Lady Macbeth's Personality

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In The Tragedy of Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Lady Macbeth is revealed to be a unique individual who experiences different changes in her personality as the story progresses. In her first appearance in the play, she is introduced as a strong, forceful person determined to get what she wants. She refuses to allow anything to get in the way of what she desires. Her personality begins to change as her husband’s guilt for killing Duncan causes him to perform more and more brutal acts. Lady Macbeth’s behavior changes throughout the play with her early determination and forcefulness, her behavior during the banquet scene, and her behavior in her final moments. In Lady Macbeth’s first appearance in the play, she is revealed to have a lot of determination …show more content…
Macbeth sees Banquo’s ghost and begins to throw a fit. Ross tells the people at the banquet: “Gentlemen, rise, his Highness is not well” (3.4.51.). He tells them that Macbeth is not in his right mind and they should leave. Lady Macbeth responds: “Sit, worthy friends; my lord is often thus, / And hath been from his youth” (3.4.52-53.). She blames Macbeth’s behavior on a childhood illness to convince the people at the banquet that his behavior is normal. She feels worried about people realizing the truth about what they have done. Lady Macbeth lacks peace of mind because of Macbeth’s …show more content…
The Gentlewoman calls for the Doctor after Lady Macbeth begins sleepwalking and acting erratically. The Gentlewoman tells him: “I have seen / her rise from her bed, throw her nightgown upon her, unlock her / closet, take forth paper, fold it, write upon ‘t, read it, afterwards / seal it, and again return to bed” (5.1. 3-6.). She tells the Doctor that Lady Macbeth writes letters while she is still asleep to prove that she has lost her mind. Lady Macbeth begins to scrub her hands and cries out: “Out, damn’d spot” (5.1.29.). She tries to scrub imaginary blood off her hands. After seeing Lady Macbeth scrubbing her hands, the Doctor responds: “The heart is sorely charg’d” (5.1.43.). He says that Lady Macbeth’s behavior shows that she is emotionally burdened. Lady Macbeth continues to speak to herself: “Wash you hands, put on your nightgown, look / not so pale. I tell you yet again, Banquo’s buried; he cannot come / out on ‘s grave” (5.1.51-53.). She talks to herself about the things she told Macbeth after Duncan’s murder and during the banquet scene. After the sleepwalking scene, Lady Macbeth is revealed to have killed herself because of her guilt from all of the death that
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