I think there can be different explanations to this First of all, like I was saying in class today, they are "partners in greatness", and Macbeth has to do his part of the work, otherwise they can't really be called a 'team'. It could also be that Macbeth is the one that is gonna be King. Why would she do the dirty work when he gets the biggest reward? Then, if Macbeth is caught, Lady Macbeth will not be blamed. More importantly, the burden of the guilt will not be inflected to her (at least she would not expect it.) But after thinking it through, I think there is another reason why Lady Macbeth pushes him to killing Duncan. She thinks her husband is too nice, gentle and innocent. As she loves him, she wants him to 'grow', to become more of a man. In this society, a man was judged by his bravery, not his capacity to reflect on certain aspects of life. For her, if he kills Duncan, he will be complete.
I agree with Victor on the fact that Lady Macbeth and Macbeth are "partners in greatness" and Macbeth should do a part of the work but I think that Lady Macbeth encourages and pushes Macbeth to kill Duncan because first of all, he has to prove his love for her and second of all, she couldn't do it herself. She is ready to kill anyone but not Duncan, not because he is the king but because he looks like her father :Act 2, scene 2 "Had he not ressembled my fatheras he slept, I had done't".
I noticed how Victor mentions that Lady Macbeth wants Macbeth "to grow". That sounds exactly like what Duncan said to Macbeth, how he had "planted him" and how he should grow" in a good way. As Shakespeare often re-uses imagery throughout a play, the imagery usually follows the same line of definition. However, "plant" here has a very ambiguous meaning: to plant Mac's greatness following the feudal and warrior society's standards or plant evil ideas of killing the king who gave him his glory.
The mention of such imagery by both Lady Macb. an Duncan foreshadows his death, or putting Lady Mac. and Duncan on a same level. Either putting Lady Mac. on a pedestal or the opposite for Duncan...
Iris has read ahead :) ok, so isn't that a funny comment, Iris? This notion of planting and reaping what we sow is an interesting one in the play! We call this a motif. It is a bit ironic for Macbeth to define himself in his warrior society through a basically traitorous act of bravery.
Victor, you say that if Macbeth is caught after murdering Duncan, that Lady Macbeth won't take the blame for it. However, I think that in class we said the exact opposite; which is why the whole question was brought up. I agree with what you say about him needing to grow; she prepares the rest of the plot and he needs to do the man's job. It would seem unfair if she had to do everything; since in the end he also craving the position of a king. Also, it is ironic for Macbeth to define him self such as that, but as we said; with this crime that he's about to commit, he's losing all his values. It seems like his loved one, the one who should share his values, is bringing him down - This brings out the irony in the play.
This is a complex question. Lady Macbeth appears as a lazy mean person. In fact, she prefers her husband to risk his life and reputation to accomplish a terrible, unforgivable act, a murder. How could someone force his love to take such a huge risk? That is why Lady Macbeth scares me. I could almost think that she is the antagonist of the book. She has in fact a lot of weird aspects: first of all she seems to be the man of the couple, the one who knows what to do, the "brain" of the situation. Second of all, Lady Macbeth wants her "partner" to kill a king following HER plan. This leeds us to the great question: Since she knows what to do, since she is so brave and masculine, couldn't she kill Duncan? Their are several reasons why she shouldn't. Even though she is a "strong" women, she still is a Lady, ladies should be "pure", elegant, they shouldn't go kill kings around... An other reason why she shouldn't kill Duncan, as Victor said, is that Macbeth would be the one to become King, he is going to get the biggest award, and since she loves him, she tries to help him reach his dream, but she can't even get her hands dirty for love, it would be too much. Lady Macbeth doesn’t seem so smart after all, couldn’t she understand that if Duncan dies, Malcolm would become king, not Macbeth. Or maybe she doesn’t want Macbeth to become king, maybe she wants Duncan dead for an other reason. That would actually make sense since it would explain why she is so mean to her partner. In fact the way she answers him made me ask myself: does she really love Macbeth? And why does she want so much her partner to become king? Maybe she loves Macbeth so much that she wants him to achieve his goals alone, and to become more of a man, less weak. Or maybe her award is not as small as we think... There is something I am certain about, deep inside she has Macbeth’s "milk" as well, she is weak too, but she still doesn't seem to be a nice person, there must be something behind all this ambiguity.
What is interesting in this situation is that Lady Macbeth clearly states that her husband is weak, "the milk" side of him as she stated. The irony in this situation is that all we have seen Macbeth be, in the last few scenes, is a ferocious warrior whom the king and fellow subjects respect. The first time we lay eyes upon Macbeth is "carv[ing] out his passage" killing so many that "his brandished steel […] smoked with bloody execution". He is described as worthy and courageous many a time and has "vaulting ambition". All of these traits seem 'manly' in his warrior society. He is presumably a man and he also has a conscience where he respects the feudal code of chivalry and loyalty.
But all of these traits are crushed by Lady Macbeth who states that he is not yet a man until he has murdered a sleeping defenseless king. To this he replies: " I dare do all that may become a man. Who dares do more is none.". By this statement he means that he is already man enough and if he commits this crime he will not be a man anymore. So he clearly has sufficient insight into the horrific deed he is ready to commit but his ambition and indecisiveness seem to be his major flaws. He is tempted but doesn't dare look upon what his hand is ready to do. Likewise he needs to be guided by his wife and hallucinations to commit the deed. I also think that the fact that the king is flirting with his wife (Duncan offers his grand hostess a diamond ring) pushes him to lie to Banquo and reinforces his determination. This all brings us back to Lady Macbeth. Why is she so determined on forcing him to commit this murder? Is she a witch herself? Is it her own ambition to be queen? Does she really love Macbeth? These questions will probably be answered when we read on in Act II but I do believe that she loves Macbeth but has an evil twisted side to herself. I think, and other people might agree, that she would have rather been born a man and is overcompensating for her husband. I can't wait to see her reaction to the murder. Will she panic? Will she stay strong? Will Macbeth be horrified? And most importantly: Will both characters be redeemed? --Isabelle Wheeler
I think there can be different explanations to this
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, like I was saying in class today, they are "partners in greatness", and Macbeth has to do his part of the work, otherwise they can't really be called a 'team'.
It could also be that Macbeth is the one that is gonna be King. Why would she do the dirty work when he gets the biggest reward?
Then, if Macbeth is caught, Lady Macbeth will not be blamed. More importantly, the burden of the guilt will not be inflected to her (at least she would not expect it.)
But after thinking it through, I think there is another reason why Lady Macbeth pushes him to killing Duncan. She thinks her husband is too nice, gentle and innocent. As she loves him, she wants him to 'grow', to become more of a man. In this society, a man was judged by his bravery, not his capacity to reflect on certain aspects of life. For her, if he kills Duncan, he will be complete.
I agree with Victor on the fact that Lady Macbeth and Macbeth are "partners in greatness" and Macbeth should do a part of the work but I think that Lady Macbeth encourages and pushes Macbeth to kill Duncan because first of all, he has to prove his love for her and second of all, she couldn't do it herself. She is ready to kill anyone but not Duncan, not because he is the king but because he looks like her father :Act 2, scene 2 "Had he not ressembled my fatheras he slept, I had done't".
ReplyDeleteI noticed how Victor mentions that Lady Macbeth wants Macbeth "to grow". That sounds exactly like what Duncan said to Macbeth, how he had "planted him" and how he should grow" in a good way. As Shakespeare often re-uses imagery throughout a play, the imagery usually follows the same line of definition. However, "plant" here has a very ambiguous meaning: to plant Mac's greatness following the feudal and warrior society's standards or plant evil ideas of killing the king who gave him his glory.
ReplyDeleteThe mention of such imagery by both Lady Macb. an Duncan foreshadows his death, or putting Lady Mac. and Duncan on a same level. Either putting Lady Mac. on a pedestal or the opposite for Duncan...
Iris has read ahead :)
ReplyDeleteok, so isn't that a funny comment, Iris?
This notion of planting and reaping what we sow is an interesting one in the play! We call this a motif.
It is a bit ironic for Macbeth to define himself in his warrior society through a basically traitorous act of bravery.
Victor, you say that if Macbeth is caught after murdering Duncan, that Lady Macbeth won't take the blame for it. However, I think that in class we said the exact opposite; which is why the whole question was brought up. I agree with what you say about him needing to grow; she prepares the rest of the plot and he needs to do the man's job. It would seem unfair if she had to do everything; since in the end he also craving the position of a king.
ReplyDeleteAlso, it is ironic for Macbeth to define him self such as that, but as we said; with this crime that he's about to commit, he's losing all his values. It seems like his loved one, the one who should share his values, is bringing him down - This brings out the irony in the play.
This is a complex question.
ReplyDeleteLady Macbeth appears as a lazy mean person. In fact, she prefers her husband to risk his life and reputation to accomplish a terrible, unforgivable act, a murder. How could someone force his love to take such a huge risk? That is why Lady Macbeth scares me. I could almost think that she is the antagonist of the book. She has in fact a lot of weird aspects: first of all she seems to be the man of the couple, the one who knows what to do, the "brain" of the situation. Second of all, Lady Macbeth wants her "partner" to kill a king following HER plan. This leeds us to the great question: Since she knows what to do, since she is so brave and masculine, couldn't she kill Duncan?
Their are several reasons why she shouldn't. Even though she is a "strong" women, she still is a Lady, ladies should be "pure", elegant, they shouldn't go kill kings around... An other reason why she shouldn't kill Duncan, as Victor said, is that Macbeth would be the one to become King, he is going to get the biggest award, and since she loves him, she tries to help him reach his dream, but she can't even get her hands dirty for love, it would be too much. Lady Macbeth doesn’t seem so smart after all, couldn’t she understand that if Duncan dies, Malcolm would become king, not Macbeth. Or maybe she doesn’t want Macbeth to become king, maybe she wants Duncan dead for an other reason. That would actually make sense since it would explain why she is so mean to her partner. In fact the way she answers him made me ask myself: does she really love Macbeth? And why does she want so much her partner to become king? Maybe she loves Macbeth so much that she wants him to achieve his goals alone, and to become more of a man, less weak. Or maybe her award is not as small as we think... There is something I am certain about, deep inside she has Macbeth’s "milk" as well, she is weak too, but she still doesn't seem to be a nice person, there must be something behind all this ambiguity.
What is interesting in this situation is that Lady Macbeth clearly states that her husband is weak, "the milk" side of him as she stated. The irony in this situation is that all we have seen Macbeth be, in the last few scenes, is a ferocious warrior whom the king and fellow subjects respect.
ReplyDeleteThe first time we lay eyes upon Macbeth is "carv[ing] out his passage" killing so many that "his brandished steel […] smoked with bloody execution". He is described as worthy and courageous many a time and has "vaulting ambition". All of these traits seem 'manly' in his warrior society. He is presumably a man and he also has a conscience where he respects the feudal code of chivalry and loyalty.
But all of these traits are crushed by Lady Macbeth who states that he is not yet a man until he has murdered a sleeping defenseless king.
To this he replies: " I dare do all that may become a man. Who dares do more is none.". By this statement he means that he is already man enough and if he commits this crime he will not be a man anymore. So he clearly has sufficient insight into the horrific deed he is ready to commit but his ambition and indecisiveness seem to be his major flaws. He is tempted but doesn't dare look upon what his hand is ready to do. Likewise he needs to be guided by his wife and hallucinations to commit the deed. I also think that the fact that the king is flirting with his wife (Duncan offers his grand hostess a diamond ring) pushes him to lie to Banquo and reinforces his determination.
This all brings us back to Lady Macbeth. Why is she so determined on forcing him to commit this murder? Is she a witch herself? Is it her own ambition to be queen? Does she really love Macbeth?
These questions will probably be answered when we read on in Act II but I do believe that she loves Macbeth but has an evil twisted side to herself. I think, and other people might agree, that she would have rather been born a man and is overcompensating for her husband. I can't wait to see her reaction to the murder. Will she panic? Will she stay strong? Will Macbeth be horrified? And most importantly: Will both characters be redeemed?
--Isabelle Wheeler