- Lady Macbeth seems like a different person from the character at the beginning of the play; find one quotation that illustrates this change and explain why it is significant.
- (Can you find a parallel Lady Macbeth quotation from the beginning of the play that illustrates the same personality trait before the change? - If you can I can adjust a previous blog grade, marking this response as extra credit.)
- Why does Macbeth treat everyone so badly? Why would anyone continue to support him?
- Response due Monday, September 28.
Friday, September 25, 2009
After Act V of Macbeth
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Lady Macbeth is overridden by guilt by the last act. She realizes that she was indirectly responsible for all three murders. It was she who pushed Macbeth into killing Duncan, and once Macbeth realized that he was capable of murdering, he had Banquo and Macduff's family killed. If she hadn't put that idea in his head, none of this would have happened. It was as if she planted the seed of murder in his head, and even though he was the one who allowed for it to grow, she was still responsible because she was the one who nourished and took care of the seed. In act V, Lady Macbeth says: "What, will these hands ne'er be clean? No more o' that my lord, no more o' that!" (V i 46-48) As before she knew and took responsibility knowingly about Duncan's death, now shes worried about how her hands and soul would never be clean from the homocides she committed. This is significant because at first, she didn't care about the guilt, she cared about that power. Now instead of power being stronger over guilt, her guilt is much stronger than the power, it's as if she's realized that it all wasn't worth it.
Also, it is interesting because both in one of the earlier act and in Act V, she says "What is done cannot be undone" (V i 70-71). The first time she says it, she says it to comfort Macbeth, but the second time she says it in her sleep, shes repeating it to herself as if saying "there is no turning back". She says the same thing, but having different feelings about it in two different times in the play.
Macbeth treats everyone so badly because he is already embittered by what he has done. He's lost respect for himself and thus has lost respect for everyone who surrounded him. Nobody would want to continue to support Macbeth because of the way he treated them. It is almost as if they realized he was responsible for everyone's deaths, after all, many deaths were occuring when he obtained the throne. They could see everything was going downhill, and once they realized that Malcolm was coming back, they prefered being loyal to the true, rightful heir of the throne than to Macbeth
Ever since the beginning of the play, lady Macbeth has had a somewhat obsessive personality. When hearing of the witches’ prophecies regarding her husband’s fortune, she immediately becomes engrossed in her plans to ensure Macbeth’s crown, going to any and all means to accomplish her goals. In Act Five, however, her obsesive ambition has turned into guilt. She is overcome by halucinations, haunted by her past bloody deeds: ¨What, will these hands ne’er be clean?¨ (V, i, 46). The once headstrong woman is now fragile and unstable, having broken her own spirit by taking her ambition (and her husband’s ambition) much too far. When at first it was Macbeth who marveled at Duncan’s blood, it was her who told him to ¨wash this filty wetness from [his] hands¨ (I, ii, 46). Now, in Act Five, she spends her time washing, time and time again, hands that will never again be clean.
Macbeth, on the other hand, has somehow adapted a forceful personality that is more akin to that of Lady Macbeth in the initial acts. He is brutal and tyrannic, desperately clinging to the kingship that is slipping from his hands. He behaves so horribly because he believes he has no one to fear, for ¨none of woman born shall harm [him]¨ (IV, i, 80). However, very few of his subjects remain loyal to him, a fact that is evident in the scenes depicting the final battle, where it is mentioned that members of Macbeth’s army are now fighting for that of Malcom. In the end, both Macbeth and his wife end up losing it all simply because they sought it so ambitiously.
Lady Macbeth has drastically changed at the end of the play. In the beginning, she was strong and powerful, but towards the end, she is fragile and weak. This is due to the amount of guilt she has for taking part in Duncan’s, Banquo’s and Macduff’s family’s murders. Although, she was only directly responsible for Duncan’s murder, she knows, deep inside, that it was she who started all the killings by telling Macbeth to murder the King. So she was obviously wrong when she said she would ¨wash this filthy wetness from [his] hands¨ (I, ii, 46), referring to the blood, because that filthy witness could be washed away superficially, but deep inside, it would always be bothering her. In reality, she end up thinking to herself: ¨What, will these hands ne’er be clean?¨ (V, i, 46) because she realized her mistakes couldn’t be undone.
