"Lady Macbeth is the embodiment of evil and we are not meant to feel any sympathy for her.
Discuss this statement with reference to the play.
The play "Macbeth" was written by William Shakespeare in the Jacobean era. Judging by the plays themes of Scottish monarchy, loyalty to the crown and witchcraft, and it's extensive use of real names and people James I was descended from, "Macbeth- was in part written to please the King, or at least, with the King's approval in mind. "Macbeth- is, in many ways, a play with a moral, showing us how power and ambition can corrupt a person, and, in the case of Lady Macbeth, how a guilty conscience can be their demise. Shakespeare writes the character of Lady Macbeth in many trenchant ways, because she is quite obviously a strong-willed, determined lady, and her ever-changing state of mind is one of the main focuses of the play.
However, we cannot call Lady Macbeth "the embodiment of evil- just because she is a dominant character. I believe that the character of Lady Macbeth is not the embodiment of evil, but there are many reasons people believe that she is which must be considered. The first encounter we have with Lady Macbeth is when she is reading her husband's letter about the witches' prophecies, and then her reaction to the letter:.
"do I fear thy nature,"to catch the nearest way."".
Some of the first words out of her mouth are the beginnings of a plan to kill the King, a hell-worthy sin of the greatest evil. She immediately knows, although her husband does may have thought of it, that there is too much "milk of kindness- in her husband for him to be able to go through with this act of treachery. This shows that Lady Macbeth is perhaps more perceptive than her husband, and thinks her plans through very carefully, and maybe even deviously.
As this particular soliloquy goes on, the evil in Lady Macbeth is again emphasised. Her words become more rhythmic and what she says seems almost like an incantation.