In Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, Shakespeare uses relationships to show how Macbeth becomes corrupt and turns his back on friends and loved ones as he becomes obsessed with the witches prophecy.
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An important relationship is the one between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. At the start of the play, Macbeth cares deeply for Lady Macbeth. He calls her things like his "dearest partner of greatness" (Act I; v line ii). He sees her as his equal partner. At the start of the play, Lady Macbeth is clearly in charge of the relationship. She is the one that convinces Macbeth to murder Duncan so that the witches prophecy will be fulfilled faster. She is the one that comes up with the plan to kill Duncan. When Macbeth emerges with the bloody daggers after killing Duncan, she remains firm and tells Macbeth to go and put the daggers back on the grooms (as she had planned). When Macbeth loses his nerve, Lady Macbeth scolds him and does it herself ("Infirm of purpose! / Give me the daggers" Act II; ii line 52-53). The relationship then changes so that it is more like the relationship between mother and child. Lady Macbeth gives Macbeth instructions like to hide his feelings by changing the expression on his face. Then the balance of power in the relationship changes again. Instead of before, where Lady Macbeth took an active part in the killing of Duncan, Macbeth takes care of the killing of Banquo by hiring the murderers himself. When Lady Macbeth asks about it, Macbeth says: "Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck" (Act III; iii line 45). This shows that Macbeth is moving away from Lady Macbeth, as he is leaving her out of the killing of Banquo. This also shows that Macbeth thinks he is now above Lady Macbeth as he used the term "dearest chuck" which is a term usually used for a child or someone beneath you. Still, at the banquet, Lady Macbeth retains some control and tries to get Macbeth to act normally when he sees Banquo's ghost.
