Thursday, October 23, 2008

Ruthless Lady Macbeth

~"Yet I do fear thy nature./ It is too full o'th' milk of human kindness/ To catch the nearest way. Thou wouldst be great/, Art not without ambition, but without/ the illness should attend it"
- Macbeth Act 1, scene 5

Here in Act 1 the audience is introduced to Lady Macbeth as the unusually ruthless, masculine woman behind Macbeth. In the passage she expresses her doubt that Macbeth would be able to do what is necessary to secure the throne for himself, stating that he is not "wicked" enough and is too "human". She agrees that he has ambition but fears he does not have the will it takes to carry out the necessary murder.

Lady Macbeth is an unusually strong willed woman who pushes Macbeth to commit murder and act as an absolute ruler. This is ironic because she, being a woman, would never be able to outwardly show her ruthless ambition but possesses it nonetheless. In a way, it seems as though Lady Macbeth is responsible for the pairs success although she will never be able to gain as much respect and praise as a man would in the same situation. It is her ultimate tragedy that she will never be able to be a man, no matter how she tries to embody the character.

Jade Arvizu

No comments: