Answer:
Lady Macbeth is one of Shakespeare’s most famous and frightening female characters. When we first see her, she is already plotting Duncan’s murder, and she is stronger, more ruthless, and more ambitious than her husband. She seems fully aware of this and knows that she will have to push Macbeth into committing murder. At one point, she wishes that she were not a woman so that she could do it herself. This theme of the relationship between gender and power is key to Lady Macbeth’s character: her husband implies that she is a masculine soul inhabiting a female body, which seems to link masculinity to ambition and violence. Shakespeare, however, seems to use her, and the witches, to undercut Macbeth’s idea that “undaunted mettle should compose / Nothing but males” (1.7.73–74). These crafty women use female methods of achieving power—that is, manipulation—to further their supposedly male ambitions. Women, the play implies, can be as ambitious and cruel as men, yet social constraints deny them the means to pursue these ambitions on their own.
Step-by-step explanation:
Previous section
Macbeth
Next section
The Three Witches
Test your knowledge
Take the Analysis of Major Characters Quick Quiz
Shakespeare’s Life & Times
Dive into our comprehensive guide to ace your Shakespeare assignments
Take a study break
Every Shakespeare Play Summed Up in a Quote from The Office
Popular pages: Macbeth
No Fear Macbeth
NO FEAR
Character List
CHARACTERS
Plot Analysis
MAIN IDEAS
Is Lady Macbeth a Villain or a Victim?