Lady Macbeths Desperate Escape In Shakespeare's time women were only wives and mothers, but in this novel Lady Macbeth chooses to do so otherwise. This story tells the tale of two lovers who slowly turn insane and go crazy. Macbeth’s character changes thorough out the play as in the beginning he was majestic and loved but he later became obsessed with power, which eventually lead to his demise. On the other hand Lady Macbeth was ambitious, cold-hearted, and ruthless from the beginning to end. Lady Macbeth’s suicide was a desperate escape of an insane woman, and although she was a queen and loving wife, she was over controlling and insane. To begin with, one of the factors for Lady Macbeth’s suicide is how controlling she is over Macbeth. In the beginning of Macbeth Lady Macbeth was attempting to convince Macbeth to kill Duncan by calling him a coward. This can be seen when she says “When you durst do it,” she says, “then you were a man” (1.7.49). To commit the murder Lady Macbeth uses words that taunt rather than persuade. Lady Macbeths controlling characteristic can be seen once more after Macbeth kills Duncan and she tells him to go back to smear the blood and put the daggers back. “Why did you bring these daggers from the place? They must lie there”(2.2.59). Macbeth had just committed murder upon the king and he had brought the daggers with him, but Lady Kolker 2
Macbeth insists he brings it back without even acknowledging the consequences if he were to get caught. Now in a way Lady Macbeth can be doing what is best for both herself and Macbeth so that they live in royalty and leisure. Also instead of Lady Macbeth being controlling it can be that she is truly motivating Macbeth to do what is best for them. Besides that, another reason for Lady Macbeth’s desperate escape from life was that she felt overwhelmingly guilty for killing King Duncan. An example of this can be seen when she accepts that the murder simply cannot be undone. ”What’s done cannot be undone, to bed, to bed, to bed!”(4.3.14). Since she died shortly after this scene it makes it seem likely that she may have committed suicide. Additionally another example of Lady Macbeth feeling guilty is when she was sleepwalking and sees blood on her hands, saying that nothing will ever wash it off. “Who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?” (5.1.30). Because of Lady Macbeth’s guilt it gives way to sleepwalking so that she would be able to cope with her shattered nerves. On the other hand though Lady Macbeth can just be exhibiting normal feelings if a person were to murder another human being. Finally one last factor for Lady Macbeth’s suicide is how she slowly became insane after killing Duncan. An example of this could be when she saw blood stains on her hands while being visited