How Does Lady Macbeth Change Throughout The Play

One of the most interesting things about "Macbeth" is the way both Lady Macbeth and Macbeth's personalities change from beginning to end. Throughout the play, both characters waver between extreme confidence and self doubt. In the beginning, Lady Macbeth is ruthless, ambitious, and relentless. By the the end of the play she is plagued with a guilt so strong it ultimately leads to her death. This same development occurs in Macbeth, however, the reason for his downfall is the exact opposite. Macbeth starts off as a kind and brave Lord who is loyal to his King. By the end of the play, he has become an overconfident, bloodthirsty tyrant. Throughout the play, Lady Macbeth's attitude and mindset changes drastically. We can see almost immediately her manipulative and controlling behavior when we are introduced to her in Act 1, Scene 5. In this scene, Lady Macbeth receives a letter from her husband. The witches prophecies fuel her ambitions for her husband to become King of Scotland. Lady Macbeth not only encourages Macbeth to kill King Duncan, but she makes the plans herself. She knows that Macbeth has great ambitions but that he is …show more content…
Because of his betrayal, Macbeth is thrown into a state of guilt and fear. Determined not to face the consequences, he murders again and again to satisfy his paranoia. He even kills one of his dearest friends, Banquo. While Macbeth is busy making sinful decisions without telling his wife, Lady Macbeth is feeling so guilty that she starts to sleep walk and dreams about one of the conversations between Macbeth and herself. In the dream he is trying to calm her of her paranoia. Unlike Lady Macbeth, Macbeth is feeling overconfident in himself due to another prophecy given to him by the witches that make it seem as though no one can hurt him. Lady Macbeth eventually succumbs to her guilty mind and ends her own life and in the end, Macbeth is killed by