Explore the ways in which Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth and Macbeth in this

extract // 250 words

In Macbeth, Shakespeare explores many themes, from betrayal and loyalty to revenge and
power. In Act 1, scene 5 we are introduce to Lady Macbeth as a powerful and manipulative
woman who asks the spirits to invoke male traits, and encourages Macbeth to become a
murderer.

In the extract when Lady Macbeth thought Macbeth wasn’t going to kill King Duncan
because he was full of “the milk of human kindness” she said “unsex me here”. This means
that she wishes to be a man so she could kill King Duncan because she feels like she could
kill him mentally and not physically. In Shakespearian times, the male traits were associated
with strength and ruthless. Female traits, on the other hand, were associated with beauty
and tenderness. However, Lady Macbeth completely disagree with this as she orders the
“sprits” to “unsex (her) here ” so that she can remove her female traits to become a man
and therefore be more powerful enough to do evil. Furthermore, the quote "Look like the
innocent flower but be the serpent undert” implies that Lady Macbeth wants Macbeth to
carry out her plan to assassinate King Duncan which Macbeth agrees to and wants more
details as he claims that they will "talk further" the next day. We can see here that Lady
Macbeth is telling Macbeth what to do which goes, again, against the fact that in the
Shakespearian times, men were shown as dominant towards females.

To conclude Lady Macbeth is presented as a powerful woman, capable of thinking and

Macbeth as a brave person who is willing to kill someone just to gain power.
Shakespeare uses the noun “milk” which in this extract can be seen by Lady Macbeth to reject her
femininity and also as a contrast between being a mother and letting her masculine ambition take
over. The audience is shown that Lady Macbeth believes that femininity makes her weak and
disadvantages her.

Lady Macbeth wants to make herself even more powerful by invoking the spirits to 'thicken [her]
blood'. As blood, veins, arteries and the heart constitute the circulatory system, they act as a symbol
of a person's sensitivity and empathy for others. By asking for her blood to be thickened, Lady
Macbeth is asking to become less sensitive and more ruthless, which makes her more determined in
her murderous plans.

By asking to be more male, by asking to be filled with ‘direst cruelty,’ by asking to become
more remorseless, and by being utterly manipulative and pushy, Lady Macbeth is presented
as a multi-faceted, powerful woman capable of thinking and masterminding death and evil.