How does Shakespeare present Lady Macbeth as dangerous in Act 1 Scene 5?

In Act 1 scene 5, Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth as a powerful woman trapped in

society’s view. In the Jacobean times, there were associations with male and female traits;
male traits were associated with strength, aggression and rationality whereas female
traits were associated with beauty, tender thoughts and sensitivity. As playing a female
character herself, Lady Macbeth commands the “spirits” to “unsex me here” indicating
that she views her gender as preventing her from carrying out vile purposes. While, “take
my milk for gall”, similarly involves a desire to give up something feminine, nurturing for
something destructive and acidic. As the audience’s, point of view we are informed that
Lady Macbeth’s husband lacks the guts to take power from King Duncan, illustrating that
wants to “stop th’access and passage for remorse”, defining to take away her regrets and
guilts hinting a view of masculinity.

In Act 1 scene 5, Lady Macbeth is presented as a violent and gruesome person, contrasting
to the female traits in the Jacobean era. To gain more power, Lady Macbeth invokes the
“spirits” to “thick my blood”. As blood, arteries, veins and the heart make up the
circulatory system, they act as a symbol for sensitivity and empathy for others. By
questioning for Lady Macbeth’s blood to be thickened, Lady Macbeth asks to become less
sensitive and more remorseless, thus making her more resolute in her schemes to murder.
In this soliloquy, Shakespeare explores the theme of power and femininity through Lady
Macbeth, this would shock and surprise the Shakespearean audience as female traits don’t
hold murderous and gruesome thoughts, they were associated with tender thoughts not
applicable to bloodshed, this again illustrates the theme of appearance vs reality.

Furthermore, in Act 1 scene 5 Lady Macbeth is presented as a person with supernatural

thoughts. Lady Macbeth calls on spirits to help remove her goodness and make her capable
of her evil plot she is hatching, each thought begins with Lady Macbeth summoning
something new to come to her and help her achieve her goal. This foreshadows hoe
overwhelmed Lady Macbeth is with guilt and suspicion, “come you spirits” and “in the
dunnest smoke of hell”. Shakespeare uses a variety of language devices to settle the
atmosphere, throughout Lady Macbeth’s soliloquy, she uses the repetition of “t” sounds
such as “tip toe” these are harsh consonants which reflect on her brutal treachery as well
as her serpentine “s” sounds that mirror Lady Macbeth’s snake like nature. Shakespeare
also uses alliteration like “murdering ministers” connoting to demons or murderous
servants that conjure, as well as dark and dramatic imagery, this is seen at the beginning
of the soliloquy with “croaks the fatal entrance”, raven often symbolize death or murder
and make an ominous sound when they call.

In conclusion, Lady Macbeth has a blind ambition. This blind ambition is where a person
sets a goal or target without taking into account the obvious obstacles, or prefers them to
be unseen. Evil is always present in Lady Macbeth’s blind ambition, this soliloquy shows her
deep desires to interact with evil spirits and demands them to make her a man so she can
perform the murder.