![]() No matter what person is captured into the focus of her attention, she wants to track down their actions and make sure that they follow her lead: “When I burned in desire to question them further, they made themselves air, into which they vanished” (I, v, 346–349). Like a true Shakespearean villain, she manifests her greed for control with every single word that she utters. The extent to which she goes to make sure that she will finally be able to control others is incredible not only does she dreams of becoming powerful, but she also manages to control every single action of her husband, which was unspeakable at the time. The first feature of Lady Macbeth to be mentioned is her unbelievable thirst for power. Even though she is the key antagonist and by far the least appealing character in the entire novel, she is a very fascinating person in that she combines rather unexpected and seemingly incompatible qualities. Lady Macbeth: Ambitions and Remorse Lust for powerĪnother compelling and unique, though definitely negative character, Lady Macbeth deserves a thorough analysis. Even though Macbeth can be considered morally bankrupt, his nearly enchanting ability to tell the truth straightforwardly does add another layer of complexity to his character. It is very fascinating to hear a villain calling his deeds by their names and not shunning away from the fact that what he is doing is ethically wrong. At some points, his straightforwardness becomes even more terrifying than the most threatening hint: “Here lays Duncan,/His silver skin laced with his golden blood” (II, iii, 900). Although Macbeth is never portrayed as a smart man who prefers to elaborate on his decisions and thinks every step through carefully, he still creates an impression of a very threatening villain instead of a dumb and, therefore, rather silly antagonist. To be more exact, what other writers made silly and were used to poke fun at, Shakespeare made intimidating. The given characteristics of a military servant must have been recycled to death even before Shakespeare created his timeless classics however, the poet manages to add a weird unique air to the given feature. Unlike his wife, Macbeth is never shown as a cunning man and an intriguer – quite on the contrary, Shakespeare often portrays him as a stereotypical military man, who cannot possibly have any second thought about anything. Instead of thinking about the outcomes of his actions, Macbeth takes steps, with the bitter realization of what he has done coming afterward. In contrast to his wife, who is especially cold-blooded compared to him and seems to contemplate making every single step, Macbeth follows the lead without considering the consequences, which contributes to the tragedy of this character. Macbeth’s impulsiveness becomes especially evident as he talks to the murderers: “In such bloody distance,/That every minute of his being thrusts/Against my near’st of life” (I, vii, 1135–1137). The importance of royal blood, that is, the inheritance of the divine right to rule, is emphasized when, in the final scene, Duncan's son Malcolm takes the title of king, with the words "by the grace of Grace / We will perform.Macbeth prefers thinking only after taking a certain step, which makes him especially easy to manipulate for his wife. This "divinity" of the king is made clear on several occasions in the play, most notably when Macbeth talks of the murdered Duncan as having "silver skin lac'd with. ![]() ![]() ![]() Most importantly, Duncan is the representative of God on earth, ruling by divine right (ordained by God), a feature of kingship strongly endorsed by King James I, for whom the play was performed in 1606. Duncan also expresses humility (a feature that Macbeth lacks) when he admits his failure in spotting the previous Thane of Cawdor's treachery: "There's no art to find the mind's construction in the face" (I: 4,11). ![]() His language is formal and his speeches full of grace and graciousness, whether on the battlefield in Act I, Scene 2, where his talk concerns matters of honor, or when greeting his kind hostess Lady Macbeth in Act I, Scene 6. The king of Scotland should be a figurehead of order and orderliness, and Duncan is the epitome, or supreme example, of this. ![]()
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