Was Lady Macbeth a Villain?
Was Lady Macbeth a Villain?
The play Macbeth is centered around an ambitious couple who commit murder in order to seize power. The lead character of the play is Macbeth, and after being appointed to Thane of Cawdor. he and his wife decide to kill the king and place the crown upon Macbeth’s head. In the play, Lady Macbeth is often seen as the villain, but in reality, she is ultimately the true victim of the play. She becomes a victim of her ambition, her gender, and finally her guilt.
As soon as Lady Macbeth heard of Macbeth’s new position, her ambition immediately led her to thoughts of assassinating the king. She wanted Macbeth to take the crown for the good of both of them, as it would elevate them both to new heights. “Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be What though art promised. 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.”(Shakespeare 31). Lady Macbeth knows that Macbeth could have the crown, and that he wants it, but she believes he is not enough of a man to take it. She is willing to do anything to achieve her aspiration, yet is limited by the flesh of which she is trapped in.
Since the beginning of time, it was thought that women were not as intelligent or as strong as the men of the human race. It was thought that females were unable to accomplish the same feats that the males could acquire. Lady Macbeth herself could never actually take the power of being king, so she persuades Macbeth to help her with the deed which almost gives her what she desires. Perhaps, if she were born a man, she would have been able to seize the crown without anybody’s help. She even calls out to spirits to help her to fight against the hitch which restricted her, and to be manlier. “Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here” (Lady Macbeth 33). This truly was her weakness. Even though she did get what
The play Macbeth is centered around an ambitious couple who commit murder in order to seize power. The lead character of the play is Macbeth, and after being appointed to Thane of Cawdor. he and his wife decide to kill the king and place the crown upon Macbeth’s head. In the play, Lady Macbeth is often seen as the villain, but in reality, she is ultimately the true victim of the play. She becomes a victim of her ambition, her gender, and finally her guilt.
As soon as Lady Macbeth heard of Macbeth’s new position, her ambition immediately led her to thoughts of assassinating the king. She wanted Macbeth to take the crown for the good of both of them, as it would elevate them both to new heights. “Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be What though art promised. 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.”(Shakespeare 31). Lady Macbeth knows that Macbeth could have the crown, and that he wants it, but she believes he is not enough of a man to take it. She is willing to do anything to achieve her aspiration, yet is limited by the flesh of which she is trapped in.
Since the beginning of time, it was thought that women were not as intelligent or as strong as the men of the human race. It was thought that females were unable to accomplish the same feats that the males could acquire. Lady Macbeth herself could never actually take the power of being king, so she persuades Macbeth to help her with the deed which almost gives her what she desires. Perhaps, if she were born a man, she would have been able to seize the crown without anybody’s help. She even calls out to spirits to help her to fight against the hitch which restricted her, and to be manlier. “Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here” (Lady Macbeth 33). This truly was her weakness. Even though she did get what