At the end of the play, Malcolm calls Lady Macbeth a fiend like queen.

Is Lady Macbeth an evil or tragic figure?

In William Shakespeares Macbeth Lady Macbeth is presented as both a fiend like queen as well as Macbeths dearest partner of greatness. Many characters within Macbeth are left open to interpretation; Lady Macbeth begs the question, evil or tragic? When we first see her she is already plotting the murder of King Duncan. Her motives for killing the king are selfish and her cheap use of Macbeth in order to gain what she wants, point to her evil nature. In addition to this, her manipulation of her husband to achieve her steely purpose and her complete disregard for humanity signifies her inner darkness. However, while she may seem cold and brutal, her remorse is eventually shown at the conclusion of the play. She spirals into madness, unable to deal with the legacy of her crimes. She kills herself, coming to a tragic end and endearing a sense of sympathy for herself within the audience. When we first see Lady Macbeth she is already plotting the murder of King Duncan, and we quickly gain a sense of her harsh and ruthless nature. After receiving a letter from Macbeth speaking of the witches prophecies, she identifies the fact that Macbeth is too full of the milk of human kindness, to catch the nearest way and decides to convince him to kill the king in order to gain the throne. While Macbeths private thoughts had alluded to murder, he made it clear afterwards that if chance will have [him] king, than chance may crown [him], without [his] stir When Macbeth continues to express doubts about the killing, Lady Macbeth completely disregards his feelings and continues to push Macbeth into murder for her own self gain. Simultaneously she tells Macbeth he shall stand to gain more and shalt be what thou art promised. Her selfish use of Macbeth to do what she cannot, had he not resembled my father as he slept I had done it further establishes her evil nature. Her selfish motives and deeds directly correlate with her manipulation and deceit to achieve her ambition. Lady Macbeth is stronger and more ruthless than Macbeth. She seems fully aware of this and knows she will have to push Macbeth into committing murder. Shakespeare uses the character of Lady Macbeth to undercut Macbeths idea that undaunted mettle should compose nothing but males. Lady Macbeth uses her female powers to achieve her desired position. Ladys Macbeths well timed and effective manipulations are able to override all of Macbeths objections. She compares Macbeth to the poor cat in the adage letting I dare not wait upon I would , thereby undermining his manhood and continues to do so by saying he could be so much more the man until Macbeth feels he must kill in order to prove himself. Her attack also includes questions of Macbeths love for her, entailing lines such as from this time such I account thy love. Her complete willingness to so violently criticize and manipulate her husband; someone she is supposed to love and support, indicates another part of her which is well and truly evil. Lady Macbeths bold character and strength of will persists throughout the murder of King Duncan. Before the murder she called on the sprits that tend on mortal thoughts to stop up the access and passage to remorse. Her open disregard for her humanity seems to shows her absolute lack of guilt. However, her plea to the evil spirits had only short term affects and her deep seeded sorrow eventually surfaced. Her slide into madness at the conclusion of the play shows the audience that she did feel guilty and she did have remorse despite how deeply she buried it. It was she who was there to steady her

husbands nerves after the murder and while Macbeth is able to unload his guilt, remorse and sadness, Lady Macbeth was forced to carry his burden as well as her own. As she internalized her thoughts for the sake of her husband, Macbeth began isolating himself as the play went on and she could not deal with the legacy of her crimes; especially not by herself. Guilt had consumed her and her strong and bold character had been reduced to sleepwalking around the castle, trying to rid her hands of an invisible blood stain, crying out damned spot, out I say will these hands never be clean? The attending doctor spoke of her unnatural troubles needing more the divine than the physician. Her life comes to a tragic end when she kills herself, unable to deal with the crushing legacy of her crimes. As ambition affects Lady Macbeth more than her husband so do the consequences. Her initial lust for power and position seem to establish her evil nature and fiend like queen status. Her selfish motives, deceitful and harsh manipulation of Macbeth, as well as her open denial of her humanity further establish this. However the tragic end to her story endears a sense of sympathy within the audience for her character. A previously bold and strong woman, seeing no other option but to end her life shows nothing but tragedy.

