lady macbeth in macbeth essay

William Shakespeare

• Literature Notes
• Lady Macbeth
• Macbeth at a Glance
• Play Summary
• About Macbeth
• Character List
• Summary and Analysis
• Act I: Scene 1
• Act I: Scene 2
• Act I: Scene 3
• Act I: Scene 4
• Act I: Scene 5
• Act I: Scene 6
• Act I: Scene 7
• Act II: Scene 1
• Act II: Scene 2
• Act II: Scene 3
• Act II: Scene 4
• Act III: Scene 1
• Act III: Scene 2
• Act III: Scene 3
• Act III: Scene 4
• Act III: Scene 5
• Act III: Scene 6
• Act IV: Scene 1
• Act IV: Scene 2
• Act IV: Scene 3
• Act V: Scene 1
• Act V: Scene 2
• Act V: Scene 3
• Act V: Scene 4
• Act V: Scene 5
• Act V: Scene 6
• Act V: Scene 7
• Act V: Scene 8
• Act V: Scene 9
• Character Analysis
• Character Map
• William Shakespeare Biography
• Critical Essays
• Major Themes
• Major Symbols and Motifs
• Macbeth on the Stage
• Famous Quotes
• Film Versions
• Full Glossary
• Essay Questions
• Practice Projects
• Cite this Literature Note

Character Analysis Lady Macbeth

Macbeth 's wife is one of the most powerful female characters in literature. Unlike her husband, she lacks all humanity, as we see well in her opening scene, where she calls upon the "Spirits that tend on mortal thoughts" to deprive her of her feminine instinct to care. Her burning ambition to be queen is the single feature that Shakespeare developed far beyond that of her counterpart in the historical story he used as his source. Lady Macbeth persistently taunts her husband for his lack of courage, even though we know of his bloody deeds on the battlefield. But in public, she is able to act as the consummate hostess, enticing her victim, the king, into her castle. When she faints immediately after the murder of Duncan , the audience is left wondering whether this, too, is part of her act.

Ultimately, she fails the test of her own hardened ruthlessness. Having upbraided her husband one last time during the banquet (Act III, Scene 4), the pace of events becomes too much even for her: She becomes mentally deranged, a mere shadow of her former commanding self, gibbering in Act V, Scene 1 as she "confesses" her part in the murder. Her death is the event that causes Macbeth to ruminate for one last time on the nature of time and mortality in the speech "Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow" (Act V, Scene 5).

Previous Macbeth

Next Duncan

Lady Macbeth as Powerful

The essay below uses this simple structure:, an introductory paragraph to summarise an answer to the question, one paragraph about the extract, one about the rest of the play, one about context., lady macbeth:, the raven himself is hoarse, that croaks the fatal entrance of duncan, under my battlements. come, you spirits, that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,, and fill me from the crown to the toe top-full, of direst cruelty. make thick my blood., stop up the access and passage to remorse ,, that no compunctious visitings of nature, shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between, the effect and it come to my woman’s breasts,, and take my milk for gall , you murd'ring ministers,, wherever in your sightless substances, you wait on nature’s mischief. come, thick night,, and pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell,, that my keen knife see not the wound it makes,, nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark, to cry “hold, hold”, starting with this speech, explain how far you think shakespeare presents lady macbeth as a powerful woman., write about:, how shakespeare presents lady macbeth in this speech, how shakespeare presents lady macbeth in the play as a whole., the essay below is written using a simple structure:, an introductory paragraph to summarise an answer to the question., one paragraph about the extract., one about the rest of the play., before you read the answer below, why not have a think about how you'd answer this question. i've highlighted the quotes i'd write about - do you agree or would you focus elsewhere also, which sections from the rest of the play would you focus on and what contextual factors influenced lady macbeth's presentation, most importantly, though, have a think about how you'd write that opening paragraph - answer the question in two or three simple sentences., an example answer, during the majority of the play, lady macbeth is presented as being a powerful woman who defies the expected gender stereotype of the caring, soft, gentle female. by the end of the play, however, she kills herself as she discovers that although she can order the rest of the world around, she cannot control her own guilt, right at the opening of this speech, lady macbeth makes her position known when she describes “my” battlements. the use of the possessive pronoun emphasises that she thinks of the castle walls as being her own. she follows this by calling “come you spirits.” the use of this magic spell has two effects on the audience: firstly, she is calling for dark magic to come and support her. this would have reminded the audience of the possibility that she was a witch and had all the evil powers connected with them. also, she is using an imperative here: “come you spirits.” she’s not asking them but telling them. this shows that she expects even the supernatural world to answer to her demands. one of the things she demands is that they “stop up the access and passage to remorse.” this means that lady macbeth doesn’t want to feel any regret for what she is about to do, which would make her powerful. she is no longer going to be slowed down by feelings of compassion or care in her pursuit of power. finally, she says that the spirits should “take my milk for gall.” here, she is asking that her own milk be turned to poison. this suggests that she is turning something caring and supportive into something deadly, giving her even more evil powers. also, milk is pure white and suggests innocence and purity so lady macbeth is asking that what is innocent and pure about her gets turned into something deadly. throughout this speech lady macbeth sets herself up as being someone very powerful, who is able to control even the spirits., her power continues throughout the play. lady macbeth suggests the murder and talks macbeth into it – showing that she is powerfully persuasive. she also plans the murder, showing that she is intelligent as well. she also stays calm under pressure, such as when macbeth arrives with the daggers from the murder scene but lady macbeth returns them to the scene so that they don’t get caught. she is also able to manipulate macduff when she faints in shock after they discover duncan’s body. you could easily argue that lady macbeth’s ambition was more powerful than macbeth’s, and that the murder wouldn’t have ever happened with her involvement. she is determined to become powerful and will stop at nothing to get it. at the end the play though she is caught sleepwalking, and she confesses to all that they’ve done. this is interesting, however, as while she is sleep-walking she is not in control of herself so she is not really aware of what she’s doing. it could be the case that lady macbeth herself never felt guilty, though she couldn’t hide her real feelings from her dreams. in the end, she dies. malcolm claims that she killed herself quite violently, but since it happens off-stage we cannot be sure. what is clear is that although she could push macbeth around, and trick macduff, and even order the spirits to do her bidding, she couldn’t order the blood off her own hands., shakespeare presents a very powerful female character in lady macbeth, and although this would have been quite radical for people in jacobean england there were other powerful, female role models to choose from: bloody mary or queen elizabeth are good examples. this play, however, was written for king james who had just taken the throne of england, and james was not a fan of queen elizabeth – who had killed his mother, mary queen of scots (and he might not even have been a big fan of his mum, because she married the man who killed his dad) as a result, james would have enjoyed seeing this powerful woman become such a villain and then getting punished for her crimes..