Macbeth behaves so disrespectfully to everyone around him in the later Acts because he has adopted a conceited personality due to his belief that no one could take his power from him. He feels overly secure of himself and gives little importance to his subjects. Everyone around him is unwilling to support him anymore because they realized how irrationally Macbeth was acting; they preferred to answer to a better, more righteous leader, Macduff.
Lady Macbeth feels so guitly about being the trigger in all of these 3 murders that she sleepwalks and confesses to every single murder. She becomes paranoid and mentally ill-leading to her eventual death since her disorder cannot be cured. Lady Macbeth is obsessed with having clean hands and a soul-but she knows it is impossible after all their reckless acts-"All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand!" (V i 55). Lady Macbeth knows that they have chosen their fate-there is nothing they can do to change it. It has been a snowball effect that she started since she was the first to encourage Macbeth to kill Duncan and filled his heart with ambition.
At the beginning of the play lady macbeth says right after Macbeth killed duncan "These deeds must not be thought after these ways; so it will make us mad" (II ii 32-33). In act V we can see that as if prophecized, she did become mad. she pointlessly tries to attain some peace of mind through "washing" her bloody hands. At the end we can see that Duncan is in fact well at peace, he fares way better than Macbeth and his wife.
Macbeth is so mean to everyone around him because he is insecure-he can no longer trust anyone since all of the lords have been leaving to join Malcolm and Macduff in England. He needs to keep the little followers he has and he does this through fear and torment. An example of a lord that fled is Ross, who joined Macduff when Macbeth failed to name him thane. Most people continue to support Macbeth because they are scared of this tyrant and of the atrocities he commits-after all Macbeth doth murder sleep. If you flee and support someone else like Macduff did, your family, wife and babes, are killed viciously. if you stay there, you will eventually suffer defeat when Birnam wood comes to Dunsinane.
In the beginning of the play Lady Macbeth is a strong self assured woman who fights for what she wants. After she first heard of the witches profecy of Macbeth becoming king she decided to pursuade Macbeth into killing Duncan. She viewed this murder as a simple act that would bring her power and luxury. She was in control of Macbeth and conviced him to do this simple deed. In Act five, Lady Macbeth is no longer in control of her husband or her life. She is overcome by guilt and knows that all the murders happened because of her one decision to kill Duncan. "What, will these hands ne'er be clean?...You mar all with this starting." (V i 39-41) With this quote she realizes that she is responsible for all three murders and represents how she lost control of her life through her one desire.
When Lady Macbeth says "Give me your hand. What's done cannot be undone." (V i 60-61) It is her taking control over the situation as she did before in the beginning of the play.It is her taking care of and ordering Macbeth to do what needed to be done and believing that it would only be this one act that would get them what they wanted.
Macbeth treats everyone so badly because he is so overridden with guilt and fear he could no longer trust anyone and lost all kindess to his personality. People continued to support him because by that thime they had figured out that he was responsible for the murders of Duncan, Banquo and the Macduff family and many feared that if they did not follow him he would murder them as well. Macbeth may have also promised each of them somthing that they couldnt resist as he did with Ross so they continue to follow him in hopes of him fulfilling his promises.
In the beginning of the play Lady Macbeth was the one persuading Macbeth into committing the ugly deed. She was the strong and confident one of the couple. “A foolish thought to say a sorry sight.” (II, ii, 21) She did not feel remorse over the doing. As the story progresses we can see that there is a drastic change in her. In act V she has gone mad and confesses the murders to a doctor. Something that she had not grasped before ends up with her death, which is regret. “… My lord, no more o’ that! You mar all with this starting.”(V, i, 47-48) “Here’s the smell of blood still. All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand.” (V, i, 53-54). Now, they have switched roles and it is Macbeth the fearless one. Macbeth has become so mean to everyone because now he has power, he feels daunted and brave. Due to the witches’ forecast he feels undefeatable. “… If you want to test a man’s character, give him power” (Abraham Lincoln) Having power is not easy, it makes you want more and more each time and it makes you feel reckless. You have to learn to stay modest and to know that power does not make you superior to others.
