Power Struggle In Macbeth

The Shakespearian Frankenstein In the play, Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, the titular character, Macbeth, is tricked and manipulated by several different characters and events. The one that had the most impact was that of his wife, Lady Macbeth. The impact that Lady Macbeth had on Macbeth was negative and lead him to commit numerous immoral acts and various treacherous decisions. The reason for Macbeth’s unbecoming actions was an exchange of the character traits that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth possess. The exchange of character traits that occurs to the Macbeths can be classified into the power struggle that the couple goes through in the play, the interchange of character traits between the Macbeths, and Macbeth’s progression into a male …show more content…
Early on in the play, Macbeth is seen as a gallant warrior who is not afraid to shed blood in battle. His wife, however, sees him in a different light. She believes that he is a weak man who will not take action and secure what is rightfully his. She taunts him in the play in order to manipulate him into murdering King Duncan; she tells him “When you durst do it, then you were a man, and to be more than you were, you would be so much more the man” (Shakespeare 322). Macbeth initially tries to resist her manipulation, but his submissive nature causes him to give in easily when she insults his pride as a man. Lady Macbeth’s dominant nature was able to easily overpower the weak will of Macbeth, and this culminated into the murder of King Duncan. After Macbeth murders King Duncan, he begins to lose his sanity, which then resulted in the exchange of character traits that Lady Macbeth and Macbeth …show more content…
Her yearning to become a man is a result of the beliefs of the time period that women are the inferior sex. It is also a result of her own beliefs of a woman. She believes that she would be taken more seriously as a man, and that she would be able to act on her own desire for royalty and kill the king without hesitation. But, as she is bound to her own body, she must get Macbeth to do what she cannot. The beginning of her attempt to mold Macbeth into the male image of herself was during their discussion of the murder of King Duncan. Her manipulation was the main instigator of Macbeth’s murder of King Duncan. She used Macbeth as a tool to reach the object of her affection, the crown. After this, Macbeth displays several of her own mannerisms and behavioral patterns. He shows examples of her ruthlessness in his command that Banquo and Fleance be murdered. Her paranoia also reveals itself in him, when he ordered everyone at Fife must be purged as a result of his suspicion of Macduff. But her intention to make the perfect male image of herself backfired, as her creation turned on her at the first sign of weakness. Her own stoic expression while facing guilt was shown to be nothing but a farce as the emotional turmoil of what she had done drove her to have night terrors and culminate in her decision to commit