Lady Macbeth Character Analysis

Lady Macbeth is possibly Shakespeare’s most famous and vivid female character. Everyone, whether they have read or seen the Macbeth play , has a view of her. She is generally depicted in the popular mind as the epitome of evil, and images of her appear over and over again in several cultures. She is usually portrayed in pictures as something like a Disney character, a cross between Cruella DeVille and the wicked stepmother in Snow White.

Although she has some of the most bloodthirsty lines in Shakespeare she is not quite Cruella De Ville or the wicked stepmother. The response she gets from the male characters suggests that she is a young, sexually attractive woman and, indeed, in her effort to influence Macbeth, she uses every method at her disposal, including the employment of her sexual charms.

She is usually depicted as a strong, tough woman and, in her drive to induce Macbeth to murder King Duncan, she appears to be that, but, having succeeded, it does not take long for her to crumble and break down, destroyed by guilt, and she ends up committing suicide.

Shakespeare does not have any evil characters. What he has are ordinary human beings, like you and me, placed in situations that challenge and test them. Some of them, like Iago in Othello , have personality defects, but that’s rare in Shakespeare and it’s not the case with Lady Mcbeth.

The challenges that Shakespeare presents his characters with generates different responses from different people. Lady Macbeth’s challenge is that she discovers that her husband has been tempted by an encounter with three witches to do something about their prediction that he will become king. She knows that the king would have to die for that to happen. When she gets a message that King Duncan plans to spend the night with them at Glamys Castle it seems to confirm the thought that they would have to kill him and that this was their once in a lifetime opportunity. That’s the situation into which she has been thrust.

She is as ambitious as Macbeth but she knows that for all his bravery in battle, all his soldierly and diplomatic qualities, he is basically much too soft –“too full of the milk of human kindness” – to take advantage of the opportunity. She makes up her mind to make him do it.

And she is right about his lack of resolve – they talk it over and he tells her that he just can’t do it. She goes into high gear and virtually holds his hand through it. One of her strongest qualities is persistence and she shows it here. Macbeth hesitates, equivocates and falters but she holds firm. She argues the case, she mocks him, bringing his manhood into question, she appeals to his sense of loyalty to her, she takes him to bed, and she finally prevails.

Macbeth kills Duncan in his sleep and from that moment their marriage begins to fall apart. They each fall into their own guilt-trip and hardly speak to each other. As king, Macbeth fears his political enemies and embarks on a reign of terror while Lady Macbeth stays in bed, unable to sleep, having nightmares when she does manage it. While walking and talking in her sleep she gives the game away about what they have done and sinks into a moral, physical and spiritual collapse. When Macbeth is on his last legs, with the rebels closing in, he gets the message that she’s dead. At that point, he says he doesn’t have time to think about it. “She should have died hereafter,” he says. Their partnership in this murderous enterprise has destroyed their marriage.

