An Exploration of Lady Macbeth's Fall
“I, with a deeper instinct, choose a man who compels my strength, who makes enormous demands on me, who does not doubt my courage or my toughness, who does not believe me naïve or innocent, who has the courage to treat me like a woman.”
--Anaïs Nin Like author Anaïs Nin, Lady Macbeth sought out a man who would encourage her to be strong and fierce. She found this in her husband, Macbeth, who allowed her dominating personality to flourish and treated her as his equal. While this relationship of equality allowed Lady Macbeth to prosper for a time, it was eventually responsible for her downfall. In his tragedy Macbeth, William Shakespeare develops the character of Lady Macbeth to demonstrate the consequences one can incur by disrupting the Great Chain of Being. During the inception of the play, Lady Macbeth's …show more content…
Lady Macbeth proclaims "'[t]is safer to be that which we destroy/[t]han by destruction dwell in doubtful joy," expressing the toll her action's against Duncan have taken on her (III.ii.7-8). Shakespeare employs the alliteration of the letter "d" to make Lady Macbeth's lines sound heavy and drawn-out, signifying her decline into depression and her subsequent loss of energy. This statement foreshadows Lady Macbeth's eventual descent into complete madness, which occurs as a cosmic punishment for her interference with the Great Chain of Being. Macbeth conveys his desire for Lady Macbeth to "[b]e innocent of the knowledge" of his plans for Banquo and Fleance (III.ii.45). The word "innocent" is often associated with weakness and femininity. Macbeth's usage of this word, and secrecy, is indicative of his newly-found belief that Lady Macbeth needs his protection. Macbeth now regards Lady Macbeth as his inferior, radically changing the nature of their relationship. Shakespeare makes this modification in order to restore order to the
“I, with a deeper instinct, choose a man who compels my strength, who makes enormous demands on me, who does not doubt my courage or my toughness, who does not believe me naïve or innocent, who has the courage to treat me like a woman.”
--Anaïs Nin Like author Anaïs Nin, Lady Macbeth sought out a man who would encourage her to be strong and fierce. She found this in her husband, Macbeth, who allowed her dominating personality to flourish and treated her as his equal. While this relationship of equality allowed Lady Macbeth to prosper for a time, it was eventually responsible for her downfall. In his tragedy Macbeth, William Shakespeare develops the character of Lady Macbeth to demonstrate the consequences one can incur by disrupting the Great Chain of Being. During the inception of the play, Lady Macbeth's …show more content…
Lady Macbeth proclaims "'[t]is safer to be that which we destroy/[t]han by destruction dwell in doubtful joy," expressing the toll her action's against Duncan have taken on her (III.ii.7-8). Shakespeare employs the alliteration of the letter "d" to make Lady Macbeth's lines sound heavy and drawn-out, signifying her decline into depression and her subsequent loss of energy. This statement foreshadows Lady Macbeth's eventual descent into complete madness, which occurs as a cosmic punishment for her interference with the Great Chain of Being. Macbeth conveys his desire for Lady Macbeth to "[b]e innocent of the knowledge" of his plans for Banquo and Fleance (III.ii.45). The word "innocent" is often associated with weakness and femininity. Macbeth's usage of this word, and secrecy, is indicative of his newly-found belief that Lady Macbeth needs his protection. Macbeth now regards Lady Macbeth as his inferior, radically changing the nature of their relationship. Shakespeare makes this modification in order to restore order to the