Essay: Explore the Evil of Lady Macbeth: Rise of 4 Evil Categories in A1S5

Malevolence and nefariousness are two themes that are present throughout the whole of Shakespeare’s Macbeth. These qualities are beginning to arise in act 1 scene 5 as the characteristic of evil comes out of Lady Macbeth. This ‘rise’ of evil can be sorted into 4 different categories, firstly: Lady Macbeth’s calling of evil spirts to help aid her plans, second Lady Macbeth defeminizes herself, the third category is Lady Macbeth’s criticism of all her husband’s qualities and finally her role in the killing of King Duncan (regicide.) In this essay I will explore these four categories and explore how each one contributes to Shakespeare’s portrayal of Lady Macbeth as an evil character in act 1 scene 5.
First of all, Lady Macbeth is shown as evil because of the evil spirits she summons to help her carry out her murder plan of King Duncan. This would have been portrayed as evil because dealing with dark creatures was seen as forbidden and taboo (an act of witchcraft) and would have been especially effective towards King James I for whom the play was originally performed for as he had a particular interest in witchcraft and even wrote a book on it (called Daemonalogie.) We can see Lady Macbeths communication with spirits through the quote “come you spirits” the use of the word come is repeated throughout the passage and is used to invite the witches to the aura of Lady Macbeth. It could be seen as a form of anadiplosis repetition. Other quotes that show this repetition of the word come are: “Come to my women’s breasts” and “Come thick night and pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell.” Repetition of the word come helps convey Lady Macbeth’s desperation in getting the witches to help her in her plan as it helps to symbolize the witches and emphasizes her need for them. An example of Lady Macbeth symbolizing the witches through the word ‘come’ is seen as she first refers to the witches as ‘spirits’ and then later uses the metaphor ‘thick night’ to address the witches. The word ‘night’ also has connotations of eeriness and evil; it helps to paint a picture of the witches as dark, menacing and mysterious creatures. Furthermore, this helps depict Lady Macbeth’s evilness by accentuating the wickedness of the witches. This makes the fact that Lady Macbeth is calling upon these creatures for help by her own choice even worse as the audience is shown how villainous they really are making Lady Macbeth ‘guilty by association.’
The next category that can be explored is Lady Macbeth’s defeminizing of herself. This is best seen from the quote “Unsex me here.” the quote represents Lady Macbeth’s stripping of her feminine qualities as she feels there too ‘nice’ to do a deed as evil as the regicide she wants to commit. The quote that Lady Macbeth doesn’t need confidence or power to murder Duncan but sees her sex as her main challenge. It displays an exit from the human realm, and it goes against the social norms of the time- which women being meek and mild whilst Lady Macbeth is presented as driven and wild. Lady Macbeth also says “And fill me from the crown to the toe-top full of direst cruelty” this not only shows that Lady Macbeths desire for a crown is so strong that she includes it as part of her natural body hence showing her commitment to climbing power ranks; but most importantly presents Lady Macbeth as the opposite of a Lady that would have been around when the play was set. She wishes to be filled, not just topped up or poured but filled to the brim with direst cruelty. As cruelty is an antonym quality to what a lady of the past would have been expected to behave like (with care and compassion) ; it makes this quote particularly effective in showing Lady Macbeth as an opposite to an Elizabethan Lady. As cruelty is an antonym it contrasts Lady Macbeth and an Elizabethan Lady, highlighting her dark personality traits for the reader who can see he evil intentions very clearly. This defeminization also shows Lady Macbeth’s evil side as she is almost wishing herself to have been born a man show she can possess the ruthless killing powers men do. Lady Macbeth is fed up of her feminine kindness that stops her from committing treacherous deeds and is so devoted to killing Duncan that she wishes to these spirits to unsex her and give her the last thing she needs to commit the deed- Masculinity.
Now we move on to Lady Macbeths criticism of her husband, this is a strong case in identifying an Elizabethan anomaly, as Lady Macbeth would have been expected to have been one hundred percent committed to her husband and filled with belief in him as this was how Ladies of the time were expected to act however Lady Macbeth is filled with doubt for her husband and sits in her castle criticizing him. A prime example of these criticisms can be seen from where Lady Macbeth says, “Yet do I fear thy nature, it is too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness to catch the nearest way.” This suggests that Macbeth is weak willed, and he will not commit murder because he is too noble of a character. ‘Milk’ also suggests the motherly tone of Lady Macbeth and has strong connotations of innocence suggesting that Macbeth has not been brought up to be a brutal murderer but a man of honour which helps to convey the virtue of his character. It also foreshadows the destruction that Lady Macbeth will impose upon her husband therefore suggesting that she could be viewed as a ‘femme fatale’ figure. This contributes to Lady Macbeth’s evil presentation as she is not only leading herself into Duncans murder but willing to bring her husband in and persuade him to her side. She feels it’s bad that her husband is to full of nurturing milk of human kindness as it will not enable him to carry out Duncans murder. This shows her reckless attitude to problems when power is concerned as she seems to view qualities of Macbeth that many would call positives – as negative things. Again, a metaphor is used to help demonstrate and convey Lady Macbeth’s evil.
Finally, Lady Macbeth wants to commit regicide-she wants to kill the king, the most powerful man in Scotland. This would have been even worse at the time as Duncan would most likely of believed in ‘The Divine Right of Kings’ (meaning God gave him his power to rule.) So, Lady Macbeth would not only be betraying her King but her God as well. The quote “O never shall sun that morrow see” uses a fallacy to foreshadow the death of Duncan and outlines Lady Macbeth’s scheming intentions to commit regicide. Also, the use of the sun highlights that the Macbeth’s will be surrounded by darkness not just confined to their characters but also through the progression of the play they will keep spiraling into further darkness-out of control.
In Conclusion Shakespeare sets out to paint a strong character profile of Lady Macbeth in act 1 scene 5. He uses stark contrasts to help convey Lady Macbeths ‘unfeminine’ like personality which highlights her desire for power. In terms of her evilness Shakespeare makes it very clear that Lady Macbeth is becoming fixed on climbing up the ranks of power and is willing to use any means necessary in order to do so. This determination for more power shows some of the evil things Lady Macbeth is willing to do (like killing King Duncan) and Shakespeare emphasizes the evil of some of these deeds by using metaphors which help hammer home his descriptions of Lady Macbeth and her actions. The fact that Lady Macbeth has a prolonged soliloquy, especially as a woman, displays her importance to the play she helps to build up the plot of the play and almost shows a different perspective on murder compared to her husband, who she feels strongly is too weak to carry out her wishes. The place of her character is evident that she will be influential in the decisions of Macbeth. This is important because not only can Lady Macbeth dictate her own actions with her newfound evilness but can influence her husband’s ones as well. Shakespeare lays out the foundations of a solid character arc in this scene and begins to portray Lady Macbeth as an evil ambitious woman driven on by her determination for higher levels of power. So because of this I conclude that Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth to a strong degree of evil in this scene and shows the audience where she begins to summon her confidence and darkness from-her belief in the witches and unquenched thirst for power.