At the end of the play, Malcolm described Macbeth and Lady Macbeth as ‘this dead butcher and his fiend-like queen’. The adjective ‘fiend-like’ is used to describe a wicked and cruel person like an evil spirit or demon. Although at the start of the play, Lady Macbeth wishes to become a ‘fiend-like queen’, as the play goes on, Shakespeare presents her vulnerability and frailness which eventually results in a presumed suicide. Therefore, I do not agree with Malcolm’s judgement of Lady Macbeth being a ‘fiend-like queen’.
At the start of the play, Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth as an ambitious woman who is desperate to make Macbeth king by murdering King Duncan. The fact that she hopes to suppress her caring feminine feelings to achieve her goal suggests her turning into a ‘fiend-like queen’. The phrase ‘Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here’ highlights her wish to remove her feminine character: being non-violent and caring. The wish of inviting evil spirits to possess her body is probably influenced by the witchcraft craze in the Jacobean society at Shakespeare’s time. The frequent hard consonance ‘c’ and ‘t’ in ‘the crown to the toe topfull of direst cruelty’ conveys Lady Macbeth’s transformation to a more determined, crueller person after the feminine feelings are removed. The imagery ‘nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark’ highlights that she doesn’t want her religious belief or ethics to make her hesitate when killing Duncan. The verb ‘peep’ implies the no one will be able to discover Lady Macbeth’s plans on killing King Duncan, not even God can stop her ‘keen knife [eager]’ at that time. From Lady Macbeth’s speech in this scene, which portrays a few of the qualities of being a ‘fiend-like queen’, I believe that she does it to support and motivate his husband Macbeth, who is not determined and cruel enough at that time. This is typical in Shakespeare’s time when women were expected to be supporting their husbands by all means. This level of caring and the ability to be considerate of others contradicts to the definition of ‘fiend-like’ being a ‘cruel’ person.
At the middle of the play, Lady Macbeth’s actions still suggest her being a ‘fiend-like queen’. The phrase ‘That which hath made them drunk, hath made me bold’ implies her wickedness and determination to murder the king. Making the guards drunk is just part of her plan to remove the obstacles that prevent Macbeth from murdering the king as well as to disguise themselves, which suggests her being ‘fiend-like’. However, I believe that this actually conveys the weakness of Lady Macbeth who is not cruel enough to murder someone. This is emphasised by the verb ‘drunk’ suggesting the deliriousness of Lady Macbeth when she carries out her plan. As killing the king is considered as disrupting the ‘chain of being’, a hierarchy at Shakespeare’s time, which is the worst crime to be committed. Only the cruellest people can kill the king without guilt and hesitation. Therefore, Lady Macbeth requires alcohol in order to prevent her morality to stop her, conveying that she is not cruel enough. After other people discovered Duncan’s murder and started suspecting Macbeth, Lady Macbeth says, ‘Help me hence’, and faints in order to draw attention away from Macbeth, suggesting her not wanting their murder to be discovered. Fainting to facilitate her plan suggests her being a ‘fiend-like queen’. However, this is not agreed by the Polanski interpretation of the play in which the actor acting Lady Macbeth is physically terrified by bloody bodies. A ‘fiend-like queen’ will not be terrified by blood. The one-word responses ‘now’, ‘yes’ and ‘Donalbain’ also conveys the worry and anxiety of Lady Macbeth after Macbeth has murdered the king. This will not be the case if Lady Macbeth is a cruel, ruthless murder who is ‘fiend-like’.
Towards the end of the play, Shakespeare presents her guilt when she sleepwalks. In the Polanski version of the play, Lady Macbeth is naked which effectively portrays her vulnerability and frailness when facing her guilt. The phrase ‘She has light by her continually, ‘tis her command’ portrays her guilt after carrying out a plan to assassin King Duncan in bed as she is scared that someone will do the same thing to her. The symbolic gesture ‘rubs her hands’ highlights her trying to hide the evidence of murdering Duncan. This is emphasised from her speech ‘Yet here’s a spot’ where the ‘spot’ symbolises the drops of blood on her hands after the murder. The hyperbole ‘all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand’ corresponds to her opinion ‘what’s done cannot be undone’, suggesting that she is living under the guilt the whole time after killing King Duncan and it is impossible to reverse and forget it. The fragmented flashbacks of the murdering scenes ‘the old man’ to ‘the Thane of Fife’ and ‘Banquo’s buried’ is in a wrong chronological order, suggesting her losing control and mentally broken down. This is further illustrated by Shakespeare who has written Lady Macbeth’s lines in prose. Since in Shakespeare’s time, prose can be used when a character is mad or losing control. In this case, Lady Macbeth, who is a powerful queen that is meant to speak in verse, speaks in prose, suggesting her becoming mad. Being guilty and becoming mad is not how a ‘fiend-like queen’ would act like. Thus, I believe Lady Macbeth is not a ‘fiend-like queen’.
In conclusion, Shakespeare has hinted Lady Macbeth wishing to become a ‘fiend-like queen’ at the start of the play when she is determined and ambitious. However, I believe she does this all to support Macbeth, his husband. More importantly, the ability to be considerate of others contradicts to the definition of ‘fiend-like’ being a ‘cruel’ person. As the play goes on, Shakespeare further illustrates Lady Macbeth as a weak and frail woman by presenting her guilt and mental breakdown as well as requiring alcohol to murder someone. This suggests her not being cruel enough and still possess morality. The qualities listed above does not agree with the adjective ‘fiend-like’. Therefore, I do not agree with Malcolm’s judgement of Lady Macbeth being a ‘fiend-like queen’.