Macbeth Analysis Essay

The extract before me is from Macbeth written by William Shakespeare in the year 1606. It is from Act 1 Sc 7. It takes place in a room at Macbeth’s castle at Inverness. The extract primarily deals with the ploys that Lady Macbeth uses to persuade her husband Macbeth to commit the crime of murdering King Duncan. Two important themes are bought out in this extract, one is about the creation of gender roles and stereotypes and the second one is about appearances often being deceptive. The extract begins with Macbeth telling Lady Macbeth â€Å"We shall proceed no further in this business†. This is obviously referring to something which has happened before in the scene. Macbeth has been contemplating the consequences of this murder. He conceives a very apocalyptic vision of how the angels of heaven are gonna be coming and spreading the news of this murder all across. The angels are gonna be pleading for Duncan’s virtues and the people are gonna be actually crying and there be like a flood of tears which will drown the Earth. So, he tells Lady Macbeth that he does not wish to do away with his golden reputation, he does not want to lose its gloss and therefore, he does not want to proceed with the bloody business as he calls it. Lady Macbeth is obviously very affected by this and she ends up trying to accuse Macbeth of being unmanly. She uses adjectives like â€Å"pale†, â€Å"green†. She compares him to â€Å"the poor cat in the adage†. She is trying to drive the wedge between him and his doing and his desire to achieve the throne and his lack of action. Now, Lady Macbeth says, â€Å"what beast was it then that made you break this enterprise to me†. This is a reference to Act 1, Sc 5 because in Act 1 Sc 5, Macbeth tells Lady Macbeth about the prophecies that the witches had made and how he is supposed to become t he King of Scotland after becoming the Thane of Cawdor. Now, Lady Macbeth is just wedging upon those lines saying that â€Å"when you dared to commit this to me, that is when you were a man† and now if you are actually gonna commit the deed of murder, you are gonna commit the heinous crime of regicide, you will be even more the man. Lady Macbeth reasons out that the time and the place were not appropriate to kill Duncan at that time but now since he has come into our battlements, he is in our castle as our guest, we are supposed to kill him. Lady Macbeth is surprised that Macbeth is losing his resolve at this time. Lady Macbeth goes on to create a very grotesque image that shows that the milk of human kindness is actually not present in her. She says that she has suckled the baby at her breast and she knows â€Å"how tender it is to love the babe that milks me† and she says that if she had ever said that she had committed to anyone that I am going to be killing my child, she would have actually plucked his mouth out of her nipple and dashed his brains out against the wall. This is a very grotesque image produced by Lady Macbeth has produced. This makes it clear to us that Lady Macbeth has been dehumanised, defeminised in all ways. Thus, she has achieved her wish which she asked from the spirits. She is totally unwomanly and does not have any maternal instincts. She is actually a reminder of the character Medea from the play Medea written by Euripedes because Medea had self-decided to kill her own children. Now, we see that the scene has become progressively darker with Lady Macbeth creating images of death and Macbeth ends up contemplating the possible consequences if we should fail. We should see that there are several times when Macbeth and Lady Macbeth talk about each other as being one. They perpetually use ‘we’. Macbeth has never said that ‘i’ am gonna fail at the murder. He says that ‘we’ should fail. This shows that there is a sense of togetherness and they are partners not only in greatness but also in crime. So, Lady Macbeth immediately retaliates but then at this time there is a shift in tone. It becomes much more pragmatic because she divulges the plan of the murder to Macbeth. There is a metaphor used over here, it’s about stringed instruments, now just as you take the string and you create the appropriate tension by tying it to the right peg. Similarly, Lady Macbeth expects that Macbeth decides to be headstrong and resolute and decides to screw his courage to the sticking place. If he does so, they will certainly not fail. She goes on to discuss the plan of murder with Macbeth. She says that when Duncan will be asleep and in all probability, he is likely to sleep due to his long journey. The two sentinels outside his room are gonna be intoxicated by Lady Macbeth using wine, drugs. She will make sure that they are so drunk that they will lose thier memory which has been described as â€Å"the warder of the brain†. The receipt of reason will not be there. Reason will actually be distilled out of their brains. They will not be able to understand anything. They will actually behave like swine and sleeping in that manner. Lady Macbeth sees it as golden opportunity to perform the murder. She once again, as I said, talks about them being one. She says â€Å"what cannot you and I perform upon the unguarded Duncan?† when in fact the murder is going to be committed by Macbeth alone. Lady Macbeth is obviously very important partner in his crime. Now, Lady Macbeth further tells him that they are gonna be taking the daggers and staining the officers with the blood. She expects the officers â€Å"to bear the guilt of our great quell. Now, the use of the word â€Å"guilt† over here is very important and it is also very ironic because it is not like they do not do away with thier guilt ever. In fact, they leave in torment of the very murder. Lady Macbeth in Act 5, Sc 1 in the sleep-walking soliloquy is a woman who has completely lost her senses. She is leaving under intense emotional pressure and she is the one who is not able to sleep anymore. So, it shows that they are actually guilty of the crime. Macbeth himself in Act 2 Sc 2 does not wish to even go back to the scene of the crime again. So, it shows that even though they are gonna be staining the sentinels with blood. In fact, both of them are gonna be living in horror of the deed. Now, Macbeth seems to be quite convinced and he asks Lady Macbeth to bring forward male children only because the â€Å"undaunted mettle should compose nothing but males†. Now, this is very significant because it is about the creation of the gender stereotypes. In the Shakespearean area, it was expected of men to be embodiment of valour, courage and ruthlessness to some extent and woman on the other hand were expected to be more submissive and incapable of coming up with wicked plans. However Lady Macbeth is an exception to this rule because she comes across as one who is so resolute and cold, so devoid of pity that this is something which should be there only in men. Macbeth once again questions his wife and asks her that if they are gonna marking the two sleepy sentinels with blood, would it not see that they have done it. Lady Macbeth says that while they will be hysterically crying and lamenting the death of Duncan, suspicion will never fall upon them. Macbeth finally capitulates to all its wife’s persuasions and he seems to have â€Å"bend up each corporal agent to this terrible feat†. This is a very important line in the building up of the tragic hero because Macbeth is gonna be himself responsible for his fate. He has decided to put his heart and soul into committing so heinous a crime and he is indeed gonna be bearing indeed the consequences of it as we see later in the play. The scene ends with a couplete that rhymes which is typical of Shakespeare. It says that â€Å"Away, and mock the time with fairest show: false face must hide what the false heart doth know. So, it recounts the theme that appearances are often deceptive. This theme has been running throughout the play. It all began with King Duncan in Act 1 Sc 2 when he wished that he would be able to recognise people by simply looking at their faces. It is also present in Act 1 Sc 5 when Lady Macbeth asks her husband to â€Å"look like the innocent flower but be the serpent under it†. This time Macbeth is the one who is actually telling his wife that she is suppose to be having composure, she is suppose to conceal her ulterior motives and her false face must hide the real intentions that she has. In conclusion, i can say that there is a big contrast between the characters of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Macbeth is the one who is contemplating the fear of failure. He says that we should fail, what would happen. He is no doubt ambitious but at the same time he also comes across as a rational being.