyche - amplifies M’s blame, as he invited evil by exploiting her grief. Consequence of extreme gender roles
Paragraph 4 - Act 1, Scene 5 ‘look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under’t’
• feminine symbol because Macbeth is too feminine and he must draw on LM’s dominance in their marriage
• serpent is a symbol of betrayal, biblical allusion which presents women as untrustworthy (why critics have often called LM the fourth witch)
• ironic and a metaphor for M’s inherent evil - encourages her to be wicked
• Shakespeare could be warning that manipulation of females/gender roles (when extreme) can cause damage
Paragraph 5 - ‘Are you a man?’
Posed as a question, suggests there is a conflict in the power dynamic, portrays herself as more masculine than M, which creates an irreparable break in relationship as M has begun to exclude her from power
• ‘be innocent of the knowledge’
• she was entirely loyal to Macbeth - therefore, she can only become a vessel of what she was and, as a woman, bear the guilt/abandonment of God with a mind so fragile it kills her
Paragraph 6 - Act 5, Scene 1
‘When was it she last walked?’ - verb which refers to sleep-walking - historically seen as madness, reveals a history of sin or guilt
• ‘Thane of Fife had a wife’ - dies an empty vessel, haunted by the darkness of femininity - shows how gender roles can be twisted, impact of extreme archetypes
‘Out, damned spot’ - adjective ‘damned’ is a biblical allusion to Hell and evil - implies she is now irreversibly marked as a demon or witch, as a woman of the time would have been - her wickedness (which cannot be undone) is the ultimate consequence of her fidelity to Macbeth over God
‘Wash your hands’ - structurally significant because it reminds us of ‘great Neptune’s oceans’ - Shakespeare is exposing the reality of Paganism, and tragedy of life when Natural Order is abandoned
