Preview

Lady Macbeth The Valiant Soldier

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
251 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Lady Macbeth The Valiant Soldier
In Macbeth, Lady Macbeth calls on the conventions of gender during Elizabethan times to influence her husband Macbeth. When Lady Macbeth first receives the letter from Macbeth detailing the witches' prophecy, she says that Macbeth is "too full of the milk of human kindness to catch the nearest way” (1. 5. 1-3), meaning that Macbeth is too good to do anything and for him to follow his ambition. So when trying to convince Macbeth to murder Duncan, she tells him that he would be considered "so much more the man” (1. 7. 2-3) if he were to follow through on the plan. Macbeth being the valiant soldier is persuaded by this test of his manhood, and he goes ahead with the murder. Later, when Macbeth hallucinates both the dagger and Banquo's ghost

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Lady Macbeth

    • 705 Words
    • 3 Pages

    LADY MACBETH HAS BEEN DESCRIBED AS A FOURTH WITCH. DO YOU CONSIDER THIS TO BE FAIR JUDGEMENT?…

    • 705 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Macbeth: A Tragic Hero

    • 106 Words
    • 1 Page

    Even now knowing that MacDuff and an entire army is on their way to storm his castle, Macbeth refuses to flee. Soon you will find out what will happen to Macbeth and what his downfall will be. “Why should I play the roman fool and die on mine own sword?” (V. VIII.1-2) this means that Macbeth is saying was the point in me fighting Macduff because he already killed his whole family why would MacDuff be any more different. In a turn of events MacDuff kills and beheading Macbeth in order to end his rule as king and get revenge for Macbeth having his family…

    • 106 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Stereotypes In Macbeth

    • 1254 Words
    • 6 Pages

    When she receives a letter from Macbeth that says he is willing to kill King Duncan, she talks to the spirits in her mind and says: “Unsex me here/ and fill me from the crown to the toe/ top full of direst cruelty!” (1.5.46-49). In fact she wants the spirits to strip her of her feminine traits, make her strong, and let her commit a crime without regretting it in the future. With all of these dark thoughts that she has in her mind, she still tries to act nice and compassionate in the public, so that nobody can realize what plans they have. Macbeth also wants her to act this way and he thinks that “False face must hide what the false heart doth know.” (1.7.92). He tells Lady Macbeth that the face should hide what the “false heart” has inside, because he is aware of Lady Macbeth’s personality and he points it out by telling her: “Bring forth men-children only/ for thy undaunted mettle should compose” (1.7.80-81) which shows that he believes Lady Macbeth does not have a proper action as a woman and she only should have “men-children”, meaning boys. Her effort towards having the qualities of the opposite gender helps her to do what a woman would not usually do; it helps her to plan a murder and be the reason of…

    • 1254 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    She decides to control the procedures involved in Duncan’s murder. Lady Macbeth is clearly willing to do whatever it takes to seize her throne and she calls upon her masculinity “unsex me here / . . . / . . . Come to my woman’s breasts, / And take my milk for gall”(Shakespeare 1.5.39-46). She is implying that her womanhood represented by breasts and milk, is preventing her from performing acts of violence and cruelty; she believes that violence and cruelty are qualities inherent of men and masculinity. Macbeth is uncertain whether it is righteous to take the life of such a great king, “First, I am his kinsmen and his subject,” (Shakespeare 1.7.13). Despite Macbeth doubting whether or not he should accept the murder of Duncan he is always convinced otherwise by his wife. Lady Macbeth is aware of her…

    • 1170 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lady Macbeth Gender Roles

    • 976 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Macbeth is the main male character and he shows to have more of a feminine personality at first. The roles during the play are reversed with Lady Macbeth having manlike qualities and Macbeth not being like a man. “Too full o’th’ milk of human kindness.” (I.v.17) Lady Macbeth accuses her husband of having woman like traits. Also, Lady Macbeth sees Macbeth to be doubtful and uncourageous in the plan to kill the king. Unlike Macbeth, Lady Macbeth shows the strength and power to do so which is ironic because Macbeth is the man and he should be the one so determined to this act. The play, The Tragedy Of Macbeth portrays a world of male anxieties. Macbeth is seen to carry the traits of cowardice, weak, passivity, and vulnerability. Lady Macbeth is the one who manipulates Macbeth into becoming cruel and reaching the level of a man. “She taunts him with the adage of the cat that wanted to eat fish but didn’t want to get its feet wet, inferring he lacks heart, is effeminate, something considerably less than a warrior, and an untrustworthy liar, whose vows cannot be believed.”(Thompson) Lady Macbeth during the play tells Macbeth he should be woman due to the way he revels himself. If it wasn’t for Lady Macbeth, Macbeth would have never became so monstrous. Macbeth went from being loyal and pleasant to entering a wicked side of…

    • 976 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Lady Macbeth

    • 303 Words
    • 1 Page

    Such I account thy love. Art thou afeardTo be the same in thine own act and valorAs thou art in desire? Wouldst thou have thatWhich thou esteem'st the ornament of life,…

    • 303 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    From the beginning Lady Macbeth is viewed as very controlling, strong, and certain. “First, she has very little regard for her husband's humanity and actually derides him for being "too full o'th' milk of human kindness” (Thompson 1). This shows how cold Lady Macbeth is, as milk is the food of new born children, she is implying Macbeth is too much like a kind child to murder anyone. Once Macbeth has the courage to tell her he does not want to continue with the murder she rallies, calling him a ‘coward’, saying that if he could murder Duncan ‘he were a man’. This to Macbeth, a proud and mighty warrior is a deep insult, and he soon is convinced that he will carry out the murder.…

