Lady Macbeth and Her Evil Spirit

Lady Macbeth and her Manipulative Spirit

Lust for power often leads into an unforgiving, unnatural reality of pain, sleeplessness, and manipulation. Shakespeare's tragedy, Macbeth follows the misguided and bloody path of stolen monarchy, which includes the murder of King Duncan, and the disdaining evil deeds that lead to the harsh consequences of Macbeth’s kingdom. Lady Macbeth is portrayed as having an overwhelming sense of masculinity and authority due to her heartless plotting of Duncan's death and the manipulative usage of her husband to make him a worthy and powerful man. Her guilt-filled sleepwalking and later suicide are the effects of her subconscious corruption and self-punishment for her evil and hurtful ways.

After reading Macbeth's letter, Lady Macbeth shows her want for murder and manipulation through conversation and irony. Lady Macbeth wants Macbeth to be “what thou art promised” (1.5.15), which is a king, however she knows that he “is too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness” (1.5.16) to be a ruler and have a significant pull to over a kingdom. Her capability to manipulate is evident when she says “pour my spirits in thine ear, / and chastise with the valor of my tongue/ all that impedes thee from the golden round” (1.5.25-27). While she is willing to manipulate her way to power, she realizes that because she must be willing to kill King Duncan with her own knife and use her own strength, which in turn, should make her the Queen and have all the power. By disclaiming her femininity and womanly characteristics, she hopes that her character will be cruel and brave enough to participate in the act of murder and manipulation. Lady Macbeth does not want her natural and womanly parts to jeopardize her goal of being the killer of King Duncan which is ironic because she eventually succumbs to her own guilt and commits suicide. This supports the development of her character as a manipulative and murderous women, who is driven by ambition and power, who suicides as a way to look for redemption to correct her actions.

        Lady Macbeth’s reaction to her husband’s letter shows that she is a woman who knows her husband, for reasons of shared tactics, instincts, and similar personalities. "Lady Macbeth's cultural value has generally included the sense that she is monstrous--she not only has crossed the boundaries of appropriate behavior for a wife and subject, but she has called on demonic forces to help her achieve her goals. The play's narrative about her ambition to obtain position and fame collapses into a heavily gendered cautionary tale about tyrannical overreaches and their demise" (Hutcheon 3).

Preoccupied in her manipulative and murderous thoughts, Lady Macbeth is startled and angry to learn the knowledge that the King is planning to make an appearance at her home, which almost leads her into giving away her true intentions. Lady Macbeth see the King's visit as being brought on by witchcraft and magic because she is planning on killing Duncan and then he voluntarily plans to come and sleep under their roof. Her intentions of murder and power show Lady Macbeth is a power-ridden individual who will cause pain to others in order to gain a reward and King Duncan will be her first victim of power. "The Macbeth-world is predominately nocturnal, and the aberrations that can occur in sleep wee central to the play" (McElroy 29). Lady Macbeth's world is filled of dark and unclean places, as well as her thoughts. These thoughts are brought on by an influence of her surroundings, she feels dark and mysterious and performing acts of manipulation and murder are easier and more compelling to perform in her nocturnal environment.