What Are Lady Macbeth's Motives

Lady Macbeth is one of Shakespeare's most famous female characters. Known for her manipulative characteristics, her motives are often questioned. Lady Macbeth uses her husband and his skills in an attempt to gain respect, power and control, yet her actions resulted in the opposite. Superstition played a part in Lady Macbeth's ambition after she read what the witches predicted. However, her ambition is powered by greed, and though her love for her husband exists, it is not what motivated her.

Lady Macbeth plays a huge role in how Macbeth acts. In Act 1 Scene 2 of the play, Lady Macbeth takes charge of the discussion between her and her husband. This tells us their relationship is fair, they are both treated as equal but she is very influential
"What thou art promised, yet i do fear thy nature; It is too full of the milk of human kindness, to catch the nearest way. Thou wouldst be great." She proposed the idea of killing Duncan to Macbeth so he would become king, and pursued it in order to confirm the witches' tales. Both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth believed the witches, but only Lady Macbeth was determined to make what they told him come true. Macbeth would have let fate play out, and would not be too phased if the fortune passed him or
There is nothing in the text to suggest he treated her badly, always with kindness and respect. There is even evidence to suggest they had previously had a child together. She already had love, a castle, a successful husband, wealth to an extent and a friendly, comfortable environment to live in, but she longed for more. But she was greedy. Lady Macbeth wanted to be among power and control, and being female she knew she could not gain it without manipulating someone else to reach it for her as in the time era men were more influential and powerful than women. If anything, it could be argued that Macbeth's actions were motivated by his love for his wife. This is because he went against his will to make her happy, and did as she asked of