How Shakespeare presents the relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth Essay Example

the witches earlier in the play, because she manipulates Macbeth, yet a modern audience would not make that relation because no-one believes in witchcraft anymore. Shakespeare could be seen to use the play to convey his thoughts of popular matters of the time, a particularly large one being witchcraft. The significance of the quotation on the question is that Shakespeare is showing Lady Macbeth mocking Macbeth, who is supposed to be a great warrior, by calling him weak hearted.Shakespeare could also have been seen to use this line "my hands are of your colour, but I shame to wear a heart so white," as if Lady Macbeth wished to infect him with her own nonchalance in exchange for infecting herself with the blood shed by Duncan. This shows that this quote is important in explaining how Shakespeare presents Macbeth and Lady Macbeth's relationship. At the beginning of the play, Shakespeare presents Macbeth and Lady Macbeth's relationship as quite intimate, with Macbeth responding to the events, by writing a letter to Lady Macbeth, telling her of the events that had unfolded.

This is also evident in Polanski's production of Macbeth, where Lady Macbeth is physically attractive and is very intimate with Macbeth before telling him of her plans to kill Duncan. When Macbeth comes back to the castle, the way in which Lady Macbeth reacts to the letter shows the audience that she is the more dominant and in Act I Scene 7, he decides not to kill the king and she comes back to argue against him. 'Was the hope drunk? Wherein you dressed yourself? Hath it slept since?And wakes it now to look so green

and pale' She is questioning his prestige and calling him a coward because he has changed his mind about murdering Duncan. The 17th Century audience would be shocked and disgusted by this because valiance and prestige were of such importance to the people of that time, 'Like valour's minions' shows us that Duncan, Banquo and the nobility thought very highly of Macbeth and so a woman questioning his manhood was a very shocking event and one that the modern audience might not pay as much attention to.The language that Shakespeare uses for Lady Macbeth makes her seem as though she is very forceful and strong. Shakespeare shows this through her dramatic speeches to her husband, 'And dashed the brains out', in his line she describes how she could rip a baby off her breast and smash it's head to bits.

This is a very strong and effective thing to say and would have shocked all the audience, as it's a very visual way of expressing how she feels. Lady Macbeth's speech at the start of Act II, Scene2 reveals that she could be starting to break down as she is getting paranoid and becoming worried.When there is simply an owl 'Hark Peace! It was the owl that shrieked', Lady Macbeth becomes paranoid and scared of every noise that she hears. Also in Act II Scene 2 Lady Macbeth admits that she could not kill Duncan because he looked like her father, 'Had he not resembled My father as he slept, I had done't. ' This tells us that they aren't as close and that Lady Macbeth is beginning to have secrets from her husband and

so this may have triggered the isolation that comes between them in Act III Scene 2.In Act II Scene 2, Macbeth start worrying about being punished by God and is beginning to go mad.

'But wherefore could not I pronounce"Amen"? I had most need of blessing and "Amen" Stuck in my throat' Macbeth fearing the eternal punishment and Lady Macbeth not, shows the 17th Century audience who is evil and who has still got good in him,yet they know he is evil as he has killed Duncan. On the other hand the modern audience might see this as a sign of regret from Macbeth, who sees the guards and thinks they will go to heaven, but not him as he has murdered Duncan.Lady Macbeth shows signs of anger and frustration at the beginning of ActII Scene 2, where she sees Macbeth with the daggers after returning from the scene of the murder. she takes complete control of the situation and becomes very aggressive in her language that she uses. 'Infirm of purpose! Give me the daggers', the use of imperative verbs tells us a subtle change in the relationship has happened and although she was already the dominant one, she has not yet demanded Macbeth do something and this could show us them beginning to fall apart.

Also the structure of Shakespaere's writing here, tells us about how the characters are dealing with the situation, as the sentences are short and sharp and the writing doesn't follow an iambic pentameter, like the rest of the play does. This however, is not as obvious when read, it becomes more clear when said aloud in a theatre as

it does not have the same rhythm as the rest of the play. This tells us that a change is happening, the falling apart of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. In Act III Scene 2 the relationship has completely changed, and it is shown through Macbeth becoming more dominant and less swayed by Lady Macbeth's words.

This is obvious as she has to ask to speak to him and takes on a more traditional female role. Lady Macbeth says 'Say to the King, I would attend his lesiure For a few words', showing she has to ask to speak to him, that shows us a break down in their relationship and that there is an isolation between the two characters that started to emerge in Act II Scene 2. 'How now, my lord' shows us that she speaks formally to him and that he is the more dominant figure now. This role reversal was unusual in Shakespearian times.When the audience first sees Macbeth, he's just come back from a battle, where he has valiantly defeated the rebels and traitor general by stabbing him with his sword then bringing the sword up through the body and out of the head. This is shown when Duncan says 'O valiant cousin! Worthy, Gentlemen! ' at the beginning of the play.

This makes the audience think that he is a savage soldier, who isn't afraid of anything and is loyal to his country. Yet later in the play he changes to a paranoid traitor who murders the king.This transformation that Shakespeare creates could be seen to be caused by Lady Macbeth's manipulation. This changing of character wasn't used in theatre at

the time.

In most plays, characters were evil at the start and stayed evil and vice versa with good. Yet Shakespeare shows a change in character and so the 17th Century audience would've reacted very differently from how a modern audience would. In Act III Scene 2, Macbeth is going mad, yet it is only inside his head for the moment, and the only way the audience finds this out is through him talking to Lady Macbeth, 'O, full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife! , tells the audience that he cannot but think as he isn't sane, he cannot think straight for the murder has changed him. Their relationship is becoming less open as they no longer tell each other everything, as they did in Act I Scene 5.

This is shown with Macbeth saying 'Thou know'st that Banquo and his Flaence lives'. In this line Lady Macbeth does not notice that he is shielding the truth from her, yet by saying this, he is getting it off his chest even if she doesn't understand what he is implying.It seems at the end of Act III Scene 2 that the only thing that is keeping them together is the fact that they are the only ones that know what happened. Yet as they are getting isolated, they cannot confide in each other as Macbeth seems not to allow this after his transformation and therefore they both begin to break down.

Shakespeare presents the relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth as a very unusual one as it is based on deception and the change from the closeness of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to the

isolation later in the play.This was very unusual and so would make the 17th Century audience think, which would keep them interested and create an atmosphere. It would also make the play dramatic and all the scenes important to their relationship, which is central to the story. The way that their relationship changes to the circumstances, allows the audience to understand and follow the play better. The relationship also conveys a message of the effects of evilness and shocks the audience to keep them interested.