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Compare and Contrast Macbeth and Lady Macbeth Thesis

This summary compares and contrasts the characters of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth in Shakespeare's play. It notes that while they both exhibit ambition and participate in Duncan's murder, their behaviors and roles progress very differently over the course of the play. Lady Macbeth is initially more bold and manipulative, persuading Macbeth to commit the murder. However, she later grows guilt-ridden and insane, while Macbeth becomes a increasingly tyrannical and isolated in his paranoia and bloodshed. Their relationship also changes, with Lady Macbeth losing influence over Macbeth as his ambition and madness escalates.
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100% found this document useful (2 votes)
302 views5 pages

Compare and Contrast Macbeth and Lady Macbeth Thesis

This summary compares and contrasts the characters of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth in Shakespeare's play. It notes that while they both exhibit ambition and participate in Duncan's murder, their behaviors and roles progress very differently over the course of the play. Lady Macbeth is initially more bold and manipulative, persuading Macbeth to commit the murder. However, she later grows guilt-ridden and insane, while Macbeth becomes a increasingly tyrannical and isolated in his paranoia and bloodshed. Their relationship also changes, with Lady Macbeth losing influence over Macbeth as his ambition and madness escalates.
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Crafting a thesis comparing and contrasting Macbeth and Lady Macbeth can be an arduous task.

