1. Lady Macbeth Soliloquy Act 1.5 Grace, Abby, Gib, Marena, Rachel

2. Context Complete change in scenery, first time meeting Lady Macbeth at their castle Macbeth just became Thane of Cawdor and King Duncan has decided to pay a visit to Macbeth's castle. Macbeth has written a letter to his wife to inform her about the happenings. The witches have prophesized that Macbeth will be King.

3. “They met me in the day of success, and I have learned by the perfectest report they have more in them than mortal knowledge. When I burned in desire to question them further, they made themselves air, into which they vanished. Whiles I stood rapt in the wonder of it came missives from the king, who all-hailed me 'Thane of Cawdor,' by which title, before, these weird sisters saluted me, and referred me to the coming on of time with 'Hail, king that shalt be!' This have I thought good to deliver thee, my dearest partner of greatness, that thou might’st not lose the dues of rejoicing, by being ignorant of what greatness is promised thee. Lay it to thy heart, and farewell.” In this letter home Macbeth informs Lady Macbeth of his encounter with the witches and their prophecy. Macbeth loves and trusts his wife completely, “my dearest partner of greatness” “Lay it to thy heart, and farewell” emphasizing his trust of her, he wouldn’t tell this secret to anyone. Unusual for a man in this time period to keep his wife so informed, beginning to show us how much Macbeth is under Lady M’s control.

4. Glamis thou art, and Cawdor; and shalt be What thou art promised. Yet do I fear thy nature; It is too full o' th' milk of human kindness To catch the nearest way: thou wouldst be great, Art not without ambition, but without The illness should attend it She trusts that the witches prophecy will come true, but has doubts in Macbeth’s ability. “too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness” – doesn’t believe he has the ruthlessness in his soul to become King. She doesn’t doubt that he has the ambition, but she does doubt that he will follow through and get what he wants.

5. What thou wouldst highly, That wouldst thou holily; wouldst not play false, And yet wouldst wrongly win. Thou'ld’st have, great Glamis, That which cries, “Thus thou must do,” if thou have it, And that which rather thou dost fear to do, Than wishest should be undone. She points out the paradox in his thinking, he doesn’t want to cheat but he wants something that is not rightfully his. “and yet wouldst wrongly win” wants to acquire the crown by force Lady Macbeth is calling out Macbeth’s fear of actually committing the act. He wants someone to do it for him, yet he still wants all the benefits.

6. Hie thee hither, That I may pour my spirits in thine ear And chastise with the valor of my tongue All that impedes thee from the golden round, Which fate and metaphysical aid doth seem To have thee crowned withal. Lady Macbeth is trying to persuade Macbeth to think like her, with her evil thoughts. She will try to get rid of all his beliefs that are holding back by imposing her own. We see how persuasive and controlling Lady M is over Macbeth. She is the dominant force in their relationship. “fate and metaphysical aid” its already been decided by supernatural beings that Macbeth will be King so he should just give in to it.

7. The raven himself is hoarse That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan Under my battlements. Come, you spirits That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full Of direst cruelty “the raven himself…” the raven croaking represents death, Lady Macbeth sees this as an inevitable one with Duncan coming into her castle. This section heavily focuses on gender roles, Lady Macbeth wants to get rid of her female qualities and become more like a cruel man capable of murder. She knows in herself that she could do it, and sees how her husband is so weak and wants to counter this with her own strength.

8. Make thick my blood. Stop up the access and passage to remorse, That no compunctious visitings of nature Shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between The effect and it! Basically wants to become evil, with no conscience or remorse. Just the fact that she is saying this shows that she is already halfway there. She is not a normal frail and timid woman. At this point, she is not going to let anything stop her from stealing the crown.

9. Come to my woman’s breasts, And take my milk for gall, you murd'ring ministers, Wherever in your sightless substances You wait on nature’s mischief. Come, thick night, And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell, That my keen knife see not the wound it makes, Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark To cry “Hold, hold!” Wants to trade the milk for gall, nurturing for destroying. Gender roles: she no longer wants the ability to take care of her children, she wants to kill. “you wait on nature’s mischief” Macbeth is waiting for exactly the right time making excuses for not committing the murder. She wants the “smoke of hell” to hide her devilish actions from heaven so heaven cannot stop her.

10. Lady Macbeth is contradicting everything known at that time of what a woman should be. MacBeth is the “brave soldier” who cant even commit this murder, while Lady M is anxious to. Greatly developing her character, we see her true evil inclination. She can easily manipulate her husband and is obviously the more powerful partner in their marriage. Macbeth completely loves and trusts his wife, and gives this power over to her unknowingly.