Unlike the Lady Macbeth who said to “look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under’t” (I,v,64), the Lady Macbeth now seems like a completely different person. At the beginning of Act five, Lady Macbeth says “Out, damned spot; out, I say. One, two… Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?” (V, i, 31-35) when she sleepwalks in the castle. At the beginning of the play, Lady Macbeth was the strong one and had a better sense of purpose than Macbeth and she even was the one who pushed Macbeth into the evil deed. When Macbeth said that it was impossible to clean his blood off his hands after he killed Duncan, Lady Macbeth was the one that told him “a little water clears us of this deed” (II,ii,65). Unlike the Lady Macbeth before, she now starts to hallucinate and see blood. She becomes completely out of mind and body due to guilt and becomes mad, weak, and hollow. This is significant since blood symbolizes guilt and Lady Macbeth becomes overwhelmed by guilt unlike before where guilt and murder was nothing to her when power was the trophy. The quote before of a “little water clears us of this deed” is a parallel to her state now since she believes that cleaning the blood of her hand will clear off the guilt and so she constantly tries cleaning her hands when she hallucinates blood on her hands. In act three, Lady Macbeth herself even states that “’tis safer to be that which we destroy than by destruction dwell in doubtful joy” (III,ii,6). This shows that Lady Macbeth feels the pressure and the guilt building up.
In brief, the partner of greatness turned out to be a hallucinating guilt/blood obsessed weak person unlike the power obsessed strong woman before.
Macbeth treats everyone so badly because he gained power and full confidence, plus the witches prophecy/apparitions convinced him that he was “invincible” so he becomes tyrannical and exercises his power. He is mean since he believes that nothing can go against him so he has no respect to others. Anyone would continue to support him since he is the tyrant; you will never know what kind of punishment/death will lead for disobeying. Plus, people support him since they are afraid of death and tragedy like the Macduffs.
At the beginning of the Scottish play, Lady Macbeth is the dominant character in the Macbeth relationship. She has more of the characteristics of a "man" while Macbeth has those of a woman. Later on, guilt corrodes her once "white" heart and blood taints it- she becomes weak and her mental abilities fail. At the beginning, she says "a little water clears us of this deed" (II, ii, 734); later on, though, she curses the imaginary spot and cannot get it off of her hands: "will these hands ne'er be clean?" (V,i,167)
The parallel quote (or the actual reliving of the scene in her sleeping mind) goes "Retire we to our chamber;
A little water clears us of this deed:
How easy is it, then! Your constancy
Hath left you unattended.
Hark! more knocking.
Get on your nightgown, lest occasion call us,
And show us to be watchers. Be not lost
So poorly in your thoughts."(II,ii,733-741)
"Wash your hands, put on your nightgown; look not so pale.—I tell you yet again, Banquo's buried; he cannot come out on's grave. To bed, to bed! there's knocking at the gate:come, come, come, come, give me your hand. What's done cannot be undone.—To bed, to bed, to bed!" (V,i, 2184-2191) In these lines she is acting as she did before- taking the situation by the horns and dealing with the fact that what they did cannot be undone.
Macbeth treats others badly because he is way over his head with being king. He doesn't really know how to handle royal matters, his heart and soul are shattered, and he is both afraid and secure (somehow) of his rule- the sisters told him (or at least he interpreted) that no one would be a threat to him, but he must have noticed that his ex-loyals were leaving him. He knows he will not be king forever (the witches predicted Banquo's succesors anyhow) so he's distressed that his ambition will not be fully fullfilled. They are probably afraid of him, or just don't know any better than to be loyal to the crown.
Since Lady Macbeth read the letter from his husband in Act 1 we have seen her in an atypical position compared to other women of the time. She assumes a more male directed role, which doesn’t match with her delicacy and pureness which is a result of the equal relationship she supposedly has with Macbeth . Ironically she seems more confident and determined than Macbeth since as soon as she read the letter she began to plan plot murder of king Duncan, and even after the deed she keeps herself calm and free form anxieties unlike Macbeth who is unable cope, and go back and return the daggers, which later lady Macbeth ends up doing. By act five roles flip over. Macbeth acquires a sense of power and confidence accompanied with the sinister he acquired from the murder of king Duncan, banquo, and Macduff’s family, which are reinforced by his visit to the witches “Bring me no more reports; let them fly all:Till Birnam wood remove to Dunsinane,I cannot taint with fear. What's the boy Malcolm?Was he not born of woman? The spirits that knowAll mortal consequences have pronounced me thus:
'Fear not, Macbeth; no man that's born of woman Shall e'er have power upon thee.'”(act V.iii.1-7). In the other hand lady Macbeth rejoins the stereotype of women being fragile since she is completely broke down by guilt “Here's the smell of the blood still: all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand.”(act V.i.46-47) and is on a state which the doctor describes as incurable, which at the end culminates in her suicide.
