Lady Macbeth is one of my favorite characters in the play Macbeth. The depth of her character is fascinating to watch onstage, and her power and ruthlessness make her extremely dynamic. To understand her role in the play, picture the cliche scene of someone taking advice from the angel on one side and the devil on the other. Lady Macbeth is the little devil, tempting Macbeth, and urging him to do want he can't fathom doing to take what she thinks is rightfully his. Without her action, Macbeth probably wouldn't take the drastic course of murdering Duncan to claim the throne.
We don't know much about Lady Macbeth's background- her actual name is never mentioned in the play, she is known only as Lady Macbeth. I would predict that she is in her late 30's to 40's, as she speaks and acts with the experience of an older woman. She mentions that she has suckled a child, which insinuates that they had a baby, but it is presumed that it died or fell sick, as they do not currently have a child in the play. Macbeth is a thane, very much like a lord, so she is a woman of nobility which gives her power and status. Like many of Shakespeare's female characters (Kate, Beatrice, Cordelia as some examples of feisty women), Lady Macbeth is very confident and not afraid to challenge her husband. She questions his masculinity and ambition when he refuses to go through with killing Duncan: "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." (I.VII. 49, 50). At the time women were supposed to serve their husbands, not scorn their manhood. Lady Macbeth is not afraid to stand up to her husband, and her skill with words convinces him to go through with it. When reading their dialogue you get the sense that they are quite close. She seems to know Macbeth very well, and knows what his weaknesses and desires are, and what will push him to do the deed. Lady Macbeth is extremely ambitious, and she believes that her husband must seize what has been promised to him, not sit idly and wait for it. Macbeth questions what she asks him to do, and were it not for her conviction, the murder never may have happened, and the events of the play may have been very different. Her character, like the witches is also very sinister. In the beginning she has no guilt about the murder, and sees it as the only option. She calls upon dark spirits and forces to strengthen her, fill her with cruelty, and stop any remorse. While I find her character bewitching, her lack of compassion and sympathy makes me fear her. The actresses who played Lady M in productions I have seen have been outstanding, capturing her cold harsh cruelty, and later her unravelling human side as well. Her fate teaches us that no crime goes unpunished, and you cannot dismiss the past and what you do. Her ambition costs her as we see later in the play, and while I do feel sorry for her, I can't help feeling like she gets what she deserves.
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