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Macbeth tells the murderers that they need to commit the murder in order to prove their own
manhood and Lady Macbeth used this same technique on him previously in order to get her evil way.
It is ironic that Lady Macbeth feels she will go mad after thinking about what they have done. In the
case of Lady Macbeth, the grief of killing Duncan, suppressing her emotions, and drifting from her
husband, caused her to either develop mental disorder, or triggered underlying problems. Lady
Macbeth states that the crown is the “ornament of life” and it would be cowardly not to seek it. This
reflects into Lady Macbeth, as in this scene she is shown to be rather troubled at this point, because
Macbeth is still utterly distraught at what has gone on. It even goes so far that Lady Macbeth kills
herself. What we learn from this is that she is a very controlling and cunning person. He only starts
to really think of the idea that they might be telling him the truth when they hail him as the thane of
Cawdor, which shortly after, he receives It takes a lot of time, and coaxing from Lady Macbeth, in
order for Macbeth to be able to gather up enough courage to kill Duncan which shows that he is still
weak and lacking ambition. This total lack of emotion signals the end of any feelings he may have
had for his wife and contrast greatly with his earlier lines such as “dearest cherish”. By having sold
their souls to the devil they are able to challenge moral order. He does this behind Lady Macbeth’s
back, which shows that they are no longer a united pair. This is a perfect example of the sort of open
lying and falsehood that seems to come easy to Lady Macbeth. And as a direct result, Lady Macbeth
faded out in her dominance and general persona. At the start of the scene Lady Macbeth is nervous
and doesn't ant to do the murder, but Macbeth is confident and does the murder. Tension is increased
as Macbeth changes his mind as Lady Macbeth goes to persuade him. Perhaps because of the loss of
assistance from his wife in uncomfortable situations, or as a result of his own growing paranoia and
numerous violent acts, Macbeth becomes known as a tyrant and slowly becomes devoid of all
emotion. This means that she is feeling guilt now unlike before. However, Lady Macbeth once again
easily convinces him into killing Duncan. She reassures him that it will all go smoothly, and she will
drug the guards, so that they can later be blamed for the deed. The murder is over and Lady Macbeth
is relieved but Macbeth's got a feeling he might get caught. She takes control. She appears to be
absolutely secure in her belief in her husband's claim to the throne and her own position as queen.
Duncan has given him many opportunities, such as making him Thane of Glamis then Thane of
Cawdor. He then proceeds to have Macduff’s family killed by murderers just to get back at Macduff
for fleeing the country. Compare and Contrast Macbeth and Lady Macbeth Throughout the play. But
Macbeth the traitor, tyrant and murderer deserves to be punished by death. She does not specifically
say that she wishes Macbeth would murder the king but instead says, “Shall sun that morrow see,”
which indicates Duncan will never see the sun rise tomorrow. It shows how much their relationship
has changed with the progress of the actions, and shows that it is well and truly ended. Although
Macbeth and his wife have similar traits, they also have many contrasting qualities. It is evident that
she has lost control of him at this point. This is because Lady Macbeth is the one that actually
converts killing Duncan and rising to kinship from being just a fantastical idea to reality.
They say to fear Macduff; therefore he sends him a warning that he is unbeatable by killing
Macduffs wife and child. She uses their relationship and undying love and devotion to pressurise
and motivate Macbeth into killing Duncan. The main character Macbeth kills two important
characters in the play, and is responsible for the death of a third. Lady Macbeth What makes Lady
Macbeth so striking in her first few scenes is her manipulative, vindictive nature. Perhaps because of
the loss of assistance from his wife in uncomfortable situations, or as a result of his own growing
paranoia and numerous violent acts, Macbeth becomes known as a tyrant and slowly becomes
devoid of all emotion. He addresses her as “My dearest partner of greatness”. Please see our Cookie
Policy for further information. Macbeth is reaching his peak of evilness by killing Macduffs wife and
child. Constantly fighting her own demons, she has become weak and vulnerable. This expands on
my previous analysis because it demonstrates how she achieves her goal, by using her intelligence
and cunning in a composition that in theory is fool proof. It is ironic that Macduff feels he cannot talk
of the murder in front of Lady Macbeth as “the repetition in a woman’s ear would murder as it fell,”
when she has rejected her femininity and played a huge part in Duncan’s murder. In this tragic tale
we find our main character so trapped in his own guilt and self pity that he ends up secluding
himself from everyone around him, going insane, and eventually getting murdered. Themes or
messages are very important to Shakespeare's plays. When the witches tell him he will be king he is
surprised but doesn’t seriously consider killing Duncan until Lady Macbeth talks to him about it.
During her last scene while in her sleep walk she says, no more o that, my lord, no more o that. He
then seems to settle himself, and apologises to his guests before proposing a toast of general good
health to them all, and to Banquo. Once he leaves, Lady Macbeth is speaking as if she is ultimately
sure that this murder will go ahead. Macbeth involves love, betrayal, murder, deceit and other
things. But when she has to go kill the guards she starts to lose some of her composure. However,
there behaviors progress in very different ways. Macbeth tells the murderers that they need to commit
the murder in order to prove their own manhood and Lady Macbeth used this same technique on him
previously in order to get her evil way. Lady Macbeth takes control of the situation and she seems to
gain strength from her husband’s weakness. She can’t even escape it in her sleep and constantly
washes her hands in the hope that she can wash away her guilt and Duncan’s blood which she still
sees on her palms. She has mentally changed into her husband’s frame of mind when he first killed
Duncan except her insanity is more extreme. She in turn depended on him, as her role in their
relationship purely was to guide and dominate Macbeth. This is because Lady Macbeth is the one
that actually converts killing Duncan and rising to kinship from being just a fantastical idea to
reality. He says, “If we should fail-“ and she breaks him by saying “But screw your courage to the
sticking-place.” Also in these times a woman would not even consider killing her husband let alone
the king. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are basically good people who make an ill judgement. In stark