The tendency suggests that as Macbeth kills his sense of power and confidence increases negatively. This sinister is a direct result of his long struggle with his insecurities because after each killing, I believe, he constantly needs reminder that he’s actually the king of Scotland and the only way to prove it, other than the bloody deeds, is by exercising his superiority on others inferior to him. Although Macbeth won everyone’s trust at the beginning of the play, he after being named king doesn’t rise for the occasion, since a great leader is the one who shows his trustiness and reliability continuously, and after being named king Macbeth is worried more about himself(guilt), which turns him into a tyrant, than of his reign( ironically is what he wanted in the first place) which leads to his ultimate downfall.
By the end of the play, Lady Macbeth has changed in the sense that she is now weak and over riden by guilt. At the begining of the novel she is the one that pushes Macbeth to persuit power. She says: "look like the innocent flower, But be the serpent under't." (I v 66). Thisline show her strenght and ambition. By the end of the novel, as her conscience is filthy, she cries out in despair ¨What, will these hands ne’er be clean?¨ (V, i, 46). This demonstrates her change in attitude. Power is no longer her main goal. By the end of the play the guilt is so strong in her mind that she commits suicide.
Macbeth on the other hand, towards the end starts treating everyone as scum. This is mainkly becase as Lord Acton said:"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely". And also as one of the witches prophesy said that no man born of woman wuld ever kill him he is overly confident of his power. Thus, he thinks he does not need anyone and treats the badly. at the end he has no one by his side tu support him. We can see this mainly in Ross's decision of leaving to join the other army. Likewise all of the poeple that used to work with him abandon him up to the extent that he is left to fight Duncans son by himself.
The guilt of her blood stained hands haunts Lady Macbeth, and has changed her completely from the strong-willed woman she was before. During her sleep, Lady Macbeth wanders about listlessly, acting out once more the moments after the murders that were committed, specifically Banquo's. The thane of Fife had a wife. "Where is she now?—what, will these hands ne'er be clean?"- She asks, refering to Banquo's wife and wondering what has become of her (V i 46-48). Her mind has clearly been shaken, and she is obviously heavily burdened with the memories of her past actions. This contrasts significantly with her earlier attitude, which was one of strength and defiance in the face of risk. It is she who urges Macbeth to "wash the filthy wetness from [his] hands" (I, ii, 46) after murdering the king. In the earlier acts she is the one who takes the masculine role in the relationship, whereas Macbeth simply allows himself to be led, not taking the initiative till later on.
**It is also interesting that, Lady Macbeth proved to be much more adept at being the "man" in the relationship than Macbeth was.
Macbeth is resentful of his predicament and his position as well as his experiences have made him harsh and have hardened him to a point where he is cruel and spiteful towards others. His subjects serve him only out of fear, and at the end most of them desert to the opposing army.
In act 5, Lady Macbeth has become insane. She has adopted a weird habit of sleepwalking through the castle and she also talks about certain past events. For example, she confesses to the murders of King Duncan, and regrets the deaths of Lady Macduff and Banquo. She also says things like: “Out damned spot; out, I say….yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?”(V,I,38-43) She is different from act 1 because in act 1, she possessed a stronger sense of purpose in killing King Duncan than Macbeth himself, and she was the real driving force behind Duncan’s murder. She had regretted the fact that so many murders occurred, and had therefore become insane. In contrast, in the beginning, when Macbeth was repenting murdering Duncan, Lady Macbeth told him: “a little water clears us of this deed” (II,ii, 66). Now, however, she is the one who cannot stop seeing blood on her hands and she is also regretting the murders. She now has a strong feeling of guilt and has become mad.
The reason why Macbeth is treating everyone so badly is because he believes that he is safe in his throne because of the predictions he heard from the witches. He is also treating everyone badly because he is also becoming insane and consumed by his love for power. He has become a man consumed by his needs and desires, and he only cares about being king of Scotland and maintaining it that way.
