In this essay i will evaluate how the relationships between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth changes in Act 2 Scene 2. Before this scene we are aware that Macbeth has already killed king duncan. we have also been introduced to macbeth and lady macbeth following with the murder and guilt in the environment. This scene is essential as we soon discover how the character of Macbeth develops after the tragic death of the King.
The Macbeth's marriage, like the couple themselves, is atypical. Yet, despite the odd power dynamic. The two of them seem surprisingly attached to one another. Particularly, compared to other marriages in shakespeare's plays, In which romantic felicity appears primarily during courtship and marriages tend to be troubled. Of course the 'irony' of their 'happy' marriage is clear- they are united by their crimes and their mutual madness along with their mounting alienation from the rest of humanity. the relationship then gradually deteriorates due to the lack of harmony, equality and the parent and child figure portrayed.
Macbeth is portrayed as a powerful lord and a brave general, his wife is far more subordinate to his will. Indeed, she often seems to control him, either by crafty manipulation or by direct order. Shakespeare starts the Scene where Lady Macbeth starts with a soliloquy, the fact that she is speaking her thoughts shows her independence and proof of her physics weakness. 'That which hath made me drunk hath made me bold'. This shows the reader that she doesn't feel any guilt rather than the consequences about what she has done.
The relationship begins to tear apart when Lady macbeth acts like parent, or mother-figure towards her husband. Before Macbeth enters the Scene we see Lady macbeth say "I laid their daggers ready. He could not miss em. I had done't" Here Lady Macbeth clearly wanted to show that she has the power, and her power is conditioned on maternity, which has a conflicted status in early modern England." The fact that Lady macbeth refers herself to "i" mirrors the fact that her arrogance has increased and now she is acting in control all the time.
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