Power and Ambition in Lady Macbeth

Lady Macbeth
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Lady Macbeth
As the play begins, Lady Macbeth is portrayed as a powerful figure and is manifestly
dutiful to her husband. In addition to this, she is portrayed as being charming and extremely
attractive. This would give the impression that the couple is founded on the pillar of original
love. Moreover, she is psyched up when she gets wind that some witches had prophesied that her
husband would be king. The psyching up is meant to carry out murder so that her husband can be
the next king. This article looks at how power and ambition is presented in the character of Lady
Macbeth.
According to her speech and even thoughts, Lady Macbeth is witchy and seems
dangerous as seen in Act 1 scene 5. She seems to be associated with unfamiliar forces that force
Macbeth to carry out deadly actions hoping to get to power. The fact that she uses the term
“unsex me” during her speech makes her seem inhumane and determined to destroy lives instead
of nurturing them. This is because women give birth to children and are required to take care of
and not harm them. This statement portrays her as a person who does not value the ability of
women to procreate. She asks supernatural spirits to fill her so that she would influence her
husband. This would be aimed at making her husband perform a murderous action against Kind
Duncan. She is inhumane because she plans to tell her husband harsh words that would facilitate
Duncan’s murder. She is evil in her thoughts and even in her actions. Therefore, she would be
termed as being unnatural and a person who portrays masculinity. This is because she is not soft-
hearted like Macbeth himself. She is heartless and self-centered and driven by worldly things.
She is portrayed as a person who can do anything for the attainment of personal ambitions and
power.
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