1. EXAMPLE ANSWER – “Explain how far you think Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth as a powerful woman.”
Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth as a powerful woman in this soliloquy by using several imperatives in the passage including repetitions of the word “come” (3, 10, 13) as a form of self-summoning. She is keen to snatch the opportunity (to kill King Duncan so that her husband Macbeth can seize the throne), to bring fate closer by commanding the situation into their favour. Arguably, Shakespeare intends to characterise Lady Macbeth with contradictory traits: powerful yet vulnerable, strong yet misguided.
Her Machiavellian scheming is illustrated when stating that “keen knife see not the wound it makes” (15). The fact that she wishes King Duncan to be murdered but does not want to witness it (ultimately, to send Macbeth to commit the crime) emphasises her role as conspirator rather than direct murderer. Consequently, this partial commitment to the malevolent cause makes the reading of Lady Macbeth as a powerful woman problematic. However, her influence over her husband’s decision-making reinforces a matriarchal dynamic to their marriage.
The association between masculinity and violence is depicted in Lady Macbeth’s defeminisation by quotes such as “unsex me here” (4) and “Come to my woman’s breasts,/And take my milk for gall” (10/11). When her intentions become homicidal, she subdues her feminine side and wishes to “make thick my blood” (6), inferring a need for stereotypically alpha-male, manly qualities. Sexual connotations litter the passage, where even “under my battlements” (3) can be perceived as a double entendre. Although, it seems that Lady Macbeth will not attribute her sense of power and authority to her femininity, but to a primal, savage masculinity where “direst cruelty” (6) and a pursuit for power through tyranny will lead to true power.
The foreshadowing event of a squawking raven “that croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan” (2) acts as a tragic omen. Shakespeare develops an ominous tone which is pivotal in the character arc of Lady Macbeth. Her role as a powerful woman is in doubt when the consequences of the King’s murder ultimately leads to an overwhelming burden of guilt and then her suicide. This is set in motion in Act 1 Scene 5 by her scheming in solitude. She is a complex character who values establishing Macbeth and herself within an aristocratic hierarchy but is naïve to the burden such a murderous action will bear on her soul. Their hubris and lust for power, grasping at the opportunity to climb the hierarchal ladder ultimately leads to their downfall. Their role as powerful is temporary and doomed. The reader may be alienated by her murderous intent but sympathise with the consequence of her tormented mental state.
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