Macbeth's Tragedy: Exploring Lady Macbeth's Role and Ambition

This essay provides a comprehensive analysis of Lady Macbeth's character in Shakespeare's Macbeth, focusing on her ambition and its profound impact on the play's events. The essay explores how Lady Macbeth's desire for power and her influence over Macbeth drive the plot, examining her initial ruthlessness and her eventual descent into guilt and madness. It delves into the themes of ambition, gender roles, and the psychological consequences of pursuing power, referencing key scenes and quotes to illustrate her transformation and the tragic outcome of her actions. The essay also examines the play's use of imagery and symbolism to highlight Lady Macbeth's internal conflicts and the broader themes of the play.

Since lady Macbeth craved for the throne, her gender was the primary issue which did not let
her take the throne. King Duncan on the other hand was not quite aware of the situation
growing around and therefore was in no condition to understand the plot that was brewing
behind him. Lady Macbeth along with three other witches’ states to unsex her, which refers
to re-occurring theme of manhood. Therefore, it is likely to say that she did not use her
womanhood as an excuse, but as an advantage to her intentions of murdering Duncan
(Blacker and Robert, 217).
“Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, and fill me from the crown to
the toe top-full of direst cruelty”
The beginning of the story depicts the ruthless character portrayal of Lady Macbeth and her
desire to watch her husband become the king. The heartless attitude of Lady Macbeth and her
mockery towards her husband for being weak are some of the traits we see. However, After
the killing of king Duncan, Macbeth showed a lot of anxiety as the king was murdered and
she somehow believed that to be wrong and did not know how to act on the situation
anymore. The sense of guiltiness ha slowly started to consume her, and she was not in her
state of mind anymore. Even though there is a burning desire in her to take the throne, her
unstable mind is not allowing her and she at this time is overloaded with the guilt (Greenberg
and Yael 16). She starts to sleepwalk and gets delirium of red blood hand which ultimately
overpowers her mind and she kills herself. Her ambitious desire to seek the throne has costed
her a lot from life before she knew the throne.

Reference
Blacker, Robert. Shakespeare in Three Dimensions: The Dramaturgy of Macbeth and Romeo
and Juliet. Routledge, 2017.
Greenberg, Yael. "„Lady Macbeth and Rebecca West: The Masculine Woman’s Oedipal
Complex “." PsyArt 21 (2017): 13-19.