Lady Macbeth

Below is one of our free research papers on Lady Macbeth. If the term paper below is not exactly what you're looking for, you can search our essay database for other topics or order a custom essay.

Lady Macbeth

At the end of the play, Malcolm refers to Lady Macbeth as a "fiend like queen". Do you agree with Malcolm's view on Lady Macbeth?
"A cruel, brutal or spiteful person" is the definition of ‘fiend' in the Collins dictionary, there are however many different definitions of the word some making the person more, or less evil. Lady Macbeth does several fiendlike things throughout the play which may have been why Malcolm referred to her as such. I think that Malcolm's reference of Lady Macbeth as a "fiend-like queen" is quite subjective; I cannot fully embrace or object it. However, there is evidence throughout the play that shifts the balance towards evil and occasionally towards good.
Lady Macbeth enters the play in Act1 Scene 5 after receiving a letter from her husband, the letter is informing her of an encounter he experienced with three witches who made several predictions, one of which claiming that he will become the next king. We first acknowledge her determination in her speech "and shalt be what thou art promised", she is determined that he will become king like the witches foretold. When Lady Macbeth receives the letter from her husband, she too realises that for this prophecy to become a reality as quickly as possible, they must first get rid of Duncan. This is a sign of that "fiend-like queen" becoming prominent in her character. She again thinks that Macbeth deserves to be a great person, but she also thinks that he is too nice a person and he wouldn't do something so immoral:
"Yet do I fear thy nature:
It is too full o' the milk of human kindness"
Macbeth is too kind and gentle to be able to "catch the nearest way" meaning to murder King Duncan. She plans to "pour" her spirits into his ears to try to overcome his good nature; she desperately wants to take control over both him and the situation, and force him with her determination.
Early on in the play we see her determination and possible ‘fiendlike' qualities, in Act1 Scene 5 in her...

Saved Papers

Save papers so you can find them more easily!

Join Now

Get instant access to over 180,000 papers.

Join Now