Macbeths Lady in William Shakespeares Tragedy, Macbeth...

Macbeths Lady William Shakespeares classic tragedy Macbeth presents an atypical woman in the character of Lady Macbeth. This essay will explore her character. Fanny Kemble in Lady Macbeth depicts the character of Macbeths wife: Lady Macbeth, even in her sleep, has no qualms of conscience; her remorse takes none of the tenderer forms akin to repentance, nor the weaker ones allied to fear, from the pursuit of which the tortured soul, seeking where to hide itself, not seldom escapes into the boundless wilderness of madness. A very able article, published some years ago in the National Review, on the character of Lady Macbeth, insists much upon an opinion that she died of remorse, as some palliation of her crimes,†¦show more content†¦Having fixed her eye upon the end - the attainment for her husband of Duncans crown - she accepts the inevitable means; she nerves herself for the terrible nights work by artificial stimulants; yet she cannot strike the sleeping king who resembles her father. Having sustained her weaker husband, her own strength gives way; and in sleep, when her will cannot control her thoughts, she is piteously afflicted by the memory of one stain of blood upon her little hand. (792) In Macbeth as the Imitation of an Action Francis Fergusson specifies the fears within Lady Macbeth: I do not need to remind you of the great scenes preceding the murder, in which Macbeth and his Lady pull themselves together for their desperate effort. If you think over these scenes, you will notice that the Macbeths understand the action which begins here as a competition and a stunt, against reason and against nature. Lady Macbeth fears her husbands human nature, as well as her own female nature, and therefore she fears the light of reason and the common dayllight world. As for Macbeth, he knows from the first that he is engaged in an irrational stunt: I have no spur / To prick the sides of my intent, but only / Vaulting ambition, which oerleaps itself / And falls on the other. In this sequence there is also the theme of outwitting or transcendingShow MoreRelatedThe Gender Roles Of William Shakespeare s The Tragedy Of Macbeth 989 Words   |  4 PagesThe gender roles in William Shakespeare’s, The Tragedy of Macbeth are made clear from the very first act. Masculinity is a ssociated with strength, bravery, ruthlessness and apathy while femininity is usually coupled with docility, fragility and reliance. Gender, and the behavior expected from each, is a constant motif that reappears throughout the play. 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