The promise of strength that we see in her at the beginning of the play is an illusion. What we are seeing is naked ambition and a willingness to act on it without having the resources to deal with the consequences. We see how guilt can eat up your soul and destroy you. We see how hollow ambition is, both in her journey and Macbeth’s. (Read the most  significant Macbeth ambition quotes .)

Character attributes

Some significant character attributes of Lady Macbeth are:

• Controlling – she understands that her husband doesn’t have the savageness required to murder the king of his own accord, so she manipulates him. She plans out the murder, then takes control of events when Macbeth loses his mind.
• Cruel – she is a violent, cold-blooded character who is happy to scheme the murder. She ridicules Macbeth when he doesn’t agree to participate in her violent plans.
• Two-faced – she welcomes King Duncan like a friend whilst at the same time planning his murder. She also advises Macbeth to be two-faced.

Erika Sunnegårdh as Lady Macbeth

Top Lady Macbeth Quotes

“I fear thy nature; It is too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness

( act 1, scene 5 )

“To beguile the time, Look like the time; bear welcome in your eye, Your hand, your tongue; look like th’ innocent flower, But be the serpent under’t.”

“ The raven himself is hoarse That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan Under my battlements”

“Come, you spirits That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,

“Would’st thou have that Which thou esteem’st the ornament of life, And live a coward in thine own esteem, Letting “I dare not” wait upon “I would,” Like the poor cat i’ th’ adage? “

( act 1, scene 7 )

“I have given suck, and know How tender ’tis to love the babe that milks me. I would, while it was smiling in my face, Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums And dashed the brains out, had I so sworn as you Have done to this.”

“ Out! damned spot! “

( act 5, scene 1 )

Read more Lady Macbeth quotes .

See All Macbeth Resources

Macbeth | Macbeth summary | Macbeth characters : Banquo , Lady Macbeth , Macbeth , Macduff , Three Witches | Macbeth settings | Modern Macbeth translation  | Macbeth full text | Macbeth PDF  |  Modern Macbeth ebook | Macbeth for kids ebooks | Macbeth quotes | Macbeth ambition quotes |  Macbeth quote translations | Macbeth monologues | Macbeth soliloquies | Macbeth movies | Macbeth themes

• WhatsApp 13
• Pinterest 0

One of my favourite story this is????❤️

amazing helps me so much

when was thhis posted

Leave a Reply

Leave a reply cancel reply.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Common Questions About Lady Macbeth

Is lady macbeth a true story.

Although Shakespeare used the names of real historical people in writing Hamlet, the events of the drama are mostly made up. So in that sense, Lady Macbeth is not a real character. There was an 11th-century Scottish king named Mac Bethad Mac Findlaich . Presumably, he had a wife but we know nothing about her.

What kind of character is Lady Macbeth?

Lady Macbeth is ambitious. She is manipulative and uses several techniques of a skilled manipulator to entice Macbeth into the murder of Duncan. Usually thought of as a hard, ruthless woman, she is, in reality, soft. Not long after the murder, unable to cope with her guilt, she falls apart and loses all sense of herself.

What happens to Lady Macbeth?

Lady Macbeth tries to prop her husband up as he descends into a guilt-ridden hell but she soon falls victim to the same condition. Her whole life literally becomes a nightmare, in which she relives the event that has brought her condition about. Her life becomes unbearable and she commits suicide.

Who does Lady Macbeth kill?

Lady Macbeth does not personally kill anyone. She conspires in the murder of the king, Duncan, though, and actively encourages Macbeth to kill him. It is Macbeth who does the actual killing. Lady Macbeth plays no part in the many further killings that Macbeth engineers. Soon after the killing of Duncan the two don’t even talk to each other.

What made Lady Macbeth go crazy?

Lady Macbeth is partly responsible for the kind of killing that was taboo in Mediaeval Scotland – murdering one’s king, murdering one’s relative and murdering a guest in one’s house. In killing Duncan the couple did all three. She begins to have nightmares about the murder and, in particular, the blood on her hands, which she can’t get rid of no matter how hard she scrubs. That drives her to suicide.

How does Lady Macbeth feel after the killing of Duncan?

Once Duncan is killed Lady Macbeth is pleased that her ambition to be the wife of a king has been achieved, but that feeling very soon turns sour as guilt begins to eat away at her. She then she has feelings that she can’t live with, and ends up killing herself (one of 13 suicides in Shakespeare’s plays ).

Is 2016 film Lady Macbeth based on Shakespeare’s Lady Macbeth character?

