Macbeth Character Notes Flashcards
How can Lady Macbeth be viewed in Macbeth
Lady Macbeth can be viewed as an antagonist because of how she drives her husband, Macbeth, towards murder and bloodshed despite his protests. Alternatively, she can be viewed as a tragic heroine, meaning she starts out in a position of glory and success but falls from grace due to an error in judgement of her own making.
What can we say might be motivating Lady Macbeth throughout the play
There is a lot of debate about what motivates Lady Macbeth in ensuring her husband becomes King. One argument is that, traditionally, wives had to be supportive of their husbands’ careers and aspirations. By pushing Macbeth to be king, Lady Macbeth could be fulfilling her role as the devoted, helpful wife. It’s also a demonstration of her love for Macbeth, as she wants him to succeed. Alternatively, her motivation is her own ambitions and goals. Her position as a woman in society means her own career prospects are limited, so the only way to move up the social ladder is for Macbeth to. She wants to be queen and reap the benefits of Macbeth’s successes. Furthermore, becoming queen could be compensation for her lost children. If we do conclude that she had children but they died in infancy, then Lady Macbeth has lost her ‘purpose’ as a woman.
What does Shakespeare used Lady Macbeth for
Lady Macbeth’s main role in the play is to shake things up and cause havoc, meaning her aim is to fool and manipulate as many people as possible with her deceitful ways. She benefits hugely from the divide between appearances and reality. Furthermore, she relies on people’s prejudices and assumptions to get away with her actions. For example, the male characters see she is a woman so assume she would not get involved with violence, these miscalculations of her character allow her to get away with a lot.
How does Lady Macbeth exploit appearances
Some would argue she uses her feminine wiles to persuade Macbeth to kill for her: either way, the social conventions surrounding gender come to her advantage. Something she tells Macbeth over and over is to make sure he puts on a facade for other people. She believes that as long as they can maintain their deceitful masks, they will get away with murder and so much more. Of course, she underestimates the power of her own remorse.
Another way Lady Macbeth exploits appearances is by transferring her desires and plans into Macbeth. She is the villain kept behind the scenes. Though Macbeth is the one acting and killing, he is fulfilling Lady Macbeth’s wishes. It is as if she has possessed him, or transformed herself into him through persuasion. It looks like Macbeth is the murderer, but in reality she is.
Lady Macbeth’s manipulation of appearances is the connection between her and the Witches. In fact, like the Witches, her gender identity is ambiguous. On the outside, she looks feminine, but if her spells were successful, then she is wombless and full of gall on the inside.
How is Lady Macbeth a Femme Fatales
Otherwise known as the maneater or vamp, this is a common archetype for female characters in literature and art. The term refers to a woman who is mysterious and seductive, using her charm to ensnare men and lead them into dangerous or deadly situations. Typically, femme fatales are villains and create a sense of unease for other characters and the audience.
Common traits include heightened sexuality and a rejection of motherhood. This was seen as particularly threatening because by rejecting motherhood, a femme fatale is denying a man his immortality and ability to leave a legacy, ultimately leading to the destruction of all men.
Overall, the key aspect of a femme fatale is her use of feminine wiles (e.g. 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. Some productions of ‘Macbeth’ even show Lady Macbeth using sexuality and seduction to explicitly manipulate her husband. All of this is for her own ulterior motives, and clearly she drives Macbeth to his own death. More so than warning of the dangers of unrestrained female sexuality, though, Shakespeare seems to be demonstrating the dangers of unrestrained female ambition and power.
Similarities between the storyline of Lady Macbeth and The Fall
There are many parallels between Lady Macbeth’s story, the archetype of ‘The Fall’, and the Biblical tale of the Garden of Eden. You could even say there are parallels between how Eve was historically viewed as the cause of mankind’s Fall, and the way Lady Macbeth’s character has been interpreted as being the root of Macbeth’s evil.
How do we see Lady Macbeth cope in the Marriage and Motherhood expectation of the Jacobean society
In ‘Macbeth’, Shakespeare allows us to see how Lady Macbeth copes with these aspects of life for women in the Middle Ages. Within her marriage, she is a dominant figure with her own clear identity and purpose. Outside of her marriage, she is viewed only as Macbeth’s wife and a good host. Her relationship with motherhood is much more complicated. It seems like, at some point, she had children, but they must have died, as there are no signs of children when the play unfolds. She tries to banish all her reproductive organs from her body, rejecting the role of mother altogether.
How does Shakespeare suggest giving women too much power may be dangerous
Shakespeare suggests through her character that giving women power is dangerous and unnatural. It also appears that the only way for a woman to be so brutal and strong is to be evil and supernatural, which is why she prays to evil spirits. Her character allows Shakespeare to examine gender roles, marital relations,and the division of power in his society.
Hiw does LadyMacbeth affect Macbeths perception of Masculinity and Femininity
If we still view her as a female character (after unsexing herself), her acts of manipulation and seduction portray women as deceitful, wicked beings.
She also plays a pivotal role in Macbeth’s perception of his own gender. Her highly critical attacks on his manhood, and her perception of masculinity as violent, drives Macbeth to murder and tyranny. This adds to Shakespeare’s exploration of manliness.
Lady Macbeth is a very unconventional female character by traditional and Jacobean standards. She is given multiple soliloquies - something that usually only male characters were allowed. When Shakespeare first introduces her to us, she has the dominant role in her marriage, which would have been unheard of. Rather than appearing weak or idiotic, she is smart, cunning, and bloodthirsty, and embraces the occult and villainy in order to achieve her goal. She is so powerful that a Jacobean audience would view her as unnatural, possibly even supernatural.
What does Lady Macbeth saying ““The Thane of Fife had a wife. Where is she now? What, will these hands ne’er be clean? No more o’that, my lord, no more o’that. You mar all with this starting,” show
Here, she is going from panicking about their growing body-count to scolding Macbeth for being jumpy in an instant. The random, disjointed structure of her speech reflects how she’s torn between her ambition and her guilt. Part of her is holding onto the woman she was before, someone who was fearless and unsympathetic of Macbeth’s fear, while the rest of her is descending into remorse and grief. Therefore, there is a level of hypocrisy in her character. A case of situational irony is the way she worries about being unable to wash the blood from her hands: earlier, she thought a “little water” would clear her of guilt, but now she learns this isn’t true.
