Essay Comparing Macbeth and Lady Macbeth

The story of Macbeth is one of Shakespeare's most popular and tragic pieces. Both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have a lot of similarities but they are very different in some ways. The once courageous Macbeth was now known as the one who committed cold and heartless murder just to get his way. Despite Lady Macbeth’s influence on her husband to commit such a crime, she shows redeeming qualities near the end of the story.  Both characters have done heartless things however their ambitions, evil acts, and deaths are very different. This goes to show how you really do not know what someone is truly feeling inside.

Both these characters had great ambitions however each had their own starting points and paths that they took in life. At the beginning of the story, Macbeth was very dependant on Lady Macbeth and her abilities to motivate him to do anything that he desires. Lady Macbeth enjoyed having this power over her husband and told him that he was too weak to murder Duncan for the crown. "Yet do I fear thy nature, it is too full o' the milk of human kindness To catch the nearest way.  Thou wouldst be great, art not without ambition, but without the illness should attend it" (I,V .XVI-XX). After Macbeth committed the heartless murder he starts to struggle with his ambitions while he is fighting to stay in power. Once Macbeth became king he removed everything that made him feel threatened and everyone who doubted him. 

Lady Macbeth started to let Macbeth feel as if he was in control because she felt accomplished from being the more dominant one in the relationship and bringing them to the point of success. Nevertheless, Lady Macbeth starts to lose her power and thinks that Macbeth is doing more than what is necessary to keep the crown. “You must leave this” (III.II.XL), Lady Macbeth tells Macbeth to stop thinking about what he has done to Duncan and not to move forward with the plan of killing Banquo. She is trying to stray him away from committing more sins but Macbeth won't back down until he gets what he wants. You can see that Lady Macbeth acknowledges that she made a mistake and is trying to better herself and help Macbeth get back on the right track however, Macbeth is only looking for power and won’t stop until he gets it. 

Both of their actions also have a lot to do with the definition of the characters they portray and the thoughts that go through their heads.  Macbeth had the main hand behind all three of the great crimes committed in the story, the first murder being of the former King Duncan with the influence of Lady Macbeth. Although Macbeth had a big hand in this crime, his regret and guilt are evident after the murder. “To know my deed, 'twere best not know myself wake Duncan with thy knocking, I would thou couldst.” (II.II.LXX) Macbeth is saying how he would rather be unconscious than think about the horrible crime that he just committed, also he is telling the knocking that he hears in his head to stop as he thinks it's Duncan trying to get revenge. 

On the other hand, Lady Macbeth was the main cause of the killing as she threatened Macbeth's manhood and courage. “Art thou afeard To be the same in thine own act and valor

As thou art in desire? Wouldst thou have that Which thou esteem'st  the ornament of life, And live a coward in thine own esteem.” (I.VII. XXXIX-XLIII) Lady Macbeth starts by asking Macbeth if he's a real man who will work for his desires and further on questions his manhood and self-esteem. This leads Macbeth to prove a point to not only Lady Macbeth but to himself that he is a real man. After the killing happened Lady Macbeth started to focus more on the sense of peace by hosting parties in her new castle while Macbeth was getting haunted by the ghost of Duncan and working on plans to kill Banquo.

Both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth face the same fate of death, however, how it came to be and how it played out was very different. Macbeth was a man fighting out of depression before he died, the once courageous Macbeth was coming back before his expected death. He trusted the witches but ended up fighting for his own destiny. His ruthless and cold-hearted acts were carried on to the very last scene, one can not only but admire his stubbornness at the end of the story. Lady Macbeth's death was a little different, her last scene in the story let us think about her in the way she was at the beginning of the novel. Constantly fighting her own problems, she became vulnerable. The guilt of what she and Macbeth had done started to eat at her soul. “Out, damned spot! out,I say! -- One: Two: why, then, tis time to do’t-- Hell is murky! -- Fir my lord, fie! a soldier, and afeard? What need we fear who knows it, when none can call our power to account?”(V.I.XXXV-XXXIX). Lady Macbeth is in a pitiful state, even though we know the evil that she had committed, we still can't help but feel sorry for her. One can only hope that her death brought her clarity. 

We can clearly see the difference between the two characters. We can see the different attitudes behind your deaths, during the crimes, and the reasoning behind all their ambitions, despite sharing everything Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have very different sets of ambitions, evil acts, and death. This goes to show how you really don't know how someone is truly feeling inside.