I think Lady Macbeth should take the blame for Duncan's death, but I don't think she is evil, she is cunning and cunning when she influences Macbeth to kill Duncan. Lady Macbeth's ability to influence her husband leads the audience to believe that she is the main cause of Macbeth's destruction. I believe she is responsible because she makes up the details of the plan to kill Duncan, while Macbeth thought he wouldn't even carry out the murder. Although Macbeth had the idea to kill Duncan, he would not act unless Lady Macbeth convinced him. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Lady Macbeth is a cunning person, capable of manipulating her husband, and this ability to manipulate Macbeth makes her partially responsible for Macbeth's destruction. Lady Macbeth knows that her husband is too kind to kill Duncan without his help, she fears. He is very aware that he has to push Macbeth to kill Duncan, otherwise he won't. We see Macbeth's hesitation to kill the king when he lists his reasons for not killing Duncan. Lady Macbeth insults her husband by undermining his virility. Lady Macbeth tells her husband "when you dared to do it then you were a man and to be much more than you were, you would be much more than a man." This is the main reason why Lady Macbeth is responsible for Duncan's murder. Lady Macbeth is responsible for the destruction of her husband because she orchestrated Duncan's murder and did pretty much everything except kill Duncan. He plans the murder and sets things in motion by giving the wine to the king's servants. She is also the one who gives the signal that everything is ready. Lady Macbeth arranged Duncan's murder by making it as easy as possible for Macbeth to commit the king's murder. The audience does not know that Lady Macbeth feels responsible for Macbeth's destruction until the end, when she begins to sleepwalk. Lady Macbeth deceived Duncan with her great hospitality and thoughtfulness. She is also good at staying calm in tense situations and is good at getting out of them. For example, when Macbeth hallucinated during dinner and saw the ghost of Banquo, Lady Macbeth remained calm and invented a plausible explanation for her husband's actions. Although she appears to have no consciousness, we eventually see that she is deeply troubled as she walks in her sleep. He knows that he is partly to blame for all the murders, especially Duncan's. His fear of the dark shows the audience that he regrets what he did and that he knows what he did was wrong. The thought of killing Duncan entered Macbeth's mind before he spoke to his wife. He first reveals his thoughts when he says, "if it's good, why do I give in to that suggestion?" Macbeth expresses his wish that he could kill Duncan even though he knows he will regret it when he says, "the eye winks at the hand, but let it be / What the eye fears, when done, to see." Lady Macbeth gave Macbeth the extra push he needed to become a ruthless killer. However, not all the blame can fall on Lady Macbeth, her husband should not have listened to her and should not have killed Duncan. Macbeth chooses to kill Duncan, it was his free will. Lady Macbeth influenced his thinking, but Macbeth could not be entirely blameless. He must at least take half the blame for his destruction, Lady Macbeth however is also responsible and cannot let herself off the hook, she deserves what she gets in the end because she was the main factor in Macbeth's decision to kill Duncan. This decision led Macbeth to become a ruthless killer. And this leads Lady Macbeth to be more evil than her husband Macbeth.LadyMacbeth - an evil manipulator Introduction: In his 1606 play Macbeth, Shakespeare portrays the character Lady Macbeth as a fourth witch to satirize the traditional and misogynistic view of witches. Shakespeare portrays Lady Macbeth as a witch by assigning her characteristics commonly associated with witches and having her allude to recurring symbols associated with witchcraft. Thesis Statement: Lady Macbeth is characterized as a male anti-mother and a manipulative “poisoner,” all of which are common and misogynistic stereotypes of the witch. Lady Macbeth also references evil spirits and pigs, both traditional symbols associated with the witch. Topic Sentence: Shakespeare characterizes Lady Macbeth as an anti-mother to poke fun at the misogynistic stereotype that witches were unmaternal. Evidence and Quotes: Anti-maternal characteristics can be seen in Lady Macbeth when she shames her husband for questioning the plan they created. To convince Macbeth to carry out the plan, Lady Macbeth refers to a brutal infanticide: "As he smiled in my face, I would have torn my nipple from his boneless gums, and torn out his brains" (Shakespeare 1.7.64 -66) . Comment: In these chilling lines, Lady Macbeth tells her husband that she would rather kill her son than break a solemn oath. By saying this, Lady