Relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth

Question 1

Relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth

Answer 1

TS1 – At the beginning of the play, Macbeth and his wife appear to have a loving relationship.

TS2 – Lady Macbeth realises she must become the dominant partner to manipulate Macbeth into achieving his ambition to become king.

TS3 – Following the murder, tension builds in their relationship due to Macbeth’s guilty conscience and they begin to grow apart.

TS4 – At the end of the play, they both die, paying the ultimate price for their evil acts.

Question 2

[ Lady Macbeth, from Macbeth]
‘dearest partner of greatness’

Answer 2

C - Macbeth sees her as his equal partner which is unusual in Jacobean era as it was a patriarchal society where women had less power than men.

L - Superlative adjective
Indicates how much he loves her

Question 3

[ Lady Macbeth ]
‘like the poor cat i’th’ adage’

Answer 3

L - Simile
Lady Macbeth compares Macbeth to the cat in the proverb – he wants the crown, but does not want to get his hands bloody. She takes control, planning the murder herself, and her dominance is shown in how she dominates the dialogue, but Macbeth has to do it at the end as Duncan looks like her father.

Question 4

[ Lady Macbeth ]
‘my hands are of your colour but I shame to wear a heart white as such’

Answer 4

C - Divine right of king
Macbeth knows he has damned himself by killing God’s representative on Earth. His guilt causes tension.

C - Lady Macbeth mocks Macbeth’s masculinity, implying he is a coward, which would be the ultimate insult to a famous warrior.

L - White symbolises cowardice and she thinks he is a coward to be so afraid after Duncan’s murder. Ironic – she washes the blood off he hands whilst sleepwalking before she kills herself.

Question 5

[ Lady Macbeth ]
‘quite unmanned in folly’

Answer 5

L - Verb of choice
Lady Macbeth mocks Macbeth for being so unmasculine in his fear after he appears to see Banquo’s ghost at the banquet. She fears he will be foolish enough to betray the murder to the other Thanes, which causes tension between them.

Question 6

[ Macbeth ]
‘be the innocent of the knowledge dearest chuck, till thou applaud the deed’

Answer 6

I - Macbeth desire to conceal things from Lady Macbeth can be interpreted in different ways.

1. He loves her and wants to protect her from Banquo’s murder until he knows it is successful. This is suggested by the endearment ‘dearest chuck’
2. It is a symptom of the fact that they are becoming emotionally distant from each other.

Question 7

[ Macbeth ]
‘she should have died hereafter’

Answer 7

I - Macbeth’s response can be interpreted in different ways.

1. As he is facing attack from the English, he has no proper time to grieve for her.
2. She should not have died too soon as she died too young.