The Macbeth Macdeath Extravaganza Ambition dictates action, forcing individuals to resort to drastic measures in order to achieve the power that they desire. In certain circumstances, those individuals choose to enact their plans from the shadows, manipulating others into committing heinous acts and forcing them to shoulder the entirety of the blame for such acts. Although the person who commits the crime is guilty, they are merely a pawn in someone else’s pursuit of power; they do not deserve the majority of the burden. Various forms of literature often explore this phenomenon. Just as how Cassius deceives Brutus into fulfilling his goal of killing Caesar, Lady Macbeth manipulates Macbeth into killing Duncan for power. Throughout the course
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Upon first hearing of the prophecy from her husband, Lady Macbeth immediately concludes that he will not kill Duncan on his own, stating, “Yet do I fear thy nature; / It is too full o' th' milk of human kindness / To catch the nearest way. Thou wouldst be great, / Art not without ambition, but without / The illness should attend it. What thou wouldst highly, / That wouldst thou holily” (I.v.16-21). Macbeth prefers to achieve his goals the honorable way and remain a man of virtue. He lacks the ruthlessness necessary to usurp Duncan. Lady Macbeth must expose Macbeth’s brutal and barbaric side in order to prompt him to commit this heinous act. She steels herself, pleading with the spirits to “unsex [her] here, / And fill [her] from the crown to the toe top-full / Of direst cruelty” (I.v.48-50). Lady Macbeth strips herself of trite femininity, transforming into a more malevolent version of herself, one capable of undergoing the task to come. She sets out to corrupt Macbeth, continuously berating him until she guilts him into enacting the murder plot that she has concocted. When Macbeth expresses his hesitation, she quickly snuffs it out, declaring, “From this time / Such I account thy love. Art thou afeard / To be the same in thine own act and valor / As thou art in desire? Wouldst thou have that / Which thou esteem’st the ornament of life / And live a coward in thine own esteem” (I.vii.42-47). Lady Macbeth calls Macbeth’s bravery, sincerity, and devotion to her into question, exploiting her husband’s emotions and fragile sense of masculinity to fit her agenda. Macbeth cannot allow an insult against his masculinity to stand, and submits to Lady Macbeth’s bidding, ultimately damning himself in the
Upon first hearing of the prophecy from her husband, Lady Macbeth immediately concludes that he will not kill Duncan on his own, stating, “Yet do I fear thy nature; / It is too full o' th' milk of human kindness / To catch the nearest way. Thou wouldst be great, / Art not without ambition, but without / The illness should attend it. What thou wouldst highly, / That wouldst thou holily” (I.v.16-21). Macbeth prefers to achieve his goals the honorable way and remain a man of virtue. He lacks the ruthlessness necessary to usurp Duncan. Lady Macbeth must expose Macbeth’s brutal and barbaric side in order to prompt him to commit this heinous act. She steels herself, pleading with the spirits to “unsex [her] here, / And fill [her] from the crown to the toe top-full / Of direst cruelty” (I.v.48-50). Lady Macbeth strips herself of trite femininity, transforming into a more malevolent version of herself, one capable of undergoing the task to come. She sets out to corrupt Macbeth, continuously berating him until she guilts him into enacting the murder plot that she has concocted. When Macbeth expresses his hesitation, she quickly snuffs it out, declaring, “From this time / Such I account thy love. Art thou afeard / To be the same in thine own act and valor / As thou art in desire? Wouldst thou have that / Which thou esteem’st the ornament of life / And live a coward in thine own esteem” (I.vii.42-47). Lady Macbeth calls Macbeth’s bravery, sincerity, and devotion to her into question, exploiting her husband’s emotions and fragile sense of masculinity to fit her agenda. Macbeth cannot allow an insult against his masculinity to stand, and submits to Lady Macbeth’s bidding, ultimately damning himself in the