Lady Macbeth (character analysis)

This was the very first piece I ever wrote for Ms. Dunn. It was also my worst piece of writing. This is the paper that showed I was still in 8th grade. My writing looks different now however. This was another piece we had to do for "Macbeth". We had to follow a character throughout the story and use quotes to show how much/how they had changed.

Victoria Yarbrough                                                                                               

October 30, 2010                        English

 

Lady Macbeth, a woman once filled with greed and lust, is now filled with remorse and guilt. She was driven to the edge and in turn died.

 

Her beginning:

Lady Macbeth gets the news that Macbeth is being promoted to the thane of Cawdor. She is overjoyed but begins to hatch a plan that involves Macbeth becoming more than he already is. “Page 16, 1.5”  “Hie thee hither that I may pour my spirits in thine ear and chastise with the valor of my tongue”. This means that Lady Macbeth hopes that she can persuade Macbeth into seeing her plan by talking to him and seducing him. She is now starting to see a queenly future and will stop at nothing to get it.

 

Realizing that Macbeth doesn’t has what it takes to kill Duncan; Lady Macbeth calls on the spirits to help her be more manly and unremorseful. She thinks that she has to be strong for the both of them. Page 17, 1.5“Stop up th’ access and passage to remorse…”. She means that she wants to be strong and have no remorse in her heart to get this done.  She is firing herself up to be strong.

 

Lady Macbeth was out drinking with the guards and now she is fired up to proceed in killing Duncan. Page 27, 2.2 “That which hath made me drunk hath made me bold; what hath quenched them hath given me fire.” She means that the alcohol that made the servants drunk has fired her up and she is ready to kill the king. Lady Macbeth says that she is ready to kill the king, but she does not have to do anything but make the guards drunk.

 

Now That the king is dead, Macbeth is really paranoid and is regretting killing him. Page 29, 2.2 “Why, worthy thane, you do unbend your noble strength to think so brainsickly of things.” She means that Macbeth is driving his self-crazy thinking about the repercussions of killing Duncan. She says this because she wants him to forget about it. Also, she does not want to be worried about too, so she tells him to forget about it.

 

Now that people have found Duncan dead, Lady Macbeth pretends to be surprised as if she doesn’t know who killed Duncan. Page 34, 2.3 “What in our house?” She is now being a weak lady again who didn’t know what happened, she will now be queen.

 

Her down fall:

 

Now that lady Macbeth is queen, she does not want to kill anymore. She has gotten what she wants so now she is taking the backseat as queen. Page 46, 3.2“You must leave this”

Lady Macbeth does not want to kill any more She will begin to feel guilty because she only had one objective.

 

Everyone is at a banquet prepared by lady Macbeth and Macbeth. Macbeth has gotten word that the murderers killed Banquo, while at dinner he saw Banquo’s ghost and is now acting crazy in front of the lords. Page 52, 3.4“, Are you a man?” lady Macbeth notices Macbeth acting weird in front of all of the guest at the dinner party. She pulls him aside and asks him is he a man. She really doesn’t know what is going on now; she had no prior knowledge of Macbeth killing Banquo.

 

 

Now that Macbeth is being suspected of killing Duncan and Banquo, lady Macbeth is sick with guilt and remorse. She is on the edge of insanity. Page 84, 5.1,“Out damned spot! Out I say! One two- why then ‘tis time to do’t. Hell is murky. Fie my lord, fie! A solider and afeard? What we need we fear who knows it, when no one can call our power to account? Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?”

lady Macbeth is spiraling downward into guilty insanity, she is seeing things that are not really there, and is babbling aloud to herself. She sees Duncan and Banquo’s blood on her hands and is feeling guilty for what she talked Macbeth into doing.

 

Lady Macbeth is dipping in between insanity and reality, she is telling herself to go to be and forget about it. When she just was seeing blood on her clean hands. Page 85, 5.2“Wash your hands, put on your night- gown, and look not so pale. I tell you yet again Banquo’s buried. He cannot come out on’s grave.” Lady Macbeth is now trying to convince herself that everything will be all right. That what is done is done. So she is telling herself to go to bed and not worry about anything, and get some rest.

 

Macbeth and the servant are talking when suddenly they hear a scream. Another servant comes and tells Macbeth that lady Macbeth died. Page 91, 5.5, lady Macbeth dies of guilt.  She probably just could not take the guilt any more and it may have driven her to the edge. She probably became so guilty and so worried that she died a sick woman.

 

Lady Macbeth went from greedy and lustful to insane and guilty in a matter of scenes. She wanted to become queen and coaxed her husband into making her so. However, lady Macbeth did not think of the repercussions, which was her own health and sanity. This goes to show that good things come in time and that if you rush, you mess up the order of things.