Macbeth breaks the mold of the stereotypical loving wife, revealing her unfavorable view of her children and, in turn, her anti-maternal nature. Evidence and Quotations: Lady Macbeth also displays anti-maternal characteristics when she says, “come to my women's breasts, and take my milk for gall, ye murderous ministers” (Shakespeare 1.5.54-55). As stated in the Oxford English Dictionary, the term gall refers to “secretion of the liver, bile” (“Gall”). In this verse, Lady Macbeth prays for her breasts to be filled with a poison so vile and bitter, it could kill a child. Comment: By demanding that her breast milk be replaced with poison, Lady Macbeth rejects the maternal idea that the function of the breast is to nourish babies, further emphasizing her anti-maternal instincts. Evidence and Quotations: Furthermore, Lady Macbeth shows her anti-maternal attitude when she says, “He is too full of the milk of human kindness” (Shakespeare 1.5.17). In this line, Lady Macbeth compares Macbeth to a pregnant woman who is breastfeeding. She tells him he's too full of breast milk, which means he's being too nice. This comparison highlights Lady Macbeth's view that pregnancy equals weakness, portraying her as the ultimate anti-maternal figure. Topic Sentence: Shakespeare also portrays Lady Macbeth as anti-feminine, another common misogynistic stereotype of witches, in order to highlight the absurdity of this belief. Background: In Shakespeare's time, witches were believed to violate traditional gender roles, taking on more masculine than feminine traits. Evidence and Quotations: An example of Lady Macbeth displaying this anti-feminine characteristic is when she says, “Unsex me here, and fill me from head to toe with the most atrocious cruelty” (Shakespeare 1.5.48-50). In these lines Lady Macbeth wishes to be stripped of her feminine traits, in exchange for her masculine ones. She believes that her feminine characteristics interfere with her murderous plan and rejects them, declaring her femininity as an obstacle rather than a gift. Evidence and Quotations: Another example of Lady Macbeth's anti-feminine nature is during the banquet when she says, "Oh, these faults and beginnings, impostors of true fear, would well become the tale of a woman at the winter fire" (Shakespeare 3.4 .76 -78). In these lines, Lady Macbeth identifies femininity with fear,further emphasizing his inherent masculinity. Commentary: In doing this, Lady Macbeth implies that she cannot possess power or strength, as long as she is a woman. Topic Sentence: Shakespeare also characterizes Lady Macbeth as a manipulative evildoer who successfully persuades Macbeth to kill King Duncan. He does this to express his contemptuous derision of the common belief that witches are deceptive and use their magic only for harmful purposes. Evidence and Quotations: Lady Macbeth challenges Macbeth to commit the murder, telling him, “but screw your courage to the breaking point and we shall not fail” (Shakespeare 1.7.70-71). Commentary: Lady Macbeth wants her husband to kill King Duncan so that he can gain power and she can enjoy power with him. Lady Macbeth lights the fire of Macbeth's ambition, using her powers of manipulation to get what she wants, representing all things evil and immoral. Evidence and Quotations: He instructs Macbeth on how to carry out his plan, exclaiming, “be welcome in thy eye, in thy hand, in thy tongue. Be like the innocent flower but be the serpent beneath it” (Shakespeare 1.6.75-77) Commentary: In these lines, Lady Macbeth tells Macbeth to appear benign on the outside to belie her murderous plans, further satirizing the farcical stereotype according to where witches were malevolent forces of evil, determined to manipulate and mislead. Topic Sentence: Furthermore, Shakespeare calls Lady Macbeth a "poisoner", ridiculing the woman. absurd stereotype according to which witches used poisons for evil purposes, such as harming or killing someone. Although Lady Macbeth does not poison her husband in the literal sense, she poisons her husband's mind, causing him to become a different person, a power-hungry tyrant, who will not hesitate to harm anyone who gets in his way. It fills his mind with evil thoughts, tainting his morality to the point that Macbeth is unable to decipher right from wrong. At first, Macbeth hesitates to carry out their evil plan, telling Lady Macbeth that "we will proceed no further in this matter" (Shakespeare 1.7.34). Lady Macbeth, however, won't take no for an answer. Evidence and Quotes: Psychologically manipulates Macbeth into carrying out their plan by repeatedly questioning his manhood and courage. For example, Lady Macbeth says to her husband: “When you dared to do it, then you were a man; and to be more than you were, you would be much more of a man” (Shakespeare 1.7.56-58). Comment: In these lines, Lady Macbeth scolds her husband, telling him that he is