The Case of Lady Macbeth

The Case of Lady Macbeth

Once a dagger is drawn and blood drips, though the victim remains the same, the verdict will fall guilty or free, depending on whether the dagger is held by a man’s hand or a woman’s. A man, whose hand is heavy, wields the knife with roughness and certainty. His mind races with the same guilt a woman would carry. Yet, in the eyes of jurors (or readers), they may say, ‘he was provoked.’ But in the woman’s hand, the dagger supposedly doesn’t fit. The hands of a woman are too soft, too nurturing, to carry a weapon of such malice. Therefore, if blood falls on the woman, she is a ‘monster’ of her kind. There will be no forgiveness or understanding in the eyes of jurors for the woman. In Shakespeare’s play, gender bias plays out; the main character, Macbeth, is swayed by passion and ambition as he is promised a crown. He thinks only of his own prosperity, a life with the death of the current king, Duncan, on his conscience. In his story, Lady Macbeth becomes almost a siren for her husband, subtly luring him down a darker path, driving him toward murder. For this, Lady Macbeth is often labeled as a villain for Macbeth’s actions. However, Lady Macbeth lived a life of stripped power, one built by the bounds imposed on women of that time. Her actions, though deemed ‘immoral,’ were the result of societal pressure and processed grief. Backed into a corner by a life filled with anger and resentment, Lady Macbeth is not as a villain but as a tragic figure.

Throughout the play, Lady Macbeth is dismissed and rendered forgettable, her power is taken away, the moment she was born a woman. Yet, when something is taken away, it’s human nature to desire it even more. In Act two, Scene three, the fallout from Duncan’s murder comes quickly, and after his body is announced, the men gather, with the ringing of a bell signaling the crime. Lady Macbeth arrives and quickly questions the ringing, but Macduff pushes her aside, saying, “O gentle lady, / ‘Tis not for you to hear what I can speak. / The repetition in a woman’s ear / Would murder as it fell” (II.iii.77–80). Macduff is subject to the same misogyny as the other men of the time, for he refuses to discuss the nature of the crime with Lady Macbeth because she is a woman. To him, and others, she is a “gentle lady,” one who should not hear such brutality, as they believe women cannot comprehend such violence, let alone commit it. It is unnatural, in their eyes, for a woman to be involved in such crimes. This scene holds a certain irony, given Lady Macbeth’s role as an accomplice in Duncan’s murder. But why does she push Macbeth? She will not be given Duncan’s crown like her husband, perhaps power? Yes. But also, satisfaction. In a twisted turn of fate, the actions of Macduff and the other men, who deem her too soft and sweet for brutality, give Lady Macbeth pleasure, now that she has committed the same crime they assume a woman could never speak of. Deep in her heart, she knows she has proven the men who looked down on her wrong. It’s a basic human instinct to desire to feel more powerful when we triumph over those who belittle us. And though her actions are manipulative, Lady Macbeth remains, at her core, human. Macduff’s actions, amongst the other expectations of women at the time, force the misogyny to seep into Lady Macbeth’s own perspective. In eleventh-century Scotland, the roles are clear: men are warriors, brave and courageous, while women stay behind. They are not seen as powerful and are expected to do nothing except the chores that quietly hold the country together. Women’s contributions are invisible, confined to the background, while men claim the glory of battle. Lady Macbeth, aware of these roles, growing up with them as a child, begins to internalize the teachings the men tell her. With the announcement of her husband’s arrival in Act 1, Scene 5, Lady Macbeth prepares, not as a dutiful housewife, but prepares her internal chance for power. Through his letter to his wife, Macbeth shares the weird sisters’ prophecy of his future royalty, a chance for a future for Lady Macbeth to perhaps have a more significant role and control as queen. The desire for more grows within Lady Macbeth, and in her soliloquy, she remarks on her plan to kill Duncan, signaling, “The raven himself is hoarse / That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan / Under my battlements.” (I.V. 36–37). She calls for the death of King Duncan, a murder that must be committed under the rulings of the Macbeths. However, with this, Lady Macbeth needs power and strength to commit the deed. With her perspective of her husband as too weak, she must take control. She calls for the gods to, “Unsex me” (I.V. 37). The word “unsex” illustrates the insecurity of Lady Macbeth, a character who is portrayed with great confidence. For she has lived a life with all those around her telling her that women are unpowerful, that they are weak when it comes to control. She has internalized their misogynistic views, believing she will never be as powerful as the men around her. Therefore, she wants the gods to “unsex” her, take away every ounce of femininity she has, as in her eyes, being a woman means she is not able to access the power she desires. Her character, though appearing confident, is truly tragic. She feels constrained by her gender, feeling as being a ‘woman’ is a cursed role that has no path to control. Therefore, her actions of luring Macbeth into murder, is not one of brutality or violence, yet the desperation of wanting a sense of control in a life where it would be deemed impossible for her to have. Lady Macbeth may be labeled a villain for driving Macbeth to the crime. But, she does this due to her tragic life, where she has no control, with the men in her life dismissing her, like Macduff. She clings to the desire to be a ‘man,’ as she sees ‘man’ as a substitute for the word ‘power’.

