Peter Roker

Mr. Cohen

ENG2D

20 June, 22

 

                                                           

   

       Who is the more evil character within Macbeth: Lady Macbeth or Macbeth?

 

Lady Macbeth and Macbeth are the most significant characters in Shakespeare’s play Macbeth.  They both have their own flaws and personalities that make them different or unique.  There are many things that readers can compare and contrast about these two key characters of Shakespeare.  One of them being who is the more evil character.  Lady Macbeth is the more evil character than Macbeth. She is an evil character who values power and herself over anything else. 

 

Firstly, Lady Macbeth is always making Macbeth feel poorly about himself. (Act 3, Scene V, line 58) “Are you a man?” This gives an insight to how manipulative she is to her own husband. She is willing to be disrespectful and indignant, even to Macbeth, her own husband, just for her benefit. She always manipulates Macbeth and uses him as a tool to fulfill her goals. This is one of the causes of Macbeth’s hormathia. The word “man” is important in this quote.  It’s a reference to what being a man meant around Lady Macbeth’s time and also her manipulative ways. Being a man during those times in society meant being strong and valiant. “Man” also tells Macbeth that he is less of a man if he doesn’t listen to Lady Macbeth. This quote has an interrogative feature.  Lady Macbeth is questioning how masculine Macbeth is.  The structure in this quote is dialogue. However, this dialogue is a bit different, it isn’t back and forth. Lady Macbeth is controlling the dialogue by manipulating Macbeth. 

 

Secondly,  Lady Macbeth has a great amount of power, she seeks more power and isn’t willing to use it for good. She asks her ancestors to make her completely evil.  A good person isn’t going to ask to truly be evil. (Act 1 Scene 5). “Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, and fill me, from the crown to the toe, top-full of direst cruelty!” A good person isn’t going to ask to be truly evil. Lady Macbeth is asking to be evil, this is very problematic and reflects on how she’s a more evil character than Macbeth. When she says “unsex” she views her sex as the main issue stopping her from being more powerful. This links back to the images of women and even men in the times of Shakespeare.  “Unsex” is a keyword in this quote. It shows how Lady Macbeth wants to become more like a man. The command that these spirits “unsex” her is a request for her femininity to be taken out of her, so she has a more manly identity and is ready to kill.   Lady Macbeth’s quote has emotive language.  The exclamation point informs the reader about her emotion that she has with wanting to be more manly for power. The quote has the structure of a soliloquy.  She is speaking about wanting to change her gender so she can be more powerful.  She’s speaking aloud about it to herself which makes this quote a soliloquy. “Is too full o’the milk of human-kindness”. (Act 1, Scene 5) Lady Macbeth thinks that her husband is like a child. Children aren’t as strong and need guidance, this goes back to links back to her power. Lady Macbeth believes she holds more power over her husband. This allows her to tell Macbeth what to do and gives her more power. 

 

Thirdly, power matters more to Lady Macbeth than human life, this shows her evil personality.  (Act 1, Scene 7) “Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums and dashed the brains out.” She would rather kill her own newborn baby by beating his brains out, than not keep her own promise. During those times women were meant to show a gentle, feminine attitude in society, but Lady Macbeth has such a detailed image, showing how evil and desperate she is for power. “Dashed” is a significant word in this quote.  It gives a vivid description of how she would gruesomely kill her own newborn child, by bashing his head in. The word helps the reader understand just how much she’ll do to keep her own promise. Lady Macbeth’s quote about killing her newborn baby is declarative. This is declarative because she is stating that she would kill her own child to keep her promise.   The quote has the structure of a soliloquy.  Lady Macbeth is speaking about wanting to change her gender so she can be more powerful. She’s speaking aloud about it to herself which makes this quote a soliloquy. “Hie thee that I may pour my spirits in thine ear and chastise with the valor of my tongue” She’s saying that she has the evil capabilities “my spirits” that Macbeth needs to make himself king. She also thinks she can persuade Macbeth by seducing him. These are examples of the evil traits that she has.

 

Lady Macbeth shows how she is more evil than Macbeth in many ways throughout the play.  Her true nature is reflected through imagery of pain, cruelty, and death.  Macbeth is less evil than his wife.  Lady Macbeth is manipulative and thirsty for more power, this is what makes her the more evil character.  All in all,  she is a character who cares more about her desire to be more powerful.

 

                                                                                                     Work Cited

                       Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. First paperback edition ed., New York, NY 10011, Spark Publishing.