 

 Revision:

Victoria Yarbrough                                                                                               

May 18, 2011                        English

 

Lady Macbeth, a woman once fraught with greed and lust, is now filled with remorse and penitence

 

Her rise:

Lady Macbeth gets the news that Macbeth is being promoted to the Thane of Cawdor. She is overjoyed but begins to hatch a plan that involves Macbeth becoming more than he already is. “Page 16, 1.5”  “Hie thee hither that I may pour my spirits in thine ear and chastise with the valor of my tongue” she says. This means that Lady Macbeth hopes that she can persuade Macbeth into seeing her plan by talking to him and seducing him. She is now starting to see a queenly future and will stop at nothing to get it.

 

Realizing that Macbeth doesn’t have what it takes to kill Duncan Lady Macbeth calls on the spirits to help her be more manly and adept. She thinks that she has to be strong for the both her and Macbeth now since he won’t kill the king. On page 17, 1.5 she calls up to the spirits and says “Stop up th’ access and passage to remorse…”. She means that she wants to be strong and have no form of guilt in her heart to get this done.  She is firing herself up to be strong.

 

Lady Macbeth was out drinking with the guards of the king and now she is fired up about the idea of killing king Duncan. On Page 27, 2.2, she says “That which hath made them drunk hath made me bold; what hath quenched them hath given me fire.” She means that the alcohol that made the servants drunk has her up ready to proceed in her devious scourge to become queen. Lady Macbeth says that she is ready to kill the king, but she does not have to do anything but make the guards drunk to have a successful outcome. She uses the alcohol to manipulate a drunken guard into sleep.  Then he is blamed for a deed that Macbeth committed.

 

Now that the king is dead, Macbeth is really paranoid and is regretting killing him. Lady Macbeth says to her husband on Page 29, 2.2 ,“Why, worthy thane, you do unbend your noble strength to think so brainsickly of things.” She means that Macbeth is driving himself crazy thinking about the repercussions of killing king Duncan. She says this because she wants him to forget about it doing it and be happy for what’s to come. Also, she does not want to think of the consequences if they get caught, so she tells him to forget about it for the sake of her sanity as well. People have found Duncan dead, and Lady Macbeth pretends to be surprised as if she doesn’t know who killed Duncan. On Page 34, 2.3, she says with an innocent tone “What in our house?”. She is trying to come off as a weak lady who didn’t know what happened; All the while she is going to become queen.

 

Her down fall:

 

Now that lady Macbeth is queen, she does is satisfied. She has gotten what she wants so now she is taking the backseat. On Page 46, 3.2, when Macbeth begins to grow an insatiable attitude, Lady Macbeth says, “You must leave this”. Lady Macbeth does not want to kill any more or She will begin to feel guilty because she only had one objective, but in turn created a monster.

 

Everyone is at a banquet prepared by Lady Macbeth and Macbeth to celebrate their new royalty. Macbeth has gotten word that the murderers killed Banquo (who was his next objective after Duncan). While at dinner his mind sees Banquo’s ghost and is now talking to himself and acting crazy in front of the lords. On Page 52, 3.4, surprised, Lady Macbeth asks “, Are you a man?”. Lady Macbeth notices Macbeth acting weird in front of all of the guest – who are just as surprised as she is-at the dinner party. She pulls him aside and asks him is he a man meaning is he sane, and what did he do this time? She really doesn’t know what is going on now; she had no prior knowledge of Macbeth killing Banquo.

 

 

Macbeth is being suspected of killing Duncan and Banquo, Lady Macbeth is sick with guilt and remorse. She is on the edge of insanity. On Page 84, 5.1, she’s at the hospital yelling “Out damned spot! Out I say! One two- why then ‘tis time to do’t. Hell is murky. Fie my lord, fie! A solider and afeard? What we need we fear who knows it, when no one can call our power to account? Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?”

Lady Macbeth is seeing things that are not really there, and is babbling aloud to herself. She sees Duncan and Banquo’s blood on her hands and is feeling guilty for what she talked Macbeth into doing. Lady Macbeth is dipping in between insanity and reality, she is telling herself to go to bed and forget about it all that has happened when not too long ago, she was seeing blood on her clean hands. On Page 85, 5.2, she says, “Wash your hands, put on your night- gown, and look not so pale. I tell you yet again Banquo’s buried. He cannot come out on’s grave.” Lady Macbeth is now trying to convince herself that everything will be all right and that what’s done is done. She is also partially talking to Macbeth who was worried about murdering Duncan and Banquo in the beginning as much as Lady Macbeth is now.

 

At the end of his prime, Macbeth and a servant are talking when suddenly they hear a scream. Another servant comes and tells Macbeth that his queen has died. On Page 91, 5.5, lady Macbeth dies. She probably just could not take the guilt any more and it may have driven her to the edge of insanity, stress, and remorse. She became so guilty and so worried that she died a sick woman.

 

Lady Macbeth went from greedy and lustful to insane and guilty in a matter of scenes. She wanted to become queen and coaxed her husband into making her so. However, lady Macbeth did not think of the repercussions, which was her own health and sanity in the end. This goes to show that good things come in time and that if you rush, you mess up the order of things and in turn screw yourself over.