contrast to her husband Lady Macbeth is not conflicted. We see a more humane side to Macbeth’s
character and his guilt begins to isolate him from his wife. Beside the only one significant similarity,
they also differ with two distinct differences.
This shows that the wine she had drunk and the fact that she had not yet seen what they had done
caused her visage of carelessness. In this scene Lady Macbeth seems totally devoted to evil. This
proves that the two are able o work in syndicate with each other and the fact that they can commit
murder together proves that they trust each other completely. In stark contrast to her husband Lady
Macbeth is not conflicted. She only has presence there for 3 short lines, but essentially helps
Macbeth to invite Banquo to that evenings banquet, and again is almost overly welcoming, which
might, looked at in other eyes, look again rather suspicious. In this scene, Lady Macbeth tries to
protect and cover up for Macbeth by excusing his behaviour as a fit when Banquo’s ghost appears to
him and he addresses it in terror. Although Macbeth and his wife have similar traits, they also have
many contrasting qualities. They betray the thane by deceiving him into believing the truth of their
prophecies drawing him into their world of evil: by gaining the trust and confidence of Macbeth,
they are able to bring about the political and social disorder. He tells her that he has in fact killed
Duncan, but is distraught. This is because Lady Macbeth is the one that actually converts killing
Duncan and rising to kinship from being just a fantastical idea to reality. She was just trying to be a
good wife by helping her husband receives what she believed he deserved. At the end of the play
Macbeth the king is defeated and the order is restored. She says that he was drunk when he had the
idea, and says that he is like the cat who wanted to eat fish, but would not get her feet wet (a
proverb). The play is set all around Scotland, but mainly in Macbeth’s castle. The fact that she can so
easily convince Macbeth that he needs to kill Duncan proves that she is the stronger of the two in the
early acts. In this tragic tale we find our main character so trapped in his own guilt and self pity that
he ends up secluding himself from everyone around him, going insane, and eventually getting
murdered. However it is Lady Macbeth who emerges to the stronger and more determined. And, just
as she wants, he breaks and agrees to carry on with their plot. Ideological originality and specificity
of a conflict in the play macbeth what causes the struggle between the member of society and an
individual. He is aware of how resolute and determined she is to see him become king. This must
have left women feeling outraged as she gives a bad name to women. When he uncovers the ease of
getting his way through bloodshed and tyranny he carries on with it because it is the easy way out
and he doesn’t know any better. However, there behaviors progress in very different ways. At this
time in history, women were seen as inferior to men and therefore this is significant. Avoid overusing
quotes and making them too lengthy. He cannot sleep. He has difficulty making decisions and he
mistrusts all those around him. That is a step on which I must fall down, or else o'erleap. This proves
that he wants to do it, that he’s greedy and desperate to do it but having doubts about whether he has
the courage. Insanity starts to show up around this part of the play in the form of Macbeth’s
hallucination and paranoia. We are impressed at the end of the play that he chooses to fight instead
of just giving in.
A knocking sound frightens the already very fragile-minded Macbeth, and on Lady Macbeth’s almost
immediate return, she tells him to pull himself together, and smoothly plans an alibi. Macbeth:
Differences Between the Play and Movie 2019-02-10. In the beginning of the play Macbeth is
cautious and somewhat suspicious of the witches. When Macbeth consults the weird sisters for the
last time, they trick him to make him think that he will not be overthrown by anyone. The scenes
between her appearance and this one, show Macbeth hiring murderers to kill Banquo. Compare and
contrast of the macbeth and hamlet s internal dispute. Lady Macbeth takes control of the situation
and she seems to gain strength from her husband’s weakness. He hints darkly to her of dark deeds
going ahead that night. He then proceeds to have Macduff’s family killed by murderers just to get
back at Macduff for fleeing the country. Shakespeare seems to imply that once we are committed to
following a path of evil, it is very difficult to breakaway. How does Macbeth and Lady Macbeth
Change throughout the play? She manipulates him making him think that although it isn’t right to kill
Duncan, that it’s best for him in the long run. Her actions seem to be influenced by her
uncompromising desire for her husband to ascend to the throne. Lady Macbeth uses insults, verbal
abuse, questioning and taunting his manliness but then uses flattery and reverse-psychology and
Beatrice does the exact thing with Benedick by first bruising his manliness, then flattery and both of
them use love to their own advantages and against everyone else. Again, she is reassuring Macbeth,
and he is taking in everything she tells him. Lady Macbeth attempts to reassure the guests in between
his outbursts. Her only concern is of whether Macbeth is capable of fulfilling the prophecy and she is
certain that the “valour of my tongue” will persuade him. I feel that the fact that Lady Macbeth sees
Macbeth as an easy target with a weak character does not explain his actions as Lady Macbeth’s
manipulating, clever ways could not have convinced Macbeth to carry out the deed if he was wholly
good. At this time in history, women were seen as inferior to men and therefore this is significant.
Lady Macbeth prays to the dark powers to “unsex me here” and “come to my woman’s breasts and
take my milk for gall” as she wants to replace her maternal femininity with cruelty. But Lady
Macbeth is quite a contrast since she is a very strong independent woman and also takes control of
things, which is very different to the average women in a patriarchal society because she wears the
trousers between the two. This links the characters in their desire for Macbeth’s power once he has
been made king. She says that he was drunk when he had the idea, and says that he is like the cat
who wanted to eat fish, but would not get her feet wet (a proverb). She is willing to sacrifice her
femininity and humanity to “give solely sovereign sway and masterdom” to Macbeth and herself.
Compare and Contrast Macbeth and Lady Macbeth Throughout the play. However at that point Lady
Macbeth herself enters, sleepwalking, and he finds out for himself. The murderers then enter to
inform him of Banquo’s death, and Fleance’s escape. In the play macbeth shakespeare uses many
types of imagery. This means that she is feeling guilt now unlike before. Critical essay topics on
macbeth macbeth as the antihero in the shakespearean play.

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