“The thane of Fife had a wife. Where is she now? What, will these hands ne’er be clean?” (IIIII, I, 45-46) This shows us that Lady Macbeth is obviously afflicted by her husband’s acts she cannot stand it anymore. She is sleepwalking and traumatized by the following acts that her husband chooses to do after killing Duncan. At first she seems to encourage Macbeth in killing Duncan, she even assisted him in the deed. This may be the very reason for the person she has become; she knows that she was an accomplice to all the deaths of Duncan, Banquo, and the wife and babes of Macduff. “Come, come, come, come, give me your hand! What’s done cannot be undone” (IIIII, I, 70-71) Lady Macbeth knows that what has happened cannot be undone and her saying this implies that she wishes it would had never happened. However being an accomplice in these acts, leads her to her death. In the beginning of the play lady Macbeth says “these deeds must not be thought after these ways; so, it will make us mad” (II, II, 33-34) this is ironic because in the end she does drive herself mad thinking of those deeds. Macbeth is treating everyone so badly because he knows his own prophecy and he can’t stand to watch it unfold before him; he is scared, for he knows his destiny. As the act goes on the end comes closer and closer for him, and Macbeth realizes that. His last hope is when Birnam woods approaches Dunsinane, where he accepts his fate. I believe people continue to support him to be faithful but it doesn’t mean they agree with what he was doing. I believe people felt also a little bit of pity for Macbeth was going insane and Lady Macbeth had committed suicide. There was also fear, Macbeth’s temper made people fear him, but his behaviour made people feel sorry for him.
The change in Lady Macbeth's character is shocking. At the beginning of the play, she controls Macbeth and is the brain in the couple, but as the play comes to its end she becomes innocent an lost. The guilt she experiences for her numerous murders makes her become so weak. Her change can be seen throughout the following lines: in the opening scenes she advices Macbeth to "look like the innocent flower, But be the serpent under't." (I, v, 66). Here, she proves to be strong and confident. However, as the guilt starts to invade her, and she cannot erase the thought of murder from her hand: “Here’s the smell of blood still. All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand.” (V, i, 53-54). She has completely lost control over herself.
Macbeth, on the other hand, gains more confidence as the story evolves. Mainly because of the witches' prophecy that stated that no man born on woman can never kill him, he is let off from the fear of death and starts to treat everyone with no heart. What mainly leads Macbeth to this change is his ambition. The more the witches told him about his future, the more he wanted to obtain. He experienced a never-ending zeal that ended up killing him.
There is an obvious parallel in between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth: Macbeth goes from fragile to powerful, while Lady Macbeth goes from dominant to weak.
Lady Macbeth is completely taken over by her guilt. she is so consumed by it that it has driven her mad and ultimately led her to her death. She is the one that changed Macbeth. she was the one that started him on his killing spree and so she also feels responsible for the other murders she is indirectly involved in. she was the one who encouraged Macbeth to kill and she told himit was alright for him to do so if it was to reach his goal. Lady Macbeth says:"What, will these hands ne'er be clean?" (V. i. 46) Ilustrating how she knows that what she did can never be erased. Her soul can never be clean and she cannot be forgiven. This shows a change, for at the beginning of the play she demonstrated no guilt only a hunger for ambition. Now, towards the end of the play she does not care about ambition as much as before. instead, she is concerned with washing all the dark spots from her soul. While she is sleeping she also gets up to wash her hands repeatedly as if to wash the blood from them. this is ironic since at the beginning she had told her husband to wash his hands to remove the blood form the murder and all would be forgotten.Lady Macbeth also repeats a quote in this last act which she had said in the first act to comfort her husband Macbeth after he went through with the murder. She tells him "What is done cannot be undone" (V. i. 70-71) she repeats it while she is sleeping. It is as if her unconscious is confessing all she is guilty for and how it bothers Lady Macbeth.
Macbeth treats everyone badly because he thinks he is invincible. Until the forest moves to his castle and someone not born from a woman attacks him he is safe, or so he thinks. He is so consumed by ambition and power he does not care how those around him perceive him. His subjects do not follow him anymore because of his rude attitude. Also they suspect him of being involved in the murders and they have watched everyone leave his side. The country is on a downfall with himin the power and no person whats to be involved in that. No person is loyal to him anymore. He has not won the loyalty of anyone just lost the loyalty of many. He became very conceited and also tyrannical because he believes that he has the ultimate power. He sometimes acts irrationally and people never know what to expect from him. He cannot trust anyone either so he uses his strong attitude to hide his fears.
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