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The Degradation of Lady Macbeth

Lady Macbeth, one of the main characters in Shakespeare's play, The Tragedy of Macbeth, goes through a striking transformation as the play unfolds. In the beginning of the play Lady Macbeth is the strongest character. She commands a large, immovable stage presence as Macbeth's power-hungry and manipulative wife. An evil disposition gives her a witch like quality, and adds to her unnatural, steely resolve to kill King Duncan. As a result of her actions, however, Lady Macbeth slowly dwindles. Her resolve and ability to cope with the blood she has helped spill diminishes. Eventually she is driven mad by her guilt and retreats into the background of the play; a position completely opposite of the bold character she was. In the end the tormented Lady Macbeth is so defeated by guilt that she takes her own life; a deed that becomes her final act of evil.

Shakespeare develops Lady Macbeth's character in many different ways. For the first 3 acts of the play, she is the portrayed as the constant, evil and contriving wife of Macbeth. One device Shakespeare uses to develop her character is juxtaposition. By placing Lady Macbeth with all her boldness opposite her gentler husband, Shakespeare defines Lady Macbeth's unnatural character. She is also contrasted to her husband in many respects by her lack of femininity. Finally, added to these attributed is Shakespeare's use of the supernatural, shown when Lady Macbeth invokes the "spirits/ that tend on mortal thoughts," and becomes a force for evil (I, v 38-39).
Act one, scene five, the very first time Lady Macbeth appears, establishes the base for her contrast to her husband. When she says, "Yet I do fear thy nature./ It is too full o'th' milk of human kindness/ To catch the nearest way," she points out that her husband is too gentle to let ambition drive him to kill King Duncan (I, v, 14-15). By using the words, "milk of human kindness," she is also comparing him with the female sex - by their ability to produce milk - and thus, is saying that he is weak. This thought makes Lady Macbeth, herself, seem less feminine, and unkind for having no second thought about such a grievous act. She feels that she is strong and bold enough to do it. In fact, she goes on to say, "Hie thee hither,/ that I may pour my spirits in thine ear/ And chasten with the valour of my tongue/ All that impedes thee from the golden round" (I, v, 24-25). Lady Macbeth is resolved to become the strength and evil ambition her

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