The Relationship Between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth and How it Contributes to Macb Essay

Consider how Shakespeare presents the changing relationship between Lady Macbeth and her husband and analyse how the relationship contributes to Macbeths tragedy.

A Shakespearean tragedy always contains a protagonist. The protagonist of the play always has a fatal flaw which leads to the characters own tragic demise.Each play contains an element of hope that is disappointed, or a certain ambition that is frustrated. Macbeth is the protagonist in this play. Macbeths ambition leads him to murder Duncan with the assurance of good reward. He then enters battle with what again seems to be positive assurance. Only when it is too late does he realize that he is being led to his destruction. Macbeths constant reoccurring fatal flaw is his ambition. He is lead by ambition into situations and finds himself with no way out; this is what kills Macbeth.

In order to consider the changing relationship between Lady Macbeth and her husband we must first analyse what each individual is like when they are not influenced by the presence of the other. To effectivley explore the impact that they have on each other we must first analyse their personalities and actions when they are not together.

Our first impression of Macbeth is given by the Sergeant. We are able to see from this text that Macbeth is a man who is extremely brave, courageous, valiant, and is also seen in a good light by the people who are around him:

For brave Macbeth well he deserves that name

Because this quotation does not come from either Macbeth or his wife, we are able to conclude that Macbeth is seen in a good light by others. He must be a man that has done great things in the presence of others and this allows us to believe that at this point in the play Macbeth is a good man. Shakespeare is blunt in his use of words and by using the single word brave there is no doubt in the mind of the audience that Macbeth is a man who is extremely brave.

It could be argued that Macbeth, however brave was evil and murderous in nature from the beginning:

Till he unseamd him from the nave to the chaps,

This quote is an account of what Macbeth has done to an enemy on the battlefield. Shakespeare exploits the word unseamd and uses it to describe what Macbeth did to his enemy; to un-seam something allows the audience to imagine something being ripped in half as a result of a substantial amount of force. Shakespeare tells the audience that Macbeth has just torn a man into two pieces. This is to allow the audience to grasp hold of a more violent and malicious side of Macbeth.

This point is backed up later in the scene and leads us to believe that Macbeth is a man who enjoys killing and gore:

Except they meant to bathe in reeking wounds,

The fact that Macbeth wanted to bathe in another mans blood brings the reader to believe that he is a malicious man. To bathe in blood is an image that would disgust most, however this is an idea that seems to appeal to Macbeth. If we were to bathe we would be at leisure and quite relaxed. Because Macbeth is able to be relaxed and at leisure whilst bathing in another persons blood, we are lead to believe that Macbeth has always had an evil side to him, even before he has had the chance to be influenced in any way by Lady Macbeth.

Shakespeare wanted to make sure that the audience realised a vital aspect about Macbeths character. He is not afraid to kill and war and conflict comes naturally to him:

Till that Bellonas bridegroom

Shakespeare portrays Macbeth as being the husband of the goddess of war. This implies that war comes naturally to Macbeth, he is a bold warrior un-afraid to kill, this is a vital aspect of Macbeth that Shakespeare allows the audience to realise. Although this may be the case, one may also argue that Macbeth is the spouse of this warlady and that he holds no power. It could be seen that Shakespeare was trying to imply Macbeth's evil nature however, an alternative and perhaps more relastic interpretation of this Metaphor, is that Shakespear was comparing this relationship (between Macbeth and Bellona) to the relationship that Macbeth has with his wife Lady Macbeth. It is rational to say that this is an indication of the power share that we see later in the play.

During the Shakespearian times it was universally believed that witches were real. People believed that it was a fact that witches were living beings with immense power and were to be feared. It was thought that witches had the power to control anything and it was out of normal human control.

Shakespeare is quick to link Macbeth with the Witches in the play; the fact that Macbeth is linked with the Witches could mean that he has no control over what he is doing and that the whole plot is inevitable. The Witches state very early on in the play:

Fair is foul, and foul is fair

Just before his meeting with the Witches, Macbeth remarks to Banquo:

So foul and fair a day I have not seen