THE ROLE OF LADY MACBETH IN THE DRAMA MACBETH

Lady Macbeth is one of Shakespeare's most famous and frightening female characters. When we first see her, she is already plotting Duncan's murder, and she is stronger, more ruthless, and more ambitious than her husband. She seems fully aware of this and knows that she will have to push Macbeth into committing murder. At one point, she wishes that she were not a woman so that she could do it herself. This theme of the …

…the crime, so does guilt effect her more strongly afterward. By the close of the play, she has been reduced to sleepwalking through the castle, desperately trying to wash away an invisible bloodstain. Once the sense of guilt comes to her mind in reality, Lady Macbeth's sensitivity becomes a weakness, and she is unable to deal wit the guilt. Significantly, she kills herself, signaling her total inability to deal with the legacy of their crimes.