Is this an accurate assessment of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth? Essay

In retrospect Macbeth does not embody the traits of a assassinate at the start of the childs play however the chain of events he and his wife set in motion, changes him into a remorseless killer. A butcher by trade kills for necessity, shows no remorse or conscience and is pitiless.However, Macbeth is persuaded by his selfish, ambitious wife to coif these terrible deeds against his moral standards. Once Macbeth crosses the moral boundary of taking someones life, he loses all sense of right and wrong. A domino effect is created whereby the loss of one life mechanically leads on to mass murder in that he tries to eliminate all contenders to the throne i.e. the slaughter of the starks (Macduffs wife and children).During the course of the play, Macbeth and his wife retain a role reversal-she develops a conscience after her sign lust for blood and descends into madness whereupon she kills herself. She is no longer the fiend-like faggot, but a pathetic creature wide of the mark of delusions (Out, damned spot) who almost demands pity from the onlooker. Macbeth however, has taken total control of the situation and cannot step anchor now that he has gone so far. Lady Macbeths statement,Whats done cannot be undone, is reserve here. Consequently, Macduffs quotation, This dead butcher and fiend-like queen, is not wholly true.Upon hearing of the witches prophecies, Lady Macbeth instantly conspires to locomote up events so that Macbeth becomes king quickly. She believes that she is speeding up fate, but all she is in fact doing is acting out the prophecy exactly. He lacks the necessary ruthlessness that accompanies ambition- Thou wouldst be great,Art not without ambition, but withoutThe illness should attend itbut she can supply that for him. She is fiend-like in the way she manipulates her maintain, a shrew brow-beating him into these acts. He is merely her instrument carrying through her plans. At the moment, she is the power behind the throne. At face value, she is egging on her husband for what looks to be his hold gains, but it is her ambition to be the most powerful woman in Scotland. She is furthering her own ambitious plans perhaps wanting to rule the country through Macbeth. It is ironic when she says,Look like the innocent flowerBut be the serpent undert,as she herself is the serpent, the brains behind the plan. He slavishly does her bidding despite having some misgivings, We will proceed no further in this traffic. She undermines his manhood using it as a weapon against him,When you durst do it, then you were a manAnd, to be more than what you were, you wouldBe so much more the man.She adopts the masculine characteristics of courage, strength and determination and encourages him to proceed with the actions. She bolsters his sapless ego. Although he has slain many people in battle, he is known to be a firm servant and is afraid of being branded a traitor. He recognises Duncans valued opinion of him,He hath honoured me of lat e,but with his wifes repeated charges of being thought a coward he, like a hen-pecked husband, agrees to her plan.It is really after Banquos murder that his mental frailty is displayed. His visions of the mutilated corpse, that are only unmistakable to him, unhinge him, but he shows perception in recognising that his murderous behaviour is out of the norm for him when he states,My strange and self-abuseIs the initiate fear that wants hard useWe are yet but spring chicken in deed.He views himself as an amateur, but believes that with more murderous experiences the terrible visions will disappear. This is the life-and-death point at which the led becomes the leader. Macbeth now takes control of his own destiny while Lady Macbeth becomes the babelike casualty. From this realisation, Lady Macbeth assumes a lesser role in the play and fades into the background. Her rampant ambition and calculated plans have brought her no lasting joy or pleasure. Although she has achieved her dreams of being queen, her mental state is now of a hag-ridden soul she suffers from insomnia, is haunted by ghastly visions of the dead, performs an obsessional washing of hands,What, will these hands neer be clean?and suicidal thoughts dominate her existence. It is here that she loses the tag of fiend-like queen and becomes more human in her inability to cope with what she has seen. Although she put in motion the sequence of events, she is now unable to cope with the consequences. The in one case proud, domineering woman has become a shadowher spectral appearances in a nightgown carrying a candle show her changed into a waif like creature inhabiting the darker recesses of a turbulent mind. Its ticklish not to feel some sympathy for her slumbery agitation. This is no fiend but a troubled soul whose only hope of peace is death.While neither character is portrayed in an attractive light, Shakespeare graphically shows a descent into insanity and the ultimate tragic end in the invite for p ower. Against ones better nature, a degree of empathy for Macbeth and his wife emerges so that the label butcher and fiend-like queen does not seem appropriate at the conclusion of the play.