Lady Macbeth has finally lost her senses. After being the strong one in Shakespeare’s play, or at least the strongest woman, Lady Macbeth has lost her mind over the deaths. In Act 5, she is seen talking to her self and sleepwalking. While rubbing her hands, she says “Yet here's a spot. . . Out, damned spot; out I say” (27-30) “What, will these hands ne'er be clean. . . All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand" (37-43). The two men watching her are witnessing her recounting the events that took place at the time of Duncan’s death. She has the feeling that her hands are covered in blood and how she can’t wash them clean. She begins to hear sounds like Macbeth, the knocking at her door. A doctor visits Lady Macbeth and says that she needs a priest’s help as if she has be consumed with some type of evil and needs an exorcism instead of sleep or a slight of memory. In Act 5 Scene 8, King Malcolm III exploits that Lady Macbeth killed herself. Judi Dench conveys the overwhelming guilt and horror of Lady Macbeth. Here is the sleepwalking scene and I think Judi Dench does a great job or really taking on the character of Lady Macbeth.
YouTube - Shakespeare: "Macbeth" Sleepwalking Scene from Shakespeare's Work" (1847) by Gulian Crommelin Verplanck. Dir. Gulian C. Verplanck. Perf. Judi Dench and Denyse Alexander. YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. 01 June 2007. Web.
Act 5.5, Seyton tells of the death of Lady Macbeth. Macbeth doesn’t seem to have a reaction other than she was supposed to die later. Lady Macbeth’s character ends when Macbeth gives a short excerpt about life:
Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing. (23-27)
6 comments:
After seeing what a strong female presence Lady MacBeth was at the beginning of this play, I have to admit, I was very sad to see her lose her mind. I really wish that she persevered once MacBeth started to go insane. I was hoping that she would rise above the ashes and show everyone how strong women can be. It would have been great to see her as the opposing character to MacBeth. It would have been wonderful to be able to compare the two characters after MacBeth lost his mind and Lady MacBeth didn't! Wishful thinking I guess!
Lady Macbeth is one of my favorite characters in this play. I really like how she was strong in the begining. It showed how much of a feminist she was when she made fun of her husband for not having the balls to kill the King. I thought she would have made it through the whole play, and she would have made an interesting Queen if that is how the play ended. Unfortunately her mind went mad with guilt. I would have liked to see her show up all the men in the play. Her craziness was very interesting though. We see how she deteriates into madness, trying to grasp for sanity. Her break down I believe is one the most important scenes in this play. The heartless Macbeth seems to not even care for her death even though she was the one who devised the plan to kill the King. The drama is intense, but I still think Shakespeare should have kept Lady Macbeth alive.
Does the fact that she goes mad mean that Lady M is weak? Why do we feel that, because she is overcome with guilt, she is no longer as strong as she was at the beginning of the play? I think this shows us that Lady Macbeth is actually a human with a soul, rather than a heartless creature with an insatiable thirst for blood and power. While I do like this character, I like her all the more for the complexity she shows at the end. If she had continued on the path of murdering innocents, I would have pegged her for a one-note, flat character. Shakespeare's reveal of her destroyed inner psyche as a result of her horrible deeds finally eating away at her shows that deep down inside she knows right from wrong. Perhaps the wall that she put up around her husband was her attempt to remain strong for both of them, and her slip into madness was the inevitable flood that broke the levee. She is not weak; she is mortal - although her initial actions had led us to believe otherwise.
I was also sad that Lady Macbeth lost her mind. After enjoying her as a strong female presence, I found it disconcerting that Shakespeare would undermine all of that and let her decline into insanity. So much for being a "strong female character" I suppose.
I think I'm more ready to agree with Rachel on this one. I mean, yeah, Lady Macbeth initially exhibited control over her male counterpart, but I think along the lines of complete feminism, she wouldn't have to talk Macbeth into anything or make fun of him for being ball-less, she would do what she regretted and take matters into her own hands (killing the King herself). This would probably even mean the killing of Macbeth after his coronation as well. I'm not sure how it works, is it possible for her to obtain a psuedo-throne as a widow? Regardless, I think she's still a strong female character, and as Rachel said, a human character at that. She does have so much blood on her hands, and the admission of guilt to oneself is a decent characteristic (not necessarily a weak one). Really, how could she not go insane?
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