No. Lady Macbeth is a 2016 British film based on Nikolai Leskov’s novella Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District , and starring Florence Pugh.

Notes on Character Sketch of Lady Macbeth in English

Back to: Macbeth by William Shakespeare

Table of Contents

A Loving Wife

In the play, Lady Macbeth is the wife of the protagonist Macbeth and one of the most powerful presences of a female character in literature. 

She is introduced to us in the play reading a letter from her husband who calls her his “ dearest partner of greatness. ” It tells us of their successful partnership in life and love. 

She presents us the limitation which a woman faces who wants to achieve like a man in a culture fashioned after norms created by men for men. So, in her very first soliloquy, one can see her successfully describing the attributes of ambition normally reserved for a man and despairing over the fact.

Ruthless & Manipulative

Lady Macbeth is ruthless. She is equipped with the tools apt for acquiring power. She truly believes her husband will be crowned but she fears his nature which is “ full of the milk of human kindness .”

She suppresses everything traditionally aligned with femininity. In her own words, everything her husband lacks after the aid of fate and metaphysical forces, she makes it up with “ the valour of her tongue. ” 

In a very effective manner, she manipulates her husband out of calls of his conscience. The tools she employs is that of the female. She is perhaps more ambitious and power-hungry than Macbeth and in order to be so she is full of single-minded cruelty too. In a very conventional manner, she mocks the manhood of Macbeth which makes him override his moral hesitations. 

Anti-feminine

Her character tells us of the restraints imposed upon a female personality due to gender-based preconceptions. Her character is constantly trying to “ unsex ” itself and she asks spirits for her blood to “ make thick ” and “ stop up the access and passage to remorse .” In a very anti-mother way, she wants to stop having any feminine feelings and sensitivity.

The sharp non-conformity in her character brings her very close in similarity to the three witches in the play. She has an empowered sense to defy established authority, it is proved by the way she designs the murder of King Duncan without allowing any guilt or inhibition of fear.

A Powerful Lady

She has the faculty of power reserved for a man and when Macbeth questions his actions, she shouts, “ what beast wasn’t, then, that made you break this enterprise to me? When you durst do it, then you were a man; And to be more than what you were, you would be so much more the man. ”

Towards the last two acts in the play, her strength gives in, her ambition descends into guilt and further into madness and death. The knowledge of misdeeds done by her husbands under her fast provocations disintegrates her psyche.

She finally confesses her crimes and her death shocks Macbeth into a realm in which he finally loses himself. The character of Lady Macbeth is the guiding support to the character of Macbeth.

Home Essay Examples Literature Macbeth Power

Macbeth: Power Of Lady Macbeth

• Category Literature
• Subcategory Poems
• Topic Macbeth Power

Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth as a construct to explore the effects of power in a women’s hand as a threatening and disastrous force which is a consequence of her ambition deep rooted with desires in order for her to gain a higher rank in the patriarchy.

Lady Macbeth’s unorthodox ambition has been present since her first soliloquy where she demands the supernatural to follow her commands highlighting her esteemed voice which is even respected by the supernatural. The fact she orders the witches to “come you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts unsex me here” reveals how she does not even fear the supernatural possibly because her desires have made her so heart blind, she can no longer distinguish between right and wrong as she has no shame in committing this act. However, another interpretation could be how she is forced to suppress her emotions in order to guarantee the death of King Duncan, which shows the how she would do anything for Macbeth to be king. This is shocking to a Jacobean audience as it was accepted by society that women were the least powerful, but Lady Macbeth has completely substituted the view by showing her will to continue. Shakespeare has done this as Macbeth lacked the motivation to kill King Duncan hence wise Lady Macbeth is the exalted force to change his views where she tempts him into doing this act, foreshadowing her might to change even the greatest warriors who has gotten the title of “thane of Cawdor”. The repetition of the verb “Come” reflects her determination to gain power whether it is moral or not, reflecting the length she will go just to gain the title of the queen. Towards the Jacobean era this act would have been considered disgusting as it was a norm to believe that God has appointed the natural order and the fact Lady Macbeth wants to change this is controversy which exposes her grim side. Shakespeare has also chosen to show Lady Macbeth summoning “spirits” to “unsex” her in order to show the audience that she is going against God where she calls supernatural “spirits” to gain even more power, and the audience would expect to see this power used in evil ways which will eventually lead to her downfall. In conclusion, Lady’s Macbeths will continue to carry on her deeds, reflecting how she will firmly stand on what she believes in, portraying her as an ambitious and mighty character.