behaving like a coward and that she will not consider him a true man until he has murdered the king. This evil influence that Lady Macbeth has exerted on her husband causes Macbeth to kill King Duncan, an act he most likely would not have committed on his own. Topic Sentence: Not only does Lady Macbeth share characteristics in common with the stereotypical witch, but she also alludes to the act of invoking evil spirits to satirize the misogynistic stereotype that witches acted in accordance with external forces, such as evil spirits and the devil . Commentary: Lady Macbeth invites these evil spirits to fill her heart with cruelty so that she can more easily manipulate her husband into killing King Duncan. Evidence and quotes: Invoke the spirits, imploring them: “fill me from head to toe with the most atrocious cruelty! Make my blood thick” (Shakespeare 1.5.49-50). Lady Macbeth hopes that these spirits will fill her with the utmost malevolence so that she can focus completely on her evil purpose. Lady Macbeth makes yet another reference to the spirit realm when she prepares Macbeth for the murder of King Duncan. Evidence and Quotes: Lady Macbeth says to her husband, “come hither, that I may pour out my spirit in thy earand chastise with the valor of my tongue all that prevents you from reaching the golden roundabout" (Shakespeare 1.5.27-30). Commentary: In this line, Lady Macbeth informs Macbeth that she believes she possesses the necessary evil qualities, which she calls “my spirits,” which Macbeth needs to become king Evidence and Quotations: Additionally, Lady Macbeth refers to the devil when she says, “It is the eye of childhood that fears a painted devil.” (Shakespeare 2.2.70-71) Commentary: In this line, Lady Macbeth uses her powers of manipulation on Macbeth, making him question his courage like a frightened child because he will not return to the scene of the crime and frame her drunken guards for the murder of King Duncan By having Lady Macbeth allude to the spiritual world in this way, Shakespeare mocks the stereotypical view that the witches were in league with the forces of the evil, which they used to carry out their evil intentions. Thematic sentence: Lady Macbeth not only refers to the spirit world, but she also refers to pigs, in particular the killing of pigs to criticize the absurd stereotype that witches they sacrificed these animals. Evidence and quotes: When Lady Macbeth sleeps, she says, “When in swine sleep their drenched nature lies as in a death” (Shakespeare 1.7.77-78). Comment: In this verse Lady Macbeth underlines the fact that the two guards are now dead, condemned to an eternal sleep. He compares the two dead guards to dead pigs. The belief that witches killed and sacrificed pigs originated long before Shakespeare's time. Homer's Odyssey, written in 675-725 BC, contributes to the popularity of this idea. In Homer's epic poem, Circe, the witch of the threshing floor drugs a group of sailors and turns them into pigs. Not only were witches believed to kill pigs, but they were also believed to harm other animals, sometimes even sacrificing them to the devil. As stated by Michael D. Bailey in Magic and Superstition in Europe, “animals were killed in magical rites such as sacrifices to demons” (Bailey 10). By referring to Lady Macbeth killing pigs in her sleep, Shakespeare ridicules this ridiculous belief. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Concluding Paragraph: It is clear that Lady Macbeth is the fourth witch in Macbeth. Although Lady Macbeth cannot be described as a witch in the supernatural sense, as she does not possess magical powers, she shares several characteristics in common with the stereotypical vision of the witch. These characteristics that Lady Macbeth shares with the witch, such as her masculinity and manipulative nature, are only part of the misogynistic stereotypes attributed to witches. By portraying Macbeth as a fourth witch and assigning her these stereotypical characteristics, Shakespeare is able to emphasize their inherent sexist and deceitful nature. Although Shakespeare satirizes these concepts by highlighting their stupidity and bizarreness, he urges the reader to shed these preconceived notions and adopt his own view of witches, free from stereotypical influences. By bringing these beliefs to light, Shakespeare encourages the reader to develop a more open-minded view of witches and the influence they have had on society. References Levin, J. (2002). Lady Macbeth and the demonology of hysteria. Elh, 69(1), 21-55. (https://www.jstor.org/stable/30032010) Munro, R. (1887). Lady Macbeth: A Psychological Sketch. The Journal of Speculative Philosophy, 21(1), 30-36. (https://philpapers.org/rec/MUNLMA)Islam, M. S. (2010). Nature of evil in Macbeth. Journal of the Faculty of Letters, 185-194. (https://www.banglajol.info/index.php/AFJ/article/view/12940) Draper, J. W. (1941)..