Macbeth Essay

Throughout this essay I will be analyzing the relationship between the main character and his wife from William Shakespeare’s world famous play “Macbeth”. At the beginning of the play we see a strong bond between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, they are both equal partners yet by the end of the play, their relationship has deteriorated so much that Macbeth shows no emotion when his wife dies. I will be focusing on the initial love the two shared, whose ambition drivers their actions and what effect does this have on their relationship?

At the beginning of the scene when Lady Macbeth is reading the letter from her husband, Macbeth confides in her the unusual encounter he has just experienced with the witches. Macbeth completely trusts his wife and tells her every detail, even that the witches had hailed him to be a future king. At the end of the letter, Macbeth reminds his ‘Dearest partner of greatness’ to be excited and ‘rejoice’ ‘what greatness is promised thee’. After Lady Macbeth learns of the witches promises, she believes that she and her husband will have to assassinate Duncan in order for the prophesy to be fulfilled. She asks to be rid of any feelings of remorse and femininity to make the deed easier.  

When Macbeth enters, Lady Macbeth greets him with praise and love, by informing him that his letters to her ‘have transported me beyond this ignorant present’ Macbeth immediately returns the gesture of love by addressing her as ‘My dearest love’. This exchange emphasizes the loving, understanding relationship that the Macbeths are in. However, when Macbeth states that Duncan is leaving the next morning, his wife’s love for him transforms into a sinister dominance, as she immediately states that ‘never shall sun that morrow see’. When she interprets Macbeth to be confused she orders him to ‘Look like the time; bear welcome in your eye…look like the innocent flower but be the serpent under it’. She is preparing him to commit the murder and leave the ‘dispatch’... [continues]

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