Our writers can write you a new plagiarism-free essay on any topic

Shakespeare also uses Lady Macbeth as example of corruption, perhaps to reveal how she may be powerful in terms of controlling others; but she lacks the strength to control herself. The main reason why Shakespeare has deliberately done this is to expose her fragile weakness, and by doing this we see the great downfall of Lady Macbeth which comes in the form of justice to a Jacobean audience. This is seen in the line “thick night”, “smoke of hell”, “the blanket of the dark”. By using semantic fields of darkness, it is evident she has been manipulated by her powers, and it is almost driving her towards madness. Shakespeare has done this to make it seem as if Lady Macbeth has been too interested in power and ironically it is her power which results into her tragic death. The word “hell” is interesting because Lady Macbeth knows she will go to hell but she continues to strive in her corrupt ways; to a Jacobean and a modern audience, this would be an atrocious act because it was a norm to follow a religious life style, but the fact that Lady Macbeth has chosen to live an opposite life style reveals how she has been misguided. In addition she misleads Macbeth by forcing him to “look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under it”. This metaphor has been used to show Lady Macbeth as a two faced character, and it proves that she has been deceived because she is constantly switching her personality, possibly because she has been confused. The word “serpent” has biblical connotations of devils and the fact she aspire to be like the devil is seen as an monstrous crime to commit even to a modern day reader which foreshadows her transgression.

However towards the end, Shakespeare uses Lady Macbeth as an example to show how women who have power in their hands will lead to destruction where she subconsciously submits to guilt, despite her controlling attitude as well as her deep ignited ambition. This is seen in the line, “Out, damn spot! Out I say!” Here Lady Macbeth is clearly sleep walking due to her remorse which reveals how she cannot control herself, and to a Jacobean audience sleep walking was seen to be a unnatural act which only happened to those who were possessed. Furthermore, Lady Macbeth says “what will these hands ne’er be clean?” The pronoun “these” suggests the hands do not belong to her, and she wants to distance herself from herself both physically and spiritually. However, this is ironic as Lady Macbeth said in the early stages “what’s cannot be undone” so she knew the consequences yet she fails to deal with them suggesting her lack of power.  

We have 98 writers available online to start working on your essay just NOW!

Related Topics

Related essays.

By clicking "Send essay" you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement . We will occasionally send you account related emails.

By clicking "Receive essay" you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement . We will occasionally send you account related emails.

We can edit this one and make it plagiarism-free in no time

We use cookies to give you the best experience possible. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .

How Ralph Fiennes figured out why Macbeth would kill

The actor plunges into the role of shakespeare’s king-slayer in a production coming to d.c..

L ONDON — It was Ralph Fiennes’s mother who introduced him to his destiny. He was 8 or 9, lying atop the bunk bed he shared with his younger brother Magnus, when he asked her to tell him a story.

The tale she chose was “Hamlet.”

“She started to tell it in her own words, and I was completely hooked,” Fiennes said, recalling his childhood in a big, arty family northeast of London. “Then she said, ‘I’m going to put on the record player a great actor doing speeches from his plays.’ And it was Olivier doing ‘Hamlet’ and, on the flip side, ‘Henry V.’

“What I could hear were the cadences in Olivier's voice,” he said. “I can still see myself on the side, following it, listening to it coming out of the speaker.”

When Shakespearean lightning strikes, having the bolts dispatched by Laurence Olivier proves everlastingly effective. For Fiennes — five decades later on the boards in a “Macbeth” coming to D.C. after a tour of three U.K. cities — is still able to savor that formative electricity.

The Style section

And as Olivier once did, now Fiennes, who has played Hamlet on Broadway , Coriolanus on film and Marc Antony at London’s National Theatre, defines for audiences how Shakespeare is heard and seen.

A few months ago, Fiennes and I were sitting in his spartan dressing room in a chilly converted warehouse on the outskirts of Liverpool, the first stop in a contemporary, war-torn “Macbeth,” featuring British actress Indira Varma as Lady Macbeth and directed by Simon Godwin, artistic director of D.C.’s Shakespeare Theatre Company.

Fiennes’s appearance amounts to the starriest classical stage event in D.C. in years; it begins April 9 in the former Black Entertainment Television studios in Northeast Washington, converted into a 700-seat performance space. As in Liverpool, Edinburgh and London, Godwin wanted a “found” space for the production, which takes place in a battle-scarred landscape, strafed by Macbeth’s brutal army. Audiences walk to their seats through smoldering rubble, a visceral jolt of the toll of modern warfare.

In Godwin’s conception, the play’s famous trio of witches not only forecasts Macbeth’s fate, but also serves as commentator on the carnage. “They’re sitting on the steps, looking and saying, ‘Who’s next? Who in the audience is the next tyrant that we must guard against, or expose?’” the director said.

For star power, nothing has approached this since Helen Mirren’s Shakespeare Theatre performance in “Phèdre” in 2009. Fiennes’s casting also speaks to the rarity of a celebrated film and stage actor with an appetite to tick off a personal Shakespearean bucket list. Few stars of his caliber can boast such a rich classical résumé.

