Relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth in Act 1.
After reading the first act, I’m sure we all agree that the
relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth is very interesting. At the
beginning of scene 5, we meet Lady Macbeth through Macbeth’s letter to his wife.
From the letter, we can clearly see that Macbeth trusts and adores Lady Macbeth,
whom he calls “[his] dearest partner of greatness” (line 9, pg 15). I also find
it interesting that Macbeth wrote his letter in nonrhythmic speech, forming a stark
contrast to the iambic pentameter that the characters speak in. This form of speech
commonly represents the tone of plebeians in Shakespeare, so writing this way
could also symbolize that Macbeth trusts Lady Macbeth and doesn’t have to keep
up the appearance of a nobleman in front of her.
Later in the scenes, we recognize Lady Macbeth to be dominant
in the relationship, and at times seems more manly than Macbeth, who allows
himself to be controlled by his wife and does everything at her bidding. In
this act, Lady Macbeth is portrayed as a strong, ambitious and remorseless character
who seems to have no conscience while Macbeth’s vaulting ambitions to become king
wavers in front of his good heart and conscience. At the end of the act
however, Lady Macbeth successfully convinces Macbeth to carry out the plans to
kill King Duncan and together they plot out a scheme to place the blame on Duncan’s
guards.
Is it possible that Macbeth doesn't write in meter to his wife because he doesn't respect her and addresses her with less attention than to everyone else? Spoiler Alert when she dies, Macbeth doesn't seem to be upset and says it was actually good that she dies. This interpretation changes based on how you read "she should have died hereafter."
ReplyDeleteI agree with your idea that Lady Macbeth seems to dominate the relationship. This is more than likely due to Shakespeare's feminist lens throughout some of his works.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that surprised me about that letter scene was how easily Lady Macbeth accepting the prophecy that Macbeth was to become king. He met bearded witches--she just got a letter saying he was told he would be king. I think this says a lot about her character that she instantly starts plotting to make him king.
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