The Dead Butcher and His Fiend-Like Queen

In extent Malcolm is referring to Macbeth as the “dead butcher” and to Lady Macbeth as “his fiend-like queen.” A butcher in the use of this play is a person who kills showing no regret for their actions or reason for the killings. The fiend as Lady Macbeth is to say she is very evil and has no morals, able to bend other’s wills to equal her own giving them a confused air of what they really want. On the other hand to say Macbeth was always a butcher is an unfair evaluation of him, as it doesn’t reflect the views that the whole of Scotland had at the beginning of the play. Fiend is a brilliant way to describe Lady Macbeth as she is the one who initially introduced the feeling of evil into the play and into Macbeth leading him to commit the act of treason against God’s representative on Earth, King Duncan.
To begin with Macbeth is a highly respected Thane of Glamis with a set life for his wife, Lady Macbeth and himself. He is referred to as “noble” and a “valiant soldier” not at all a butcher and would die in battle for his King. His noble acts then promote him to Thane of Cawdor. Following his well-deserved promotion Lady Macbeth had a letter delivered about Macbeth’s encounter with witches, their prophecies and his transfer to Thane of Cawdor. Lady Macbeth hatches a plan to ensure all of the witches prophecies become reality by getting rid of the one thing that stands in their way: King Duncan. However her plan is interrupted by Macbeth who is loyal to the King and refuses to be a part of the fiendish act. She knows he has ambition and it would be difficult for her to convince him to commit the act of treason, “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.” Lady Macbeth’s fiend-like qualities have shown after Macbeth’s letter is received. She seems to show a strong hate towards the limitations of her sex. Being a woman