Macbeths downfall was brought about solely because of his vaulting ambition. To what extent do you agree with this statement?
The central theme in William Shakespeares Macbeth is the danger wrought when ambition goes unchecked by moral constraints. This is most powerfully expressed through the title character of Macbeth. It can be argued that Macbeths downfall was due solely to his vaulting ambition. However, it is a combination of Lady Macbeth, the witches and Macbeths rising ambition throughout the play which leads to his ultimate demise. Macbeth starts off as a worthy cousin, and while conflicted after hearing the witches prophecies he is able to keep his ambition in check. Although, the mood soon passes him after his wife gives him the small push he needs to act on his desires. His ambition continues to grow and spirals out of control when Macbeth turns to violence to achieve his goals and is unable to stop. His story comes full circle when he dies fighting at the hands of Macduff at the conclusion of the play. We first hear of brave Macbeth at the beginning of the play through accounts of his battlefield valour. However this perspective is confused when we see his initial meeting with the witches. These withered witches prophesise that Macbeth shall be Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor and king hereafter. He is startled and Banquo picks up on this asking why do you start, and seem to fear things that do sound so fair. It is as if Macbeth has already been thinking of being King and is scared that he has been found out. He proceeds to convince Banquo and perhaps himself that to be king stands not within the prospect of belief. Macbeths ambition comes into realisation and we see it develop when Macbeth begs the imperfect speakers to tell him more, only to be disappointed when they vanish. The notion of being king has occurred to Macbeth before, but it is only now that he considers it to be a real possibility. He knows he is Thane of Glamis, and when he is given the title of Thane of Cawdor his mind jumps to the happy prologues to the swelling act of the imperial theme. The witches prophecies,

beginning to come true, jump start Macbeths ambition. However, he buries his objectives, not too deeply, knowing he must hide his black and deep desires and let come what come may. Macbeth then enters a state of swelling inner turmoil, alternating between thoughts of steps he must oer leap to become king and thoughts of guilt and his horrible imaginings. He sends word of the witches prophecies to his partner of greatness. Lady Macbeth knows full well that her husband is too full of the milk of human kindness to catch the nearest way. She also knows that Macbeth is not without ambition, but without the illness should attend it. While Macbeth and Lady Macbeth both come to the same conclusion, that they must kill the king, Lady Macbeth immediately plans to do so, whereas Macbeth has managed to keep his ambition in check. Lady Macbeth calls on the spirits that tend on mortal thought to give her the strength she needs to be able to perform this nights great business. She is then able to manipulate Macbeth and push him to act on his and her aspirations in order to be what thou art promised. It is the combination of the prophecies from the witches and Lady Macbeths strength of will which sparks Macbeths own ambition. He identifies that he has no spur to prick the sides of [his] intent, but only vaulting ambition This acknowledgment of his ambition as his only strength, foreshadows how he will continue to rely on it as it increases throughout the play. The full realisation of his ambition as a result of the witches prophecies and his wifes pressing, shows how his desires blind him. There was no mention of murder in the witches prophecies and his ambition is the thing that is driving him into being an agent of fate, fulfilling the prophecy himself. After the murder of King Duncan, Macbeth falls into a deep and plaguing guilt. Yet, Lady Macbeth is there to ease her husbands remorse. Macbeth hast it now, King, Cawdor, Glamis, all and it would seem that he could enjoy his achievement. But again, his mind jumps back to the witches prophecy. They had predicted that Banquo would father a line of kings and Macbeth worries about his fruitless crown and ... barren sceptre. He knows to be thus is nothing, but to be safely thus and jumps into fevered action and plots to kill Banquo and his son. He is only able to kill Banquo and his son Fleance flees. His ambition and lust for power continues to spiral out of control. He wants his throne to be his and only his, so goes to see the witches again to seek reassurance. The witches present him with a series of apparitions which entail, beware of Macduff, Thane of Fife none of woman born shall harm Macbeth and Macbeth shall never vanquished be until Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill shall come. These forecasts put great confidence in Macbeth and so he plans to kill Macduff and his family, but only succeeds in killing his wife and son. Macbeths ambition consumes him and he begins alienating himself within his boastful madness. When the plans of the English invasion reach him, his blind confidence in the witches prophecies comfort him in knowing he will keep his throne. However, as the story comes to a head things begin to turn. The trees began moving and Macduff being from his mothers womb, untimely ripped emerges victorious. Macbeths downfall was inevitable. A tyrannous king, blinded by his ambition and confidence, combined with his equally bold wife and the deceitful antics of the witches all lead to Macbeths ultimate demise. Through Macbeths character and his story we learn of the dangers of unchecked ambition. We also learn that once one turns to violence to further their goals it is very difficult to stop.