Scene Summary
A letter arrives to Inverness castle, and Lady Macbeth is introduced to the play. From Macbeth, Lady Macbeth reads about her husband’s encounter with the witches, his promotion to the position of Thane of Cawdor and the prophecy that he is to become king of Scotland. Cold to her husband’s word, Lady Macbeth worries about Macbeth’s nature, ominously stating it is “ too full o’th’milk of human kindness” to fully realise his destiny to be king. Her thoughts are interrupted by a servant telling her Macbeth and Duncan are on their way to spend the night at the castle. Telling the servant to bring Macbeth to her, she sends him away and begins to plot, calling upon dark spirits and wishing for the power remove her female nature so that she can have the strength to do what is required for Macbeth to become king. Eventually, Macbeth arrives and Lady Macbeth reveals her intention to kill King Duncan, quoting, “O never shall that morrow see,” assuring her husband she has everything under control.
Scene Analysis
Though not as intense as Scene 3, this scene can be interpreted as an equally important part of Act 1. The major point to be analysed in this scene is Lady Macbeth, as for the first time the audience experience her complex and dark character. Unlike Macbeth, who has been introduced with some mystery to his true nature, Lady Macbeth is immediately cast as villainous, quoting dark words and scheming murder in order to advance herself and her husband’s position of power. It is clear that Shakespeare has assigned Lady Macbeth the villainous role in the play, but curiously considering the 17th century context of the text’s writing, has portrayed her with a clear sense of cunning, ambition, and intelligence. Though Macbeth is ruler of Inverness castle in a physical sense, it is apparent from the dialogue between them his wife holds great influence over his decisions, which in turn, potentially make her the true ruler of all of Macbeth’s lands.
On that note, the theme of power begins to emerge in this scene, as the text reveals another form of it; unlike Macbeth’s physical power through violence or Duncan’s power through birthright, Lady Macbeth displays power through manipulation, perfectly encapsulated within her dialogue with Macbeth. A choice sequence to analyse from this scene is when Macbeth arrives with the news of the king’s arrival and Lady Macbeth details her plot to kill the king. Macbeth first starts by stating the king is leave their castle tomorrow in which to his surprise Lady Macbeth responds with “O never shall sun that morrow see... your hand, your tongue; look like th’innocent flower but be the serpent underneath... give all our days and nights to come solely sovereign sway and masterdom.” Macbeth is speechless after this and the effect Shakespeare intended to have on his audience would have been very similar, as Lady Macbeth’s dialogue is dripping with power and intent, the complete opposite to Macbeth’s doubtfulness displayed in scenes previous. Lady Macbeth’s quote, though not explicitly stating the details of how to kill Duncan, seeds into Macbeth’s mind the notion of murder, thus ensuring her husband’s commitment to her plan.
In the male-dominated political landscape of the play’s setting, this single conversation may be amongst the greatest political moves of the story, and another catalyst for the bloodshed to come; all accomplished by a woman. Considering the context, in Shakespeare’s time this display of power would have been viewed as a negative action on Lady Macbeth’s part and the destructive guilt she feels later serving as a punishment for it, from a modern analytical perspective, Lady Macbeth’s speech is a beautiful example of political manipulation equal to those of her male counterparts.
There is more to dissect with Lady Macbeth however, as power isn’t the only theme she introduces within this scene – we also have the issue of gender reincorporated here. As seen with the witches, the idea of women in power is almost represented as supernatural in this world, with dark tonal language and imagery used to accompany their dialogue. In the case of this scene, Lady Macbeth’s quote of “unsex me here... make thick my blood, stop up th’access and passage to remorse” is the perfect example of Lady Macbeth’s desire to go beyond her gender in order to pursue power. This is incredibly powerful and offers a huge insight into the character of Lady Macbeth. Though Lady Macbeth’s character’s relationship with power will be more carefully deconstructed later, to keep it relevant to this scene, Shakespeare has almost assigned Lady Macbeth to physically represent Macbeth’s ambition. In text appears she realises this herself as she admonishes Macbeth’s lack of ambition present in the letter she receives stating that he is “too full o’th’milk of human kindness” and this disgust at her husband’s lack of desire leads her to usurp the expectations placed on her by her own gender in order to compensate for what her husband is lacking.
