Macbeth As a Tragic Story Of a Vaulting Ambition That Is Uncontrolled By Morality

Macbeth is a tragic story of a noble man and solider who commits an atrocious murder in order to become king. It is the story of a vaulting ambition of Macbeth that is uncontrolled by morality. There is ambiguity of the external factors that led Macbeth to murder. When reading it we are asked to consider the age-old question of fate or free will. We must also question his susceptibility to the influence of others. This essay will pay particular attention to the influence of his wife.

In looking at the influence of Macbeth’s wife we will consider her appearances chronologically. We will consider the shock we felt on our first encounter with her. We are encouraged not to judge someone on our first encounter with them but with Lady Macbeth the first encounter seems to be an accurate portrayal of her. We observe the superior role she adopts, in her encounters with Macbeth. We understand her talent in being duplicitous.

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Finally, we consider her behaviour following the murder of Duncan. This situation will dwell on her initial calmness which leads to disappointment anxiety and madness.

In our first encounter with Lady Macbeth she is reading aloud the letter from her husband, Macbeth. After reading the letter, she starts her first soliloquy which is our first opportunity to evaluate her character: “too full of the milk of human kindness.” We are disorientated by her opinion of her husband. The mood of contempt surprises us especially as it is such a contrast to the mood earlier displayed by Macbeth.

Macbeth has referred to Lady Macbeth as a partner in greatness. The articulation of her contempt is also alarming. ‘Kindness’ clearly collates to virtue and we wonder how anyone can have an excess of virtue. Our confusion is emphasized by the particular diction. ‘Milk’ is a word which has connotations of nurturing or health, again for it to be used in a negative sense seems to be confusing. We quickly realise that her unnerving character is not going to be dampened by being of the fairer sex. The quote “take my milk for gall you murdering ministers.” With the imperative we know that she is making an appeal. As there is nobody present in the room, we assume that she is appealing to some sort of a supernatural being. The word murdering has connotations of violence and the word ministers has connotations of importance. We infer that she is addressing some sort of evil deity. As well as having associations of nurturing and health milk also references femininity. Because she wants her milk taken, we realise that she sees femininity as an obstacle to being evil. She wants the milk replaced with gall which has inferences of poison and venom.

When Macbeth arrives home, we see the power dynamic displayed in the relationship. Lady Macbeth seems to have the superiority to the degree that it is observed to be a teacher addressing a student. “look like the innocent flower but be the serpent under’t.” The imperative informs us that Lady Macbeth is literally commanding her husband. The imperative also implies confidence in herself. We imagine that Lady Macbeth is too self-assured to be contradicted. Furthermore, the comparison in the simile and the metaphor are powerful because of their opposite extremities. A flower has connotations of purity and beauty whilst a serpent has connotations of venom and danger. We are concerned about the extremity that Lady Macbeth is going to request of Macbeth. We note that the metaphor is the evil extreme which is foreboding because the metaphor is the direct comparison. The totality of her power over Macbeth is made clear at the end of the scene. This command is the last of her exhaustive list of imperatives. Which are not contended argued with by Macbeth. The pronoun ‘it’ is significant by it seeming to be insignificant. ‘It’ here stands for the entire plot of the murder. Finally, on a very trivial point; Lady Macbeth has made it easier on Macbeth by making the practicalities convenient.

The talent of Lady Macbeth’s duplicity is most keenly observed when she welcomes Duncan to her home. We realize that her words can be matched by her actions. “In every point twice done and then done double.” ‘every’, ‘twice’ and ‘double’ are three words that could be considered as hyperbole; and the repetition of ‘done’ adds to the exaggerated tone. However, the hyperbole might sound obsequious, but Lady Macbeth’s delivery makes it seem that sincerity is intended. We are reminded that evil alone is insufficient for murder, evil must be aligned with talent for the completion of a murder.

The experience we have of Lady Macbeth which is most distasteful occurs after Macbeth has just considered the murder. In an excellent piece of structure Shakespeare has Lady Macbeth enter the room just after Macbeth has concluded not to proceed with the murder. Along with a passionate aggression Lady Macbeth uses two particular techniques. Firstly, Lady Macbeth stresses her husband’s inconsistency: “Was the hope drunk wherein you dress'd yourself?” The adjective ‘drunk’ has connotations of haziness. So, Lady Macbeth is implying that Macbeth cannot be consistent because his mind is too confused. Lady Macbeth further teases her husband by personifying hope. Also, the metaphor ‘dress’d’ implies a cover that Macbeth is hiding behind. Secondly, Lady Macbeth crudely emasculates Macbeth of his manliness. “As thou art in desire?” Lady Macbeth has drawn an analogy between the killing of Duncan and the sexual performance. This a criticism that any man would be sensitive to particularly a strong proud man such as Macbeth. This is also a reminder of the skill of Lady Macbeth’s manipulation. In making an analogy of the killing of Duncan and the sexual performance, if Macbeth refuses to carry out the murder then he is implicitly accepting his failure as a lover.

After the murder of Duncan, Lady Macbeth maintains a calmness, but she is quick to anger at Macbeth’s hesitation, so we see the first cracks in her character. In attempting to soothe Macbeth when he returns from Duncan’s room, she attempts to trivialise the murder: “A little water clears us of this deed.” The adjective ‘little’ seems incredibly inappropriate for such a major event. We notice that it is water that can wipe their conscience clean of guilt, and water is such a common place everyday thing. Furthermore, she doesn’t seem to stress herself unnecessarily, because she euphemistically refers to the murder as a deed. Also, it is heavy with foreshadowing, which makes it clear that a breakdown will follow. Not long after she attempts to soothe, we see the suggestion of her mind deteriorating. “When?’ Now? As I descended? Ay” The fractured conversation is symbolic of her mental state becoming fractured. The monosyllabic words are particularly impactful because they contrast so strongly with the sophistication of her language in earlier scenes.

It doesn’t take long after the murder for us to be exposed about Lady Macbeth’s thoughts concerning the killing. In her first soliloquy after the murder she considers “naught’s had all spent.” This is an emphatic conclusion of her regretting the murder. The regret is exaggerated by the extremes suggested by the noun ‘naught’s’ and the pronoun ‘all.’ Her disappointment is stressed by the parallelism of the quote. Her disappointment creates a foreboding in the play. We begin to realise that Macbeth is going to be unable to reassure her regarding her disappointment. He is keeping himself isolated. In one of their few encounters following the murder, Lady Macbeth asks Macbeth “why do you keep alone of sorriest fancies your companion’s making.” Firstly, we are struck that Lady Macbeth is asking a question of her husband rather than giving an order. We understand that there has been a shift in the power dynamic. By personifying the noun ‘fancies’ his loneliness is emphasized. With her regrets and his isolation, we cannot predict further harmony in their relationship.

Towards the end of the play we realize that her guilt and anguish have totally destroyed her mental health. She is rarely encountered in the second half of the play, but we do observe her stuttering around the castle. The quote “all of the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand Oh Oh, Oh!” The exclamations at the end of this quote inform us how truly disturbed this Lady has become. The onomatopoeia of the ending of the quote makes is more visceral for the audience we are feeling her pain rather than just hearing it. Perfume has connotations of scent. We realise she is being haunted by the sense of smell. We already know that she is already suffering from the sense of sound and sight, so we really realise the extent of her suffering. The extent of her suffering is further stressed by the hyperbole surrounding the amount of perfume. This description of Lady Macbeth leaves us in no doubt that she will ever regain mental health. It comes as no surprise to us that she dies alone and off stage. This deliberate structure reminds us how insignificant she has become. On Macbeth hearing the news of his wife’s death he shows indifference.

In conclusion, Lady Macbeth cannot be named the sole factor that caused Macbeth to kill King Duncan and commit an act of treason, which leads to his eventual downfall. We can infer that the witches’ prophecies also played a part in convincing Macbeth to take Duncan’s life. Their prophecies created a domino effect. If they wouldn’t have told Macbeth he would’ve been king, he wouldn’t have told his wife so she wouldn’t have partially convinced him into killing the King.