1. Subtle Power:
Lady Macbeth

2. Initial Characterisation
When she is first introduced in the play she is already plotting the regicide of King Duncan.
Lady Macbeth is stronger, more ruthless, and more ambitious than her husband. She seems fully aware of this and knows that she will have to convince Macbeth into committing regicide.
At one point, she wishes that she were “unsexed of all her womanly qualities” (Act I, scene 5), and that she were not a woman so that she could commit the murder herself. Shakespeare, however, seems to use her, and the witches, to emasculate Macbeth’s idea that “undaunted mettle should compose / Nothing but males” (Act 1 Sc7).

3. Initial Characterisation
These women use female methods of achieving power, which is, manipulation to further their supposedly “male ambitions.”
Women in the play can be as ambitious and cruel as men, yet social constrictions deny them the means to pursue these ambitions by themselves.

4. Act 1 Scene 7
“I would, while it was smiling in my face, have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums And dashed the brains out, had I so sworn as you have done to this.” (Act 1 Scene 7)
Consider the effect this imagery has on the audience?
What does this reveal about Lady Macbeth’s character?
Why is this image so shocking?
What effect does this speech have on Macbeth?

5. The Murders
Lady Macbeth is initially quite unaffected at the thought of murdering King Duncan, as her ambition and belief in the prophesies eases her fear. This is shown in the quote we analysed previously from Act 1 Scene 5.
However, at the beginning of Act 2 Scene 2 we are given a subtle hint at possible feelings of guilt as she says “had he not resembled my father as he slept, I had done ’t.”
Lady Macbeth continues to cover up Macbeth’s odd behaviour after the murders of Banquo and Duncan at the feast when she offers an excuse for the behaviour: “My lord is often thus and hath been from his youth” (Act 3 Scene 4)
Are you a man?

6. The Murders
Lady Macbeth continues in her manipulation of Macbeth using his masculinity, repeatedly questioning if he is “a man” (Act 3 Scene 4) and blaming his behaviour on unmanly qualities.
Ultimately, Lady Macbeth is unable to live with the murders she has committed, as her character is evidently affected come Act 5 Scene 1 in her “slumbery agitation”.
Lady Macbeth is seen sleep walking and talking, which the Elizabethans believed symbolised insanity or unresolved business that interferes with natural sleep patterns.

7. The Murders
As she sleeps, Lady Macbeth yells “Out, damned spot! Out, I say!” as she viciously scrubs her clean hands, indicating feelings of extreme guilt, which is supported by her claim that “All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand.” Act 5 Scene 1.
This shows how her senses are consumed by the guilt and are now tricking her mind.
Such guilt ultimately leads to Lady Macbeth’s downfall, as she chooses to end her life rather than to continue to live with what she has done in Act 5 Scene 5.
In this, we can see the consequences of extreme ambition, as well as what the Elizabethans believed would happen if you did not adhere to the social expectations of your gender.