Emotions In Macbeth

Throughout Macbeth, many emotions within the marriage of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are shown, each presented in different ways. Similarly, there are many emotions linked to marriage presented within the poems Havisham, Cousin Kate, and The Farmer’s Bride. Many techniques and emotions are displayed, and I will be exploring some of these throughout this essay.
Shakespeare presents the strength of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s relationship through the obvious trust and respect they have for each other. This level of equality between husband and wife was not common at the time during which the play was written, which makes their relationship appear to be even stronger compared to those that would have been common at the time. The couple starts out …show more content…
In Macbeth, the relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth deteriorates to the point where there is very little care between the two. Upon the news of Lady Macbeth’s death, Macbeth gives the impression that he doesn’t have time to mourn her death, and therefore doesn’t let it have any effect on him – this is shown through his reaction, where he says simple ‘She should have died hereafter; there would have been time for such a word’. Should Lady Macbeth have died before Macbeth had become king, her death would have had a much larger impact on Macbeth. Instead, there is so little care left between them that he doesn’t appear to so much as falter after receiving the news. This shows a huge change in their relationship from the start, where they were openly loving and respectful of each other; this was often shown through their use of pet names for each other, such as ‘my dearest love’, but following the beginning of the murders they very rarely refer to each other lovingly. The lack of love shown towards the end of their relationship is similar to that shown between Havisham and her ex-fiancé. Havisham, however, shows mixed feelings about her ex-lover, which is also demonstrated through the use of pet names. Her using an oxymoron in referring to him as ‘beloved sweetheart bastard’ shows that while she hates him and how their relationship ended, she also still loves him. ‘Beloved sweetheart’ would ordinarily be an affectionate term, but the addition of ‘bastard’ shows that while she loves him she has not forgiven him and has a lot of resentment and hatred built up for the man who jilted her. The stuttered ‘b-b-b-breaks’ shows the effect that him leaving her has had on her, as it gives the idea that she is no longer quite able to function as she had done before him. This is similar to the way in which Lady Macbeth eventually reacts to the guilt she feels over the murders committed