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In this scene we are introduced to Lady Macbeth. Unlike her husband whom we saw as a valiant soldier
and one whom all Scotland honoured as its saviour, Lady Macbeth is presented as a cunning manipulator.
Indeed, she's a ruthless woman who will stop at nothing to attain her objectives. From the very first word
she speaks, one realises that murder is never far from her mind.
THE SCHEMING OF LADY MACBETH
Macbeth's visit to the witches puts him in a state of mental vacillation. They had promised him the crown
but didn't say how he would obtain it.
Lady Macbeth puts all doubt out of mind. The moment she receives her husband's letter explaining his
strange visit to the witches, she jumps to an immediate conclusion that her husband will indeed be king
although he must murder Duncan to win the crown.
At the same time, she realises that Macbeth has a loyal nature. He has the ambition to become king but
not the courage to murder.
She decides that it will be her task to manipulate him into the deed. To do this, she calls upon all the evil
spirits in the world to fill her with absolute cruelty, that no hint of kindness will remain in her body.
When Macbeth arrives and announces that Duncan intends to spend the night in their castle, Lady
Macbeth leaps into action. She immediately instructs her husband how to act so that he will not be
suspected of any foul plans.
The audience knows that, with such an introduction, Macbeth has little chance to resist. He will be coaxed
and bullied into murder.
We are also presented with a man who would appear to be much weaker than his wife -- or is her
strength merely a facade to hide a softer inner nature?
Have you looked at the questions in the right column?
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TEST YOURSELF!
Read the left column and then answer the following questions:
"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! make thick my blood;
Stop up the access and passage to remorse,
That no compunctious visitings of nature
Shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between
The effect and it!"
- When Lady Macbeth calls on the evil spirits to "unsex" her and fill her "top-full of direst
cruelty", what does she mean? (4)
[Need help?]
A woman is traditionally thought of as being a gentle person, kind-hearted and tender.
A man, on the other hand, has been traditionally thought of as a fighter, hard and ruthless by nature, and
without emotion and capable of doing dreadful deeds.
Yet it is Lady Macbeth who calls on the evil spirits to take away her woman's soft nature and give her the
characteristics of a man, capable of committing the worst possible atrocity.
She defies every characteristic that one would expect to find in a woman.
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- Why does Lady Macbeth call on the spirits to "make thick her blood"? (4)
[Need help?]
The heart was thought of as being the centre of the emotions. The emotions would then be taken through
the body by means of the blood.
If her blood were to be made thick, it would mean that these emotions would not be able to travel. She
would therefore be emotionless and hard.
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"Come to my woman's breasts,
And take my milk for gall, you murd'ring ministers."
- What does Lady Macbeth mean by these words? (6)
[Need help?]
A woman's breasts are traditionally the centre of compassion and kindness. They are a place where the
baby sucks, where it bonds with its mother.
Indeed, mother's milk is the metaphor for everything that is good, sweet and holy.
Lady Macbeth, however, calls upon the spirits to change all this by transforming her milk into gall or
vinegar -- something which is bitter.
She is calling on the spirits to reverse her womanhood and turn it into something quite dreadful.
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"Come, thick night,
And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell,
That my keen knife see not the wound it makes,
Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark
To cry 'Hold, hold!' "
- Lady Macbeth, by use of these words, is clearly allying herself with the powers of Hell. Explain how
this is so. (6)
[Need help?]
Lady Macbeth calls upon the thick smoke which rises up out of hell to hide all her actions.
Indeed, the smoke must be so thick that even her sharp knife itself will not be able to see the hole it
makes in Duncan's body.
It will be a smoke so thick that the stars of heaven -- symbols of holiness, goodness and purity -- will
not be able to see what she is doing, nor would heaven be able to stop her.
Note that Lady Macbeth appears to be contemplating murdering the king herself!
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Lady Macbeth has been described as a fourth witch.
- Is this title a fitting one? Explain. (30)
[Need help?]
In order to answer this question fully, one has to consider all sides of the question:
- Lady Macbeth, like the three witches, has a dramatic effect on her husband, relentlessly driving him
towards murder, calling on the powers of darkness to assist her. Be able to expand fully on this, giving
lots of examples.
- On the other hand, you need to be able to examine the powers of a witch: working magic; foretelling
the future; associating with other witches, etc.
Does Lady Macbeth do any of this? Not really. And so it would indeed be wrong to describe her as being
a witch.
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Who reveals the stronger character at this stage of the play: Macbeth or Lady Macbeth? Explain your
answer. (10)
[Need help?]
There does seem to be a weakness in Macbeth's make-up, doesn't there?
He is so brave that he can single-handedly destroy the Norwegian forces, and yet he is unable to resist
the wiles and persuasions of his wife.
On the other hand, Lady Macbeth is strong, ruthless and thoroughly evil. Or is she? If this were true, why
would she have nightmares later in the play -- and eventually commit suicide?
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"O, never
Shall sun that morrow see!
Your face, my thane, is as a book where men
May read strange matters. To beguile the time,
Look like the time; bear welcome in your eye,
Your hand, your tongue: look like the innocent flower,
But be the serpent under't. He that's coming
Must be provided for: and you shall put
This night's great business into my dispatch;
Which shall to all our nights and days to come
Give solely sovereign sway and masterdom."
- What advice does Lady Macbeth give to Macbeth in these lines? (4)
[Need help?]
Her advice to Macbeth is fairly obvious: not to show anxiety in any way but on the contrary to look
innocent and friendly. He must be deadly like the snake but take on the appearance of a beautiful but
harmless flower.
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