Lady Macbeth

Lady Macbeth - Ruthless and Dominant

Lady Macbeth comes across as ruthless and the dominant one in her relationship with Macbeth from the moment she enters the stage.

'Hie thee hither, / That I may pour my spirits in thine ear'

This is part of Lady Macbeth's speech, in which she summarises her plan to manipulate Macbeth into going after the crown.
- When the audience first sees Lady Macbeth on stage, she is reading the letter from her husband. Even though Macbeth has not spoken about trying to take the crown in his letter, Lady Macbeth immediately wants to do this.
She wants her husband to be more powerful so that she, in turn, shares the power.

Illustrative background for <b>'Thou wouldst be great, / Art not without ambition, but without / The illness should attend it'</b> (1,5)

Illustrative background for <b>'Thou wouldst be great, / Art not without ambition, but without / The illness should attend it'</b> (1,5) ?? "content

'Thou wouldst be great, / Art not without ambition, but without / The illness should attend it' (1,5)

This quote suggests that Lady Macbeth sees kindness and goodness as bad traits – she does not really think these are good parts of Macbeth’s character.
She doubts that her husband can kill the king.
She says that he could be more powerful and that he is ambitious, but he does not have the evil inside him to help him do what is needed.

Illustrative background for <b>'O never / Shall sun that morrow see'</b> (1,5)

Illustrative background for <b>'O never / Shall sun that morrow see'</b> (1,5) ?? "content

'O never / Shall sun that morrow see' (1,5)

This is when Lady Macbeth decides the plan - King Duncan will not live to see the dawn of the next day under their roof.
When Macbeth arrives home, Lady Macbeth dominates (has power over) the conversation. Macbeth hardly speaks.

Illustrative background for <b>'look like th' innocent flower, / But be the serpent under 't'</b> (1,5)

Illustrative background for <b>'look like th' innocent flower, / But be the serpent under 't'</b> (1,5) ?? "content

'look like th' innocent flower, / But be the serpent under 't' (1,5)

This is a simile used by Lady Macbeth when she tells her husband to think about the facial expression that he is pulling. He should think about it to hide his true intentions.
Lady Macbeth thinks that Macbeth is not cunning or devious enough. She thinks that he struggles to trick people.
- This links back to the witch’s line: ‘Fair is foul and foul is fair’ – Lady Macbeth wants her husband to practice this, to be able to encourage people to trust him, and then to betray them without warning.

Illustrative background for <b>‘I do fear thy nature, / It is too full o’th’milk of human kindness / To catch the nearest way.’</b> (1,5)

Illustrative background for <b>‘I do fear thy nature, / It is too full o’th’milk of human kindness / To catch the nearest way.’</b> (1,5) ?? "content

‘I do fear thy nature, / It is too full o’th’milk of human kindness / To catch the nearest way.’ (1,5)

Lady Macbeth is worried that Macbeth is too good and soft-hearted to take action to get the crown.
- She acknowledges that Macbeth has ambition, but that he needs to be ruthless (show no pity) to get the things that he wants.

Lady Macbeth - Masculine

Lady Macbeth is presented as being very masculine in her soliloquy in Act 1.

'Unsex me here'

'Come, you spirits / That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here' (1,5)
When she asks to be 'unsex[ed]', she is asking the spirits to remove the feminine aspects of her character.
Women were supposed to be gentle and kind. She wants to be cruel and not feel regret over any of her actions: 'fill me from the crown to the toe topfull / Of direst cruelty' (1,5).
She wants to be able to force her husband to murder the king.

'Come', 'fill', 'stop'...

'Come', 'fill', 'stop', 'take'
These are some of the imperative verbs used by Shakespeare to fill Lady Macbeth`s speech in Act 1, Scene 5 to show that she is taking control:
She wants to be harder so that she can commit these crimes. These characteristics were definitely seen as masculine, but not honourable.

'Milk for gall'

'Come to my woman's breasts / And take my milk for gall'.
This quote is possibly the clearest demand to have her femininity removed.
She no longer wants to be able to nurture children with her breastmilk. She wants her breastmilk to be filled with bitter poison instead – this is a clear indication that she does not want to nurture anyone; she wants to cause pain and death.

'Men-children'

'Bring forth men-children only' (1,7)
Macbeth says this to Lady Macbeth.
This suggests she has masculine qualities. She is so masculine that her husband thinks she should only give birth to male children (traditionally seen as the stronger sex).

1Literary & Cultural Context

1.1Context

1.1.1Tragedy

1.1.2The Supernatural & Gender

1.1.3Politics & Monarchy

1.1.4End of Topic Test - Context

2Plot Summary

2.1Act 1

2.1.1Scenes 1 & 2

2.1.2Scene 3

2.1.3Scenes 4-5

2.1.4Scenes 6-7

2.1.5End of Topic Test - Act 1

2.2Acts 2-4

2.2.1Act 2

2.2.2Act 3

2.2.3Act 4

2.3Act 5

2.3.1Scenes 1-3

2.3.2Scenes 4-9

2.3.3End of Topic Test - Acts 2-5

2.3.4Diagnostic Misconceptions - Ambiguous Ending

2.3.5Diagnostic Misconceptions - Jacobean

3Characters

4Themes

4.1Themes

4.1.1Power & Ambition

4.1.2Power & Ambition HyperLearning

4.1.3Violence

4.1.4The Supernatural

4.1.5Masculinity

4.1.6Armour, Kingship & The Natural Order

4.1.7Appearances & Deception

4.1.8Madness & Blood

4.1.9Women, Children & Sleep

4.1.10End of Topic Test - Themes

4.1.11End of Topic Test - Themes 2

4.2Grade 9 - Themes

4.2.1Grade 9 - Themes

4.2.2Extract Analysis

5Writer's Techniques

5.1Structure, Meter & Other Literary Techniques

5.1.1Structure, Meter & Dramatic Irony

5.1.2Pathetic Fallacy & Symbolism

5.1.3End of Topic Test - Writer's Techniques

6Recap: Main Quotes

6.1Characters Quotes

6.1.1Macbeth

6.1.2Macbeth 2

6.1.3Macbeth 3

6.1.4Macbeth 4

6.1.5Lady Macbeth

6.1.6Lady Macbeth 2

6.1.7Banquo

6.1.8Banquo 2

6.1.9The Witches

6.1.10King Duncan

6.1.11Macduff

6.2Text Structure - Quotes

6.2.1Violence

6.2.2The Supernatural

6.2.3Ambition

6.2.4Armour, Kingship & the Natural Order

6.2.5Appearances & Deception

6.2.6Lady Macbeth's Masculinity

6.2.7Madness & Blood

6.2.8Men, Children & Sleep

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