Early in the play, Macbeth meets three witches who tell him about a prophecy that says that he will become the Thane of Cawdor, and the king of Scotland. Once he is given the title of Thane of Cawdor, he starts to …show more content…
“Nought’s had, all’s spent, Where our desire is got without content; ‘Tis safer to be that which we destroy Than by destruction dwell in doubtful joy” (3.2.4-7) Macbeth has soon spiraled out of control, starting to plan more murders to secure his place as king. He plans to kill Banquo, who he feels will be a problem when it comes to maintaining his royal status. Lady Macbeth feels distanced from Macbeth when he starts to plan by himself and does not seek her help anymore. Macbeth tells her that she does not need to know about his plans anymore. With Lady Macbeth’s desire to be involved, and Macbeth’s newly found independence, this begins the downfall of Lady …show more content…
During this, however, Macbeth sees the ghost of Banquo sitting in his seat at the table, putting him into a fit. He starts to exclaim about seeing the ghost sitting in his place. This is another part of the story where Lady Macbeth is important. She covers for Macbeth’s talk by telling the guests that he often has these fits, and that those who know him well have learned to ignore them. Macbeth sees the ghost once more and his talk gets even more out of hand, still horrified by his crimes. After failing to calm Macbeth down, Lady Macbeth instructs the guests to leave. If Lady Macbeth was not here to do this, Macbeth might have gone out of control and admitted his crimes. When the guests leave, Macbeth regains some of his confidence (and sanity) and decides to visit the three witches once more, to demand more information of the future. This sets the rest of the story’s events into action. From that point on, Lady Macbeth becomes more of a side character as she is not seen for an entire