Macbeth - Lady Macbeth: Feeble-Minded?

By the end of Sheakspeare's "Macbeth," Lady Macbeth has proven that her imagination is stronger than her will. During the beginning of the play, Lady M had been the iron fist and authority icon for Macbeth. She was the voice of determination and hardness, yet deep down, she never carried such traits to begin with. She started this ordeal with a negative, bombastic rhetoric, preying on Macbeth's weaknesses in order to egg him on. In no way did she make a positive contribution to Macbeth or to herself. However, Macbeth soon becomes more independent and shows more of his own self-ambition. Eventually, Lady Macbeth begins to show her true, stripped away and "wither'd" nature. Lady Macbeth's vulnerability increases as time passes, and her enthusiasm wanes. Lady Macbeth is mainly responsible for aggravating the struggle between Macbeth's morality, devotion and "vaulting ambition." This duality in Lady Macbeth's character plays a huge role in planting the seed for Macbeth's downfall and eventual demise.

Lady Macbeth imagines that she has the capability to be a remorseless and determined villain, but she isn't anything of the like in reality. She thinks that her will to follow through with her thoughts outweighs Macbeth's determination. Lady Macbeth views her husband as "too full o' the milk of human kindness/To catch the nearest way," (I-v, 16-17). Within the first act, she deems herself the more committing and authoritative person in this couple. She claims that "that which rather [Macbeth] dost fear to do," could be fulfilled if, "I may pour my spirits in thine ear" (I-v, 23-25). She believes matters should be taken into her own hands from the moment she receives the letter about the witches' prophecies. Lady Macbeth believes that Macbeth doesn't have the "spirit" to "catch the nearest way" (I-v, 17). At this moment, she decides that quick action will be the basis of her reasoning and planning. Lady Macbeth intentionally tries to ignore consequence and concentrate on