    • 462 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Lady Macbeth instigating masculine qualities within Macbeth to kill Duncan results in Macbeth’s tyrant like nature. When Macbeth is no longer willing to follow through the plan of murdering Duncan, Lady Macbeth changes his opinion by convincing him of being a man, she states, “What beast was’t then That made you break this enterprise to me? When you durst do it, then you were a man; and to be more than what you were, you would be so much more the man.” (I, VII, 52-56). Lady Macbeth manipulates Macbeth by defining characteristics of a man which lead him to perform riskful tasks that otherwise he would not have done. Likewise, Lady Macbeth truly manipulating Macbeth can easily be recognized when she receives the letter and describes Macbeth, “It is too full o’ the milk of human kindness” (I, V, 16). Lady Macbeth knows that Macbeth is too innocent to kill Duncan, this is why she is determined to build up a destructive type of courage in Macbeth; otherwise, Macbeth would have remained the same and most likely would not have considered killing the king. Moreover, Lady Macbeth constantly assures Macbeth to go further towards his crimes when he is in a stage of doubtfulness. When Macbeth is insecure about their plan to kill Duncan, Lady Macbeth says, “We fail! But screw your courage to the sticking place, And we’ll not fail.” (I, VII, 66-68). This is a straightforward response of Lady Macbeth possessing courage of not only pushing herself forwards, but also Macbeth to a crime that neither have committed before. One can also observe Lady Macbeth’s assurance on Macbeth when he hallucinates Banquo’s ghost and is very confused as to why no one else sees it. Lady Macbeth simply says it is his personal hallucination, “This is the very painting of…

    • 1961 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Lady Macbeth 's impetus for Macbeth to kill Duncan shows she is able to control Macbeth. She sees Macbeth as a weak man who is unable to carry out any wrongful act. Lady Macbeth says, "[...] I do fear thy nature; / it is too full o ' the ' milk of human kindness / to catch the nearest way" (1.5.16-18), which implies that she feels Macbeth is too kind to kill Duncan. She decides the only way to get what she wants is to intimidate Macbeth. When Macbeth says, "Bring forth men-children only; / For thy undaunted mettle should compose / Nothing but males," (1.7.72-74) Mabeth 's fear of his wife really come to surface. She has a very masculine and powerful personality. Carolyn Asp, in her essay Tragic Action and Sexual Stereotyping in Macbeth says, "Masculine and feminine impulses are at war within her; she is unable either to fuse them or to polarize them" (Asp 203) which shows how she would like to be able to act like a man, but is unable to fully change because she still has many feminine influences on her life. Lady Macbeth asks to have her womanliness stripped from her when she says:…

    • 1253 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lady Macbeth

    • 630 Words
    • 3 Pages

    This quote shows the way Lady Macbeth takes complete control over Macbeth. Lady Macbeth continues to persuade Macbeth into her evil plan to be able to succeed in the attempt for Macbeth to become king. This quote also gives the impression that she’s hiding some parts of her cruel plan from him so that he only has to worry about murdering King Duncan. She’s hiding the background of the actual situation. This is one of the most powerful quotes said by…

    • 630 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Lady Macbeth

    • 622 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Next, in Lady Macbeth’s decline towards insanity she begun to go on about some things only a truly insane, unremorseful person could speak of. She tells of her own dominant, violent ideas to inspire her husband to be ruthless in the following lines.…

    • 622 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lady Macbeth

    • 951 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Shakespeare, who was a writer born in Stratford-upon-Avon created many different plays, in which he always portrayed the woman as the “bad guy.” He was born in 1564 and he was a writer, actor and a dramatist. He wrote many plays, mostly revolving around tragedy such as: Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet and Macbeth. Shakespeare was a respected poet, and writer who received recognition after he passed away, April 23rd. 1616. One of Shakespeare’s well-known tragic plays ``Macbeth`` describes how a greedy woman second guesses her husband’s manhood and convinces him to murder a King and take his place. The characters in this play make the readers` think the women back in the day were greedy, selfish and conniving. Lady Macbeth, who plays one of the most impacted roles, is described as a woman who second guesses her husband`s manhood and forces him to commit a crime due to a prophecy from three witches. Lady Macbeth starts off greedy, but then she starts to feel guilty about all the things she has made her husband do. Lady Macbeth`s character is responsible for the evil doings of Macbeth because she convinces Macbeth that he isn`t capable of anything, she makes him feel vulnerable but she controls him after the murder and she uses his love for her to achieve her selfish goals.…

    • 951 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Lady Macbeth

    • 382 Words
    • 2 Pages

    We receive advice from someone just about everyday. Rather its good or bad , right or wrong , or easy or difficult. The best advice I have ever received would have to that life goes on. Because it's true, no matter what mistakes you make in life. Life will go on.…

    • 382 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lady Macbeth

    • 451 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The passing of decade's, centuries and a millennium, man in some aspects, has not changed. With this passing of time, man remains gullible and optimistic. These two characteristics are essential in the development in the play Macbeth. This is evident in that Macbeth's fate is influenced, by the witches' predictions.…

    • 451 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lady Macbeth want to be strong, independent, more ruthless, and more ambitious than her husband. She want to achieve power by acceptance of traditionally masculine qualities. She seems fully aware of this and knows that she will have to push Macbeth into committing murder. At one point, she wishes that she were not a woman so that she could do it herself. The relationship between gender and power is key to Lady Macbeth’s character. She is a masculine soul inhabiting a female body, which seems to link masculinity to ambition and violence. According to Caroline Cakebread “… femininity is not an attribute to be equated with power and , in the murder of Duncan, feminine attributes lead to virtual erasure in terms of power politics. “ . Lady Macbeth is a crafty woman, power is for her manipulation to further her supposedly male ambitions. She manipulates her husband with remarkable effectiveness, overriding all his objections. Her remarkable strength of will persists through…

    • 546 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays