Nico December 2024

English Literature Coursework: Critical Essay Draft 1

'Lady Macbeth is pure evil.' To

what extent do you agree with
this statement?
In William Shakespeare's didactic tragedy, ‘Macbeth’, Lady Macbeth is often considered a
character of pure evil. Her relentless ambition and manipulation of Macbeth, highlight her
malevolent nature. Furthermore, a Jacobean audience living in a patriarchal society would
have been appalled by her behaviour which transgresses traditional gender roles and stereo-
types. Shakespeare explores Lady Macbeth as a very violent figure and a character who is
willing to sacrifice her humanity in pursuit of power. However, the subsequent events in the
play lead to Lady Macbeth’s descent into darkness and loss of control into madness. Ulti-
mately, her ambition leads to her downfall.
Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth as a woman who longs to have the characteristics of be-
ing a man. In her soliloquy, in Act 1 Scene 5 she orders upon the spirits “Come, you spirits
that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here”. The imperative command “come” implies that
she thinks she has control over the spirits. Moreover, by ordering to be “unsex” she is asking
to be stripped of her masculinity so she can fully embrace her dark desires. The noun “spirits”
evokes fear in the Jacobean audience due to the nature of their acts of violence. Shakespeare
did this to appease King James I who wrote daemonologie and greatly feared witchcraft. This
implies that she is addressing evil powers which links her to the witches and the supernatural.
The vivid image that comes from “mortal thoughts “ presents Lady Macbeth as a woman who
is not only ambitious but also callous in her thoughts. This warns the audience that she wants
to be cruel and feels no remorse. This is the first appearance we have of Lady Macbeth and
she is immediately presented as the complete antithesis of a typical Jacobean woman as she is
aligned with the supernatural. When Lady Macbeth tells the spirits “Make thick my blood”
this could illustrate that she doesn’t want to be a woman, as she sees women as weak and in-
capable of murder. She wants to be more determined like a man and aspires to be more ambi-
tious without remorse. This metaphor means she insists that her blood become stronger and
thicker to stop the bad emotions from affecting her. The use of the noun “blood” connotes
murder and it suggests death and guilt and it makes the audience feel scared and wish to stay
away from her since she is magnified as a witch. In addition to this, by asking for her blood
to be thickened she is asking to become more desensitised. Perhaps Shakespeare intends to
inform the Jacobean audience of Lady Macbeth’s strength because she can command the su-
pernatural. Shakespeare may have wanted to shock the audience with Lady Macbeth’s will-
ingness to adjust the gender in pursuit of power and to make herself brave enough to kill
Duncan. Additionally, Shakespeare highlights Lady Macbeth as a character who wants to
abandon her femininity when she commands in an oxymoronic phrase, “Come to my wo-
man’s breasts and take my milk for gall”. She orders the spirits through the repetition of
“come” to take her milk for poison. By offering her milk for “gall” she suggests that she is
willing to turn something pure and nurturing into something bitter and evil to achieve her de-
generacy goal. Lady Macbeth is metaphorically asking the spirits to rid her of any guilt, or
“human kindness” as it will hinder her chance of successfully persuading Macbeth into
killing King Duncan. A Jacobean audience would have been shocked by Lady Macbeth’s re-
jection of motherhood in a patriarchal society, where women were expected to be nurturing
and docile.
Shakespeare depicts Lady Macbeth as violent in Act 1 Scene 7. She persuades her husband to
commit regicide as she wouldn’t break a promise, “have plucked the nipple from his boneless
gums and dashes the brains out, had I so sworn”. This vivid and violent imagery conveys her
unwavering determination, stating that she would even kill her child if necessary to keep a
promise. The verb “screw” which means to tighten or to fix something securely, suggests that
Nico December 2024
English Literature Coursework: Critical Essay Draft 1