The production, making its only U.S. stop in Washington, is a coup for a city that loves its classics. The affection is underscored by the show’s brisk box office: An initial offering sold out. According to the company, another block of tickets is expected to be put on sale, but the timing is unclear because the city must still provide the needed approvals.

F iennes greeted me warmly in Liverpool, eager to talk about the production, which originated with a reading Godwin arranged early in 2020, at the actor’s behest; the pandemic slowed the play’s trajectory. He is professorially genial in person, especially as it pertains to the work. (“That’s for you!” he declared, pointing to a space heater set up next to a cot in his spare quarters.)

His movie roles reflect a protean range, from drama (“ The English Patient ”) to comedy (“ The Grand Budapest Hotel ”) to fantasy (Voldemort in the Harry Potter series). But it is to Shakespeare that Fiennes returns again and again as a lodestar: He began his career in the mid-1980s as a servant with a few lines in an outdoor London production of “Twelfth Night.”

“My introduction to Shakespeare led me to a love of and the thrill of Shakespeare's language,” he said. “The possibilities, on the level of its poetry, of its dramatic power, of its human richness in the psychology — that has never left me.”

And Fiennes has never really left it. Which is why, at the ripe age of 61, he has been trudging up and down this kingdom, speaking the lines of a war hero turned tyrant for audiences of school kids and pensioners and legions of Shakespeare enthusiasts. The character is sort of ageless — Denzel Washington was 65 when director Joel Coen filmed him in the role in 2020 — but Fiennes seems particularly cognizant of time’s passage. It’s he who brings up the age question.

“I have a friend who said, ‘Oh, no, you’re too old to play Macbeth,’” Fiennes recounted. “Of course, you can play it younger. But I actually think there’s a lot about ‘Macbeth’ that works if you’re a little older.” He noted that the play hints at the Macbeths having lost a child in their distant past. “There’s a great argument that they are a couple on their descending slopes,” he added. “When you get to see it as their being in the autumnal part of life, I think that it makes sense to me.”

There is nothing particularly lion-in-winterish about Fiennes. Cameras have always loved him: Remember his magnetism as the dapper cheater in “ Quiz Show ”? His lethal beauty in “ Schindler’s List ”? He yearns, though, to be acknowledged for what goes on inside his head.

“Ralph is very academic, cerebral,” said Varma, who also worked with Fiennes in Godwin’s staging of George Bernard Shaw’s “Man and Superman” in 2015 at the National Theatre.

“He’s not only played a series of these iconic parts, he’s also directed them on-screen,” Godwin said, noting that Fiennes directed himself in a bracing 2011 film version of “Coriolanus” with Gerard Butler and Vanessa Redgrave. “So I went into this very much welcoming his voice. And what’s nice about Ralph is that he’s hungry for direction, he’s hungry for feedback. But it’s feedback as a partnership, rather than hierarchical.”

L ean and fit, Fiennes embodies a rugged, no-nonsense military officer in Macbeth, who is presented with an opportunity to seize power beyond anything he could have imagined. If any psychological dimension distinguishes Godwin’s production, it’s the idea that neither Macbeth nor Lady Macbeth — who on craven impulse murder Duncan, the Scottish king — is in any way prepared for the evil they unleash.

The raw power grab that excites Lady Macbeth and incites her husband to regicide feels especially pertinent now, when the dangers of autocracy loom over political discussions. For Fiennes, though, the main attraction is to subtler aspects of the Macbeths’ personalities.

“Simon has this great thing where the cast have to write biographies of their characters,” Fiennes said of the rehearsal process. “And as it’s modern-day, I sort of said, ‘Well, he’s an intellectual army officer. He knows his philosophers. He reads his Nietzsche.’ I think there are those thinking military men who are well-read. That helped me go, ‘This is a man who can talk, who can have a moral conundrum.’”

He may play Macbeth as well-read, but Lady Macbeth’s egging him on, to kill the king, strikes Fiennes as a more primal challenge to the thane’s manhood. “I can see that if you’re deeply connected to a woman partner, who calls on you, on this, this is the final test of you as a man — this thing goes beyond your moral anxieties,” he said.

It’s great fun to listen to Fiennes wax scholarly about the character, and it helps explain why he is devoting the better part of a year to a “Macbeth” that plays to mere hundreds in barracks-like spaces. “I didn’t want to go into the West End, because it feels like a well-worn path,” he said. (The London run was staged in a warehouse outside the city’s center.) “I love being in a company — the thing of being in a group. I miss it when I do films. I miss that sense of community that you get in a stage production.”

