How does Shakespeare Lady Macbeth presented as an ambitious character? GCSE grade 9 answer
During this speech, Lady Macbeth most certainly appears to be an ambitious character. She appears
determined here to fulfil the witch’s prophecies and become queen despite knowing she will have to
commit murder. She also knows that she will have to skilfully manipulate Macbeth into committing
regicide in order to help fulfil her ambition. However, later Shakespeare explores how her ambition
becomes dangerous, eventually appearing to be her hamartia resulting in her inevitable downfall.
Once she hears about the witches’ prophecies, Lady Macbeth can see a direct path to becoming
queen. She appears cold and calculated as the plots Duncan’s murder without any sense of fear or
remorse at the thought of committing regicide. In contrast, she actually seems more concerned
about Macbeth’s possible guilt as he is ‘too full o’th’milk of human kindness. ‘Too full’ seems to be a
visual suggestion of how Macbeth may find this criminal act overwhelming and may result in him
spilling over and breaking down due to fear and guilt. The noun ‘milk’ also shows how she appears to
be criticising Macbeth’s masculinity. The metaphorical meaning implied here is that milk is
associated with female breasts and is therefore linked to weakness. Therefore, here she s perhaps
mocking how ‘maternal’ Macbeth is, suggesting how she feels that Macbeth will try to protect King
Duncan as a mother would protect a child, the opposite to the ruthless soldier image Macbeth tries
to maintain, slaughtering his enemies from the ‘nave’ to the ‘chops’. This perhaps begins to suggest
to the audience how Lady Macbeth will de masculinise and embarrass her husband to make him
almost feel obligated to kill Duncan. Such a criticism would have shocked a Jacobean audience where
women had no rights or even position and would not have dared ever to speak about their husbands
in such a way. Therefore, Shakespeare seems to be setting the contrast between Lady Macbeth and
other women, suggesting how her ambition has made her less feminine and moderate and instead
colder and more manipulative.
Lady Macbeth also seems to develop some sort of joy and satisfaction when crafting her plan,
perhaps suggesting a darker side that she has. Words such as ‘catch’, ‘illness’ and ‘attend’ are all
references to being sick, perhaps suggesting how evilness is a sickness that you catch and nurture.
Here Lady Macbeth almost seems moved by the prophecies the witches have mad and the dark
language and twisted meanings make it seem almost as if the has been possessed, not necessarily by
the supernatural but perhaps by her own ambition. The supernatural however, seems to be
particularly suggested when Lady Macbeth describes how she will manipulate her husband. For
example, ‘I may pour my spirits into thine ear’. ‘Pour’ appears to be a direct correlation to Lady
Macbeth’s persuasiveness, metaphorically symbolising how she will manipulate her husband with
word play. References to words such as ‘chalice’ also have darker connotations such as poison,
suggesting how dark and potentially villainous her thoughts now are. The fact that she is planning to
influence Macbeth with her own ambitious ideas also puts her in a place of control. This also
separates her from other Jacobean women as it suggests reverse gender roles as usually, the
husband would have control over the wife. Though Shakespeare seems to be suggesting here that its
not necessarily the gender of the person which puts them in the point of control, it’s the strength of
their ambition and therefore ability to control the other which usually would have put the husband
in control. However, to a Jacobean audience, a woman being in a place of power would have been
deemed strange and therefore, it would have been guessed that she must have referred to
supernatural sources to help her. This is greatly suggested in this speech and later on becomes
apparent when she asks for supernatural aid to ‘unsex me here’ and ‘make thick my blood’ to take
During this speech, Lady Macbeth most certainly appears to be an ambitious character. She appears
determined here to fulfil the witch’s prophecies and become queen despite knowing she will have to
commit murder. She also knows that she will have to skilfully manipulate Macbeth into committing
regicide in order to help fulfil her ambition. However, later Shakespeare explores how her ambition
becomes dangerous, eventually appearing to be her hamartia resulting in her inevitable downfall.
Once she hears about the witches’ prophecies, Lady Macbeth can see a direct path to becoming
queen. She appears cold and calculated as the plots Duncan’s murder without any sense of fear or
remorse at the thought of committing regicide. In contrast, she actually seems more concerned
about Macbeth’s possible guilt as he is ‘too full o’th’milk of human kindness. ‘Too full’ seems to be a
visual suggestion of how Macbeth may find this criminal act overwhelming and may result in him
spilling over and breaking down due to fear and guilt. The noun ‘milk’ also shows how she appears to
be criticising Macbeth’s masculinity. The metaphorical meaning implied here is that milk is
associated with female breasts and is therefore linked to weakness. Therefore, here she s perhaps
mocking how ‘maternal’ Macbeth is, suggesting how she feels that Macbeth will try to protect King
Duncan as a mother would protect a child, the opposite to the ruthless soldier image Macbeth tries
to maintain, slaughtering his enemies from the ‘nave’ to the ‘chops’. This perhaps begins to suggest
to the audience how Lady Macbeth will de masculinise and embarrass her husband to make him
almost feel obligated to kill Duncan. Such a criticism would have shocked a Jacobean audience where
women had no rights or even position and would not have dared ever to speak about their husbands
in such a way. Therefore, Shakespeare seems to be setting the contrast between Lady Macbeth and
other women, suggesting how her ambition has made her less feminine and moderate and instead
colder and more manipulative.
Lady Macbeth also seems to develop some sort of joy and satisfaction when crafting her plan,
perhaps suggesting a darker side that she has. Words such as ‘catch’, ‘illness’ and ‘attend’ are all
references to being sick, perhaps suggesting how evilness is a sickness that you catch and nurture.
Here Lady Macbeth almost seems moved by the prophecies the witches have mad and the dark
language and twisted meanings make it seem almost as if the has been possessed, not necessarily by
the supernatural but perhaps by her own ambition. The supernatural however, seems to be
particularly suggested when Lady Macbeth describes how she will manipulate her husband. For
example, ‘I may pour my spirits into thine ear’. ‘Pour’ appears to be a direct correlation to Lady
Macbeth’s persuasiveness, metaphorically symbolising how she will manipulate her husband with
word play. References to words such as ‘chalice’ also have darker connotations such as poison,
suggesting how dark and potentially villainous her thoughts now are. The fact that she is planning to
influence Macbeth with her own ambitious ideas also puts her in a place of control. This also
separates her from other Jacobean women as it suggests reverse gender roles as usually, the
husband would have control over the wife. Though Shakespeare seems to be suggesting here that its
not necessarily the gender of the person which puts them in the point of control, it’s the strength of
their ambition and therefore ability to control the other which usually would have put the husband
in control. However, to a Jacobean audience, a woman being in a place of power would have been
deemed strange and therefore, it would have been guessed that she must have referred to
supernatural sources to help her. This is greatly suggested in this speech and later on becomes
apparent when she asks for supernatural aid to ‘unsex me here’ and ‘make thick my blood’ to take
