Lady Macbeth_1

Lady Macbeth_1

1. Representations

   • represented as Fragile, Flawed and Focused
   • Wife
     • Wants Macbeth to succeed because  her idntity is determined by his status
   • Mother
     • - feminine character - it is her duty to produce an heir however it is evident that they had a child who must have died when she says "knows what t is like to give suck"
   • Hostess
     • demonstrates her seductive nature as Duncan believes she is a 'honour'd hostess' but she deceives him when she plots his murder with Macbeth

2. Act I scenes v & vi

   • Hostess
     • welcomes Duncan -> deceiving, her gracious facade opposes her scheme to murder Duncan invites readers to not trust her character
   • Wife
     • unselfish motive for the murder she knows Macbeth wants the crown and in order to help him achieve this she knows she must "pour thine spirits in thine ear" as she believes he is "too full of the milk of human kindness" privledges the reading that she is cunning and manipulative  however her motive i sin order for Macbeth to succeed because she doesn't wish for him not to get the crown demonstrating that she is faithful and ---
   • Unnatural
     • the way the lady wishes to be "unsexed" in order to complete the murder herself, demonstrates her tenacity and determination however this image opposes her feminine character of Macbeth's time therefore suggesting that she is unnatural. this representation of her character is foregrounded

3. Act I, scene vii

   • Sublimates her femininity
     • sublimates her femininity in order 'to do' evil evident when she demonstrates her vulnerable mother side before saying she would "she would dash her child's brains out"  the way she sublimates her demonstrated as she juxtaposes her role as a women in shakespeares society when she proves she could a mother/women would keep her word and not show cowardice as Macbeth has. 
   • Seductress
     • This graphic image in line -- is also used to hypnotise Macbeth into murdering Duncan  invited reading is that she is a seductress also demonstrated when she almost cons him into to doing it with the questioning of his manliness.
   • Determination
     • the moment of vulnerability disguised by a determined facade, demonstrates that as  Sian Thomas said "considering she is not as tough as nails, her will power is extraordinary" this reading highlights her determination and strength demonstrating _____

4. Act II, scene ii

   • Vulnerability
     • still retains her femininity for after all her determnation it si her caring and nurturing nature stops her from murdering Duncan as "she would have done it if he did resemble her father" 
   • Mechanical
     • Confident, carefal and controlled nature is almost mechanical and removes her from teh audience 
   • Irony
     • the irony in what she says 'these deeds must not be thought after these wyas so they wilmake us mad" demonstrates flaws in her strength. this reading allows the complex reality of her character to be highlighted as although she is determined and assertive she is not able foresee the consequences of her actions.

5. Act V scene i

   • Vulnerability - Regressed
     • child like need for light and Shakespeare's choice of prose, language of the commoners suggests that she has regressed into a child like vulnerability 
   • Absolution
     • the audience is positioned to agree with the doctor when he states that "she is a case best left for the priest" as absolution is the only thing that would rid her of the guilt of her crimes. this positioning foregrounds the reading of her character as evil.  Macolm's describes Lady Macbeth's death to be "commited by her own hands" this suggests she commited suicide which is Shakespeare's time meant you were damned to Hell. this reinforces the reading of Lady Macbeth's character as evil as she may be considered a consort of the devil.
   • Guilt
     • Lady Macbeth demonstrates her humanity when she expressed the guilt of her crimes in the way she says "out damned spot."  revealing that she is not a souless monster