Different Faces of Lady Macbeth

Lady Macbeth is generally considered as one of the most evil characters in the history of theatrical plays. She is a woman, ready to communicate with evil spirits, for the pursuit of her aims. However, despite the fact that this woman definitely possesses the dark and cruel soul, she also attracts the audience as a talented manipulator. This work aims at investigating the character of Lady Macbeth from the innovative perspective in order to reveal her hidden traits and features, which make her not just the wicked woman, but a skilled augmentor. Lady Macbeth is definitely the direct manifestation of evil woman. However, despite it, she charms the audience by her destructive power. This woman has the talent, ability, intellectual, and promise.

Intelligence: Lady Macbeth is a woman with huge ambitions. It has to be admitted that she represents the image of Victorian femininity and extreme intelligence. She is the most inelegant Shakespearean characters. At that time, women did not have a possibility to be show their true nature, as Victorian times were marked by the patriarchic rule. However, even at that temporal period women found the way out. They did not appear directly on the scene, but managed to control their husbands invisibly. It was a true talent. Lady Macbeth might be perceived as a useful example, as she realistically embraced the atrocity and virtue. This character might be perceived as the image Victorian desperate domesticity. This woman is cold, fierce and ruthless, and she firmly accomplishes the deeds which had to be done.

Clam: Despite the fact that the readers are shocked by such an evil female heart, they are attracted by the logic and rationality of her mind. She took into account every detail in order to conduct the brilliant murder. She thought about all the nuances, and it astonishes the audience. It might be said that she was the Victorian ancestor of modern vamp woman, ready to walk over the dead bodies towards her goal. Despite the fact that Shakespeare portrayed her as the symbol of feminine cruelness, the readers perceive her as an extremely talented woman, who has the collection of admirable traits like assertiveness, conspiracy, brilliant intelligence, and passion. It was Lady Macbeth, who reassured Macbeth to kill the king Duncan. She resembles a skilled teacher, who gave her husband useful pieces of advice concerning the strategy and the actions, which had to be done.

“Look like the time; bear welcome in your eye,

Your hand, your tingue; look like th’innocent flower,

Must be the serpent under’t”

Strength: It might be stated that psychologically, Lady Macbeth was much stronger than Macbeth was, as she performed the role of his power of strength. Her inner strength was manifested in her ambitions. This woman experienced the fearless courage and was ready to commit any crime in order to achieve her goal. This determines shows her inner stamina. Lady Macbeth inner strength is felt between the line, and this feature enkindled Macbeth’s ambition and aspirations to the crown. The following quote depicts the inner traits of Lady Macbeth:

“Infirm of purpose!

Give me the daggers. The sleeping and the dead

Are but as pictures, “Tis the eye of childhood

That fears a painted devil. If he do bleed,

I’ll gild the faces of the grooms withal,

For it must seem their guilt”.

This woman was totally ruthless and deprived of fear. Her inner strength gave her power to conduct the cowardice. She did not consider the consequences of her actions, and did not think about other people, as she was totally oriented on veiling the murder. Such a cold mind and logic are the features of strong character.

Loving wife: She might be perceived as a temper, who incited Macbeth to commit a murder. Her assertions were marked by the exquisite intelligence and psychological influence. She knew the inner desires of her husband and applied her in providing reasons for the necessity of murders. This woman is dreadful and sublime simultaneously. Despite the fact that she makes her husband commit the murder, she remains his close friend and supporter. She assists him in all the situations, as she is the source of his energy. She masterfully plans the strategy of obtaining the throne and constantly navigates her husband:

“Who was it that thus cried? Why, worthy thane,

You do unbend your noble strength to think

So brainsickly of things. Go get some water

And wash this filthy witness from your hand”.

Her major advantage is the fact that she was not just a serpent-wife, who provided her husband with sinful advices, but was his shield. It has to be admitted that she is perceived by the readers as the tragic woman, whose husband lacked masculine features. She took his psychological burden to her own shoulders. She assisted him after the death of Duncan, as Macbeth seemed to be too bewildered. This has manifested not only her intelligent mind, but also inner will. One thing is advising, and completely different thing is becoming the co-partner. Lady Macbeth was faithful to her husband, and all her evil deeds were actually devoted towards his career and his well-being. Looking towards her from such a perspective alters the gist. She turned out to be obliged to take extreme actions, as her husband was unable to think about his well-being by himself. Besides being the business-like killer, Lady Macbeth was also the loving wife, ready to conduct anything in order to bring her husband happiness. It might be stated that she understood how cruel and dreadful her deeds were, but desire to assist her husband was even stronger. She was ruled by a power of love towards her husband, and all the difficulties on his way towards throne seemed to her to be just difficulties, which had to be overcome. She was in hell on earth, and understood it, but continued taking steps in order to help her beloved man.

By her nature, Lady Macbeth has been one of the strongest Shakespearean characters. She could be compared to Hero from the play “Much Ado About Nothing”. The mutual feature, which unites them, is the love towards their partners. Hero is in love with Claudio, and Lady Macbeth is a loving and devoted wife. Hero is a girl, unable to defend her interests; she fainted in church, because of shame, and was actually unable to oppose to lie. She starts praying God, and cannot express her inner feelings:

“Oh God, defend me! How am I beset! What kind of catechizing call you this?”

Lady Macbeth, on the contrary, is a woman, ready to defend, support, fight for her husband, and go with him through the most disastrous things, one could imagine. Hero is a weak woman, who needs assistance, whereas Lady Macbeth is assistance by herself. She is the helper, supporter, strategist, and controller of the events. The women are also different by their inner state. Hero is kind, naïve, and positive girl, and Lady Macbeth is evil, assertive, energetic, and intelligent woman.

In conclusion, it has to be stated that despite the accurate tactics, which Lady Macbeth has applied, despite her intelligence and logic, she was just a woman. It was her gist. Being a wife of a weak man, who could not oppose towards the temptation of becoming a king, she decided to bring him joy and happiness and assist him. Her evil deeds might be perceived as the manifestation of her true love and support, which she felt towards her husband. She allowed him to transfer his burden on her shoulders, and finally, she just turned out to be unable to carry it. Despite her masculine bright features, inner power and will, Lady Macbeth was a loving wife. And in the end of the play, readers perceive her not just as evil character, but as an individual, ready to go into hell in order to make her husband happy. She turned out to be his brilliant strategist and his supporter, she had to thought about the details of the murder, and their consequences, and under these outer dreadful troubles, she did not notice, when she has stepped her own spiritual and psychological barriers. This woman was definitely evil, but she the audience remembers her because of the inner stamina, power, strategic mind, and bravery. She charmed the readers by her devotion to husband.