When Fiennes talks about favorite experiences, that notion of communal endeavor inevitably crops up. “One of the happiest productions I was in,” he said, “I played a small part in a production of ‘King John,’” at Stratford-upon-Avon, the Royal Shakespeare Company’s home. “Deborah Warner directed, and I played the Dauphin, which is a small part, fun part, but small.”

After the tour ends in May, Fiennes starts filming “The Choral,” written by Alan Bennett, directed by Nicholas Hytner and co-starring theater veterans Jim Broadbent and Simon Russell Beale. In the meantime, digging deep into a meaty stage role — wrestling in plain sight night after night with text, relationships, motivation — holds infinite pleasure. I saw this “Macbeth” a second time after it had moved to London, and the bond forged by Fiennes and Varma felt more symbiotic, their tragedy more emphatically a result of a mutually assured destruction.

It’s in the nature of a protracted run that a work of timeless drama will continue to evolve, an outcome that is central to Fiennes’s satisfaction.

“Have you got what you need?” the actor asked me as we parted. What seemed more to the point was that in active dialogue with the dramatist who first inspired him, Fiennes certainly has what he needs.

Macbeth , by William Shakespeare. Directed by Simon Godwin. April 9-May 5 at Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Brentwood space, 1301 W St. NE. shakespearetheatre.org .

• An oral history of Mrs. Lovett, one of theater’s greatest, bloodiest roles April 6, 2024 An oral history of Mrs. Lovett, one of theater’s greatest, bloodiest roles April 6, 2024
• Can a play say anything new about immigration? Turns out, yes. April 4, 2024 Can a play say anything new about immigration? Turns out, yes. April 4, 2024
• Christopher Durang was the rare great playwright who took comedy seriously April 3, 2024 Christopher Durang was the rare great playwright who took comedy seriously April 3, 2024

• Share full article

Advertisement

Supported by

Maureen Dowd

Donald Trump’s Insatiable Bloodlust

By Maureen Dowd

Opinion Columnist, writing from Washington.

An earthquake. An eclipse. A bridge collapse. A freak blizzard. A biblical flood. Donald Trump leading in battleground states.

Apocalyptic vibes are stirred by Trump’s violent rhetoric and talk of blood baths.

If he’s not elected, he bellowed in Ohio, there will be a blood bath in the auto industry. At his Michigan rally on Tuesday, he said there would be a blood bath at the border, speaking from a lectern with a banner reading, “Stop Biden’s border blood bath.” He has warned that, without him in the Oval, there will be an “Oppenheimer”-like doomsday; we will lose World War III, and America will be devastated by “weapons the likes of which nobody has ever seen before.”

“And the only thing standing between you and its obliteration is me,” Trump has said.

An unspoken Trump threat is that there will be a blood bath again in Washington, like Jan. 6, if he doesn’t win.

That is why he calls the criminals who stormed the Capitol “hostages” and “unbelievable patriots.” He starts some rallies with a dystopian remix of the national anthem, sung by the “J6 Prison Choir,” and his own reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance.

The bloody-minded Trump luxuriates in the language of tyrants.

In “Macbeth,” Shakespeare uses blood imagery to chart the creation of a tyrant. Those words echo in Washington as Ralph Fiennes stars in a thrilling Simon Godwin production of “Macbeth” for the Shakespeare Theater Company, opening Tuesday.

“The raw power grab that excites Lady Macbeth and incites her husband to regicide feels especially pertinent now, when the dangers of autocracy loom over political discussions,” Peter Marks wrote in The Washington Post about the production with Fiennes and Indira Varma (the lead Sand Snake in “Game of Thrones”).

Trump’s raw power grab after his 2020 loss might have failed, but he’s inflaming his base with language straight out of Macbeth’s trip to hell.

“Blood will have blood,” as Macbeth says. One of the witches, the weird sisters, urges him, “Be bloody, bold and resolute.”

Another weird sister, Marjorie Taylor Greene, is predicting end times. “God is sending America strong signs to tell us to repent,” she tweeted on Friday. “Earthquakes and eclipses and many more things to come. I pray that our country listens.”

Like Macbeth, Trump crossed a line and won’t turn back. The Irish say, “You may as well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb.” Macbeth killed his king, then said: “I am in blood. Stepped in so far that, should I wade no more, returning were as tedious as go o’er.”

The Washington Post’s Josh Dawsey reported that since Trump put his daughter-in-law in charge of the Republican National Committee, prospective employees are asked if they think the election was stolen. Republicans once burbled on about patriotism and defending America. Now denying democracy is a litmus test for employment in the Formerly Grand Old Party.

My Irish immigrant father lived through the cruel “No Irish need apply” era. I’m distraught that our mosaic may shatter.