Lady Macbeth is encouraging Macbeth to be firm in his “courage” to kill Duncan. The imper-
ative verb creates a forceful effect, showing her ordering Macbeth and taking control of the
situation. Her willingness to resort to such extreme violence underscores her malevolent
nature. Additionally, the verb “plucked” infers that she would forcefully remove the baby
from her breast therefore breaking the connection between them. Furthermore, outlining that
she would go against nature by refusing to nurture her child. She also does this at the end of
Act 1, Scene 5, when she says to Macbeth “Leave all the rest to me”. As the verb “dashed
connotes a violent and ruthless action, it reveals Lady Macbeth’s evil and unfeeling beha-
viour that she would kill a baby. This illustrates how her behaviour has become vindictive.
The plosive “d” sound conveys her anger at Macbeth going against his promise to her. In ad-
dition, the contrast between her aggression and the innocence of the baby, shown by her
“boneless gums” suggests her aggressive nature. The adjective “boneless” means that there
are no teeth in its gums yet therefore it reflects on how young the child is. This reminds the
audience of how vulnerable a baby is. The Jacobean audience would be appalled at her
cruelty and her rejection of her gender role as a mother in a patriarchal society as Lady
Macbeth is a woman whose main purpose, according to the values at the time, would be to
give birth and nurture children. Perhaps Shakespeare intends to warn his audience of the
danger of subverting natural gender roles, aligning them with evil and violence.
Shakespeare portrays Lady Macbeth as a character who manipulates Macbeth and has com-
plete control over him. He creates this impression in her soliloquy in Act 1 Scene 5 where she
dismisses her husband as “too full o’th’ milk of human kindness”. This metaphor suggests
that Macbeth is too kind and Lady Macbeth thinks Macbeth is too weak to commit regicide.
She uses emasculation to highlight her dangerous behaviour and how she has an abnormal
and unconventional mindset for a woman. The use of the adjective “fool” infers that Lady
Macbeth uses this emasculation to convince Macbeth to kill Duncan. The noun “milk” which
symbolizes children and motherhood, implies that Lady Macbeth perceives Macbeth as a
child, as he is currently volatile and weak in comparison to her. Likewise, this links to
Shakespeare’s use of colour symbolism in Act 2 Scene 3 when Lady Macbeth is ashamed of
Macbeth’s weakness and she says to Macbeth “My hands are the same colour but I shame to
wear a heart so white”. Lady Macbeth is more cruel and merciless than her husband. She has
blood on her hands but would be ashamed to have a heart as weak and as pale as Macbeth’s.
This powerful metaphor conveys that her outward appearance may seem innocent and pure
but her heart is infected by the evil deeds. The colour imagery “white” symbolizes purity and
innocence, so Lady Macbeth’s unwillingness to have a “white” heart further implies that she
is unable to restore her actions with her conscience. Overall, she is presented as the dominant
figure in their relationship. Lady Macbeth can use the supernatural to influence Macbeth. In
Act 1 Scene 5, she tells Macbeth to “hie thee hither” so she can “pour my spirits in thine ear”.
The command “hie thee hither” which means come home quickly has a repetition of the “h”
sound, which indicates her desperation. Conversely, the verb “pour” suggests that it is a con-
stant flow which emphasizes that Lady Macbeth has been constantly manipulating Macbeth
throughout their marriage. This continuous manipulation from Lady Macbeth proves that she
has lots of power and authority over her husband, as well as highlights that she relies on the
supernatural to boost her power. Moreover, In Act 1 Scene 5, Lady Macbeth instructs
Macbeth to “look like the innocent flower but be the serpent under't”. The simile “look like
the innocent flower” juxtaposes the metaphor “be the serpent”, reflecting the ideas of “fair”
and “foul” in Act 1 Scene 1. The noun “serpent” shows the audience her further links with the
supernatural. A “serpent” was considered to be an instrument of Satan, hence, converting her
as powerful and instilling fear in the Jacobean audience. It could also be a biblical allusion
referencing how, in the Garden of Eden, the snake tempts Eve to consume the forbidden fruit,
ultimately leading to the downfall of humanity. This could foreshadow the chaos that erupts
after Duncan's death where 'Duncan's horses... eat each other' as natural order falls and could
also be seen Lady Macbeth attempting to place the blame on Macbeth, to make him be the
one in the wrong. Perhaps she is already beginning to feel the pressures of guilt and attempt-
Nico December 2024
English Literature Coursework: Critical Essay Draft 1

