Lady Macbeth is a particular favourite of exam boards, probably because she's so complex. This video explores her character in detail:
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This is an interesting scene indeed - we see an almost subverted dynamic between Macbeth and his Lady, as Macbeth begins to hide his dark and murderous intentions from his wife.
We see Lady Macbeth initially taking charge as she reminds her anxious husband that "what's done is done" - but then we see Macbeth taking the main role in this scene as his long-winded and wordy contributions take up stage time and swing control back to him. It could be argued, however, that this shift in dynamic doesn't hand Macbeth control at all, but instead shows that he is edging further into a loss of control as he begins to ramble and dribble (kind of like I am now). You'll notice Lady M's parts are short, sweet and succinct. Is she retaining control here by doing this, or are we seeing her influence over Macbeth being chipped away? It's debatable, that's for sure. What we do know, however, is that by the end of the scene, Lady M relinquishes all the power she has by almost giving control to Macbeth - "what's to be done?" - who then rebuffs her with a patronising "dear chuck" and an order to be ignorant of his future misdeeds. We also see a great shift in Macbeth's own language here - notice how, at the start of the scene and when referring to past events, his chosen pronouns are inclusive, but by the end of the scene and when referring to the future, suddenly it's all "me", "I, and "your" - separating the formerly close couple. I'll let Mr Bruff take it from here:
Following on from my post about 'hidden' stage directions, this short video explains Lady Macbeth's descent into madness very clearly, showing how Shakespeare stages the scene to show, by way of pathetic fallacy and metaphor, the undoing of his once-controlling and once-powerful character.
The deed is done! Duncan is dead and Macbeth, despite his misgivings, was the one who thrust the knife into him.
However, now it's time to cover up the deed, and Macbeth is already showing signs of regret. Not so Lady Macbeth, though; she is quite happy that she is on her way to being a Queen. Methought I heard a voice cry, “Sleep no more! Macbeth is already renouncing his religion as the word 'amen' gets stuck in his throat; Lady Macbeth is having none of it. She's sick of his whining, and gives him a piece of her mind, telling him what to do in no uncertain terms, and taking control of the situation as only Lady Macbeth could. Here's Mr Bruff with more:
This is a key scene of the play - it's where we see Lady Macbeth's darker side, as she speaks to spirits and ghosts, drawing on their dark power to give her the strength to carry out her evil deeds.
This is the infamous "unsex me" scene, where Lady Macbeth asks for her milk to be turned into "gall" (anger/rage), and "make thick my blood/stop up the passage and access to remorse" - she is asking for all that makes her feminine (and weak) to be blocked, for her to become stronger, and therefore more able to commit evil deeds. Controversial as this scene is, it's important to fully understand it as it helps us to understand Lady Macbeth's role in the play as a whole. She is a subversion of a stereotypical female character, and this scene makes that very clear. It leads us quite well into the latter half of the scene, where Lady Macbeth exerts her power over Macbeth, giving him clear instructions to look like "the flower, but be the serpent under't". Here is Mr Bruff's analysis:
Lady Macbeth's life (plus useful quotes) in a short video. Really useful for revising her as a character.
This is a great video for revising the relationship and dynamic between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. It's really concise and contains some key quotes that you may be able to use in your exam.
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In a Nutshell...After returning from war, Macbeth meets three witches who tell him that he is to become King. His wife persuades him to kill the existing King in order to win the throne - but this comes with a whole heap of problems, as Macbeth has to continually kill people - including his best friend - in order to hide the truth. ArchivesCategories
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