In addition, Lady Macbeth faces societal expectations that go beyond the assumption of a lack of control; she is also expected to bear children. Yet, the Macbeth household is notably childless, raising an important question: why don’t they have children? In the context of 11th-century Scotland, children were the norm, and their absence would have been unusual, creating an isolating factor for them in society. However, some scholars believe that the Macbeth family experienced the loss of a child. The trauma of this loss may have prevented Lady Macbeth from fully processing her grief. Grief is strong; it lingers, it grows, and must be processed. The Macbeths’ crimes may, in part, be the result of unprocessed grief. This theory stems from Lady Macbeth’s reflections on breastfeeding during her conversation with Macbeth about killing Duncan. She tells him, “I have given suck, and know / How tender ’tis to love the babe that milks me” (I. VI. 54–55). Lady Macbeth was once a mother, a caring mother. She reflects on the memory of breastfeeding her child, speaking of the love and care only a mother could feel, discussing “How tender ’tis to love the babe”, a love that cannot be given by anyone else. There is no cruelty in her vision; she is not the horrid woman who plotted to kill Duncan at this moment. Instead, she is simply a mother, similar to any other. However, she uses the word “have,” which is in the past tense, and later in the play, Macbeth acknowledges that he had no offspring to carry on his royal bloodline. Lady Macbeth is no longer breastfeeding the baby, for the baby, who was loved and cared for by his mother, is no longer part of this world, now just an angel above. This helps explain her cruelty, for she is a mother who loves her baby dearly, yet death comes to snatch the baby away. The mention of breastfeeding brings harsh memories for Lady Macbeth as well. She reflects on her child, whom she misses dearly, and these thoughts stir up her anger, which soon turns violent. She uses the memory of her baby as a justification for brutal actions, telling Macbeth that she would have killed the child if she had sworn to do so, illustrating her violent mindset: “I would, while it was smiling in my face, / Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums / And dashed the brains out, had I so sworn as you / Have done to this” (I. VI. 56–60). The quick shift in tone, from a loving mother to a vicious murderer, marks her unprocessed grief. She talks of murdering her own child, suggesting that it is easier to hate than to love someone who is gone, her brutality and ruthlessness saying “Dashed the brains out” demonstrate her fear of being “weak.” She would rather pretend the baby was nonexistent, just another figure in her life whom she would have pushed away if given the opportunity. However, that is far from the truth. Lady Macbeth is angry, and the world inside her is filled with rage. Tension builds internally. The anger grows, and the grief becomes unfathomable. Lady Macbeth does not know how to release it. She becomes vengeful toward the world, now a violent woman trying to seek revenge in any way she can, even by killing the innocent. Duncan was never truly her target. The crown, as great as it was for her husband, was a mere distraction from the real murder inside of her. After the death of her baby, she has never felt love again. Part of her heart is missing, replaced instead by makeshift madness and hysteria, both fighting for a role. A mother who has lost her child should never be called a villain. Lady Macbeth’s actions, horrendous as they are, stem from her desperate attempt to escape the pain of her loss. Her story is devastating, not evil.

When put in front of a court for first-degree murder, the case of Lady Macbeth may be told as evil. A cruel woman who pulled on the strings of her husband’s insecurities, a heartless woman who played an accomplice in the king’s murder. But her case is one of deception, ruthless on the outside, yes. But internally, Lady Macbeth is the result of trauma and an environment that forced her to become the way she is. Always dismissed and belittled for being a woman, causing her to hate her femininity, combined with the loss of a child that she loved dearly. If she were not a vengeful woman, she would not be real. Can we truly blame Lady Macbeth without knowing the truth of her actions?