ing to rid herself of it. The request for him to “look like the innocent flower” also demon-
strates how she is trying to accentuate her more masculine qualities by giving Macbeth more
feminine ones. Furthermore, Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth as a cruel, manipulative
character. In Act 1 Scene 5, she says “Stop up the access and passage to remorse”. Here, she
tries to discard emotions that will make her weak. The use of the imperative verb “stop” cre-
ates a forceful tone. Moreover, the use of the noun “remorse” which means regret, emphas-
izes her rejection of compassion, a typical feminine quality. Overall, when Lady Macbeth is
introduced in Act 1 Scene 5, Shakespeare immediately introduces her as a character who
craves strength and as someone who would purge herself of any emotion that makes her emo-
tional or weak. Shakespeare may do this to show us how she is different; she challenges the
stereotypical convention of women in the Jacobean era, and it demonstrates her strength.
Lady Macbeth thinks that manipulation and deceit are the most effective methods of gaining
power. Overall, Shakespeare exposes how Lady Macbeth is the dominant figure in this rela-
tionship and how she controls Macbeth.
Additionally, Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth’s eventual descent into guilt and she re-
vokes to being a more frail, typical Jacobean woman. In Act 2 she believes she can wash
away the evidence and guilt of Duncan’s murder. This is shown when she says “A little wa-
ter clears us of this deed”. She is trying to convince him that a little bit of water can wash
away their guilt and purify their sins without facing the consequences of their deeds. She is
now the complete antithesis of her usual self and is struggling. The phrase “a little water”
symbolises her belief in the simplicity of covering her crime, while “clears us of this deed”
reflects her conviction that they can escape moral consequences. Moreover, “water” is pure, it
will physically cleanse the blood, but it can’t truly clean them of their emotional guilt. There-
fore, Shakespeare morally teaches his audience in this line that no amount of water can truly
cleanse one’s conscience of wrongdoing. A Jacobean audience would be in horror, as it re-
veals the extent of Lady Macbeth’s cold-heartedness and lack of remorse for her contribution
to regicide. Additionally, in Act 5 Scene 1 Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth as unstable.
She is seen sleepwalking, and engaging in compulsive handwashing, which symbolises her
desperate attempts to cleanse herself from the guilt she feels through the line “Out, damned
spot”. Through this powerful imagery, Shakespeare emphasizes Lady Macbeth's internal
struggle to cope with guilt. The use of the imperative command “out” suggests her determina-
tion to get rid of Duncan’s blood on her hand. Blood is a recurring motif in the play and its
repetition shows that Lady Macbeth can't wash it away. This highlights how Lady Macbeth
shows regret as she wants to wash Duncan’s blood off her hand, but she can't. In Act 1 Scene
5, she starts using prose rather than her former iambic pentameter. This demonstrates her
complete loss of power. Additionally, “Here’s the smell of blood still; all the perfumes of Ar-
abia will not sweeten this little hand. O, O, O” presents her harsh realization of her actions.
This phrase juxtaposes her own words from the beginning. She is now hallucinating about her
hands being dirty on the surface of her skin. This further implies that perhaps her internal
guilt is rising towards the surface of her skin as a result of God punishing her. The use of the
“noun” perfume shows that perfume can’t get rid of the smell of her and how she is presented
as distressed. This is shown by the repetition of cries of “O”. The adjective “little” describing
her hands, makes her seem childlike and innocent.
Overall, Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth as a pure evil character, whose ambition ulti-
mately leads to her tragic downfall. Through his portrayal of Lady Macbeth, Shakespeare ex-
plores themes of power, ambition, and eventually guilt.