But Trump embraces Hitleresque phrases to stir racial hatred. He has talked about immigrants “poisoning the blood of our country.” Last month he called migrants “animals,” saying, “I don’t know if you call them ‘people,’ in some cases. They’re not people, in my opinion.”

Trump’s obsession with bloodlines was instilled by his father, the son of a German immigrant. He thinks there is good blood and bad blood, superior blood and inferior blood. Fred Trump taught his son that their family’s success was genetic, reminiscent of Hitler’s creepy faith in eugenics.

“The family subscribes to a racehorse theory of human development,” the Trump biographer Michael D’Antonio told PBS. “They believe that there are superior people and that if you put together the genes of a superior woman and a superior man, you get a superior offspring.”

Trump has been talking about this as far back as an “Oprah” show in 1988. The “gene believer” brought it up in a 2020 speech in Minnesota denouncing refugees.

“A lot of it is about the genes, isn’t it, don’t you believe?” he told the crowd about their pioneer lineage, adding: “The racehorse theory, you think we’re so different? You have good genes in Minnesota.”

As Stephen Greenblatt writes in “Tyrant: Shakespeare on Politics,” usurpers don’t ascend to the throne without complicity. Republican enablers do all they can to cozy up to their would-be dictator, even introducing a bill to rename Dulles Airport for Trump. Democrats responded by introducing a bill to name a prison in Florida for Trump.

“Why, in some circumstances, does evidence of mendacity, crudeness or cruelty serve not as a fatal disadvantage but as an allure, attracting ardent followers?” Greenblatt asked. “Why do otherwise proud and self-respecting people submit to the sheer effrontery of the tyrant, his sense that he can get away with saying and doing anything he likes, his spectacular indecency?”

Like Macbeth’s castle, the Trump campaign has, as Lady Macbeth put it, “the smell of blood,” and “all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten” it.

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

Follow the New York Times Opinion section on Facebook , Instagram , TikTok , WhatsApp , X and Threads .

Maureen Dowd is an Opinion columnist for The Times. She won the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for distinguished commentary. @ MaureenDowd • Facebook

Home — Essay Samples — Literature — Macbeth — Manipulation In Lady Macbeth

Manipulation in Lady Macbeth

• Categories: Macbeth

About this sample

Words: 846 |

Published: Mar 14, 2024

Words: 846 | Pages: 2 | 5 min read

Cite this Essay

Let us write you an essay from scratch

• 450+ experts on 30 subjects ready to help
• Custom essay delivered in as few as 3 hours

Get high-quality help

Verified writer

• Expert in: Literature

+ 120 experts online

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy . We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

No need to pay just yet!

Related Essays

1 pages / 524 words

2 pages / 972 words

1 pages / 623 words

7 pages / 3216 words

Remember! This is just a sample.

You can get your custom paper by one of our expert writers.

121 writers online

Still can’t find what you need?

Browse our vast selection of original essay samples, each expertly formatted and styled

Related Essays on Macbeth

Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2009.Bradley, A. C. 'The Witch Scenes in Macbeth.' In Shakespearean Tragedy: Lectures on Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth. Macmillan, 1904.Knight, G. Wilson. 'The [...]

Aydın, Can. 'Fate and Freedom in Shakespeare.' Accessed from: https://www.academia.edu/29784209/Fate_and_Freedom_in_Shakespeare

Macbeth, one of William Shakespeare's most renowned tragedies, delves into the intricate nuances of macbeth masculinity. Set against a backdrop of power, ambition, and betrayal, the play offers a profound exploration of how [...]

Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. Early 1600s.Corrigan, Timothy. 'Ambition and Its Consequences in Shakespeare's Macbeth.' College Literature, vol. 30, no. 1, 2003, pp. 124-147.Smith, John. 'The Role of the Witches in Macbeth: An [...]

Macbeth is about contradiction and ambition, the play was written by the famous play wright William Shakespeare. The play is about a Macbeth who is driven to become king, Macbeth kills all and any that get in his way of [...]

Power and social status is commonly determined by one’s drive and ambition. Successful people are set apart by their willingness to make sacrifices to accomplish their goals. Emotions are often cast aside in order to more easily [...]

Related Topics

By clicking “Send”, you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement . We will occasionally send you account related emails.

Where do you want us to send this sample?

By clicking “Continue”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy.

Be careful. This essay is not unique

This essay was donated by a student and is likely to have been used and submitted before

Download this Sample

Free samples may contain mistakes and not unique parts

Sorry, we could not paraphrase this essay. Our professional writers can rewrite it and get you a unique paper.

Please check your inbox.

We can write you a custom essay that will follow your exact instructions and meet the deadlines. Let's fix your grades together!

Get Your Personalized Essay in 3 Hours or Less!

We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .

• Instructions Followed To The Letter
• Deadlines Met At Every Stage
• Unique And Plagiarism Free