In Act 5 Scene 1 Lady Macbeth asks, "What, will these hands ne'er be clean?" In what way does this remark indicate a whole host of changes in Lady Macbeth related to innocence and guilt, strength and weakness, and sanity and insanity?
Lady Macbeth saying that her hands will never be clean is a huge indication into how she has changed. Towards the beginning of the play, Lady Macbeth was full of ambition, and urged Macbeth to kill Duncan to claim power that she thought he deserved. Through much persuasion by Lady Macbeth, Macbeth finally kills King Duncan. From this point in the play on out, Lady Macbeth is obsessed with ridding her guilt. She showed strength by unsexing herself and becoming more masculine. However, this falls apart as she feels increasingly guilty for all of Macbeth's murders. As a result of her desire to rid the guilt from her soul or the blood from her hands, Lady Macbeth becomes insane towards the end of the play because she can't clean her hands.
Lady Macbeth thinks the murders were her fault after she had to convince Macbeth to do the original murder of Duncan. Lady Macbeth also prepared for the murder by drugging the servants, so she basically did everything except stab Duncan. In her eyes, she probably thinks this murder created the monster of Macbeth, who killed many more people to try and cover up Duncan’s murder and stay in power.
Lady Macbeth has a mental breakdown at the sight of blood on her hands. This is because she understands what she has done and that even though the blood will physically wash away from her hands, she will never be able to forget what she has done. Earlier in the play Macbeth has blood on his hands and Lady Macbeth just tells him to wash it off, like it is no big deal. Once the blood is on her hands she realizes the gravity of what she has done and what Macbeth has been doing for quite some time now. Lady Macbeth was the person who originally forced Macbeth to be the person he is today and she felt no problems with wanting more power. But, once she stands in his shoes, with blood all over her hands her ideas on life change. She understands that it is not worth living a great life at the expense of so many others.
Lady Macbeth convinced Macbeth to kill Duncan. When he came back, he had blood on his hands, which got smeared on Lady Macbeth’s hands, and she said, “A little water clears us of this deed.” Literally, she meant that if they had clean hands, there is no evidence that Macbeth committed the murder, but this also symbolizes the cleansing of their souls. Lady Macbeth was worried that Macbeth was scarred from killing Duncan, and would give it away, but in the end it was she who could not handle it.
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ReplyDeleteLady Macbeth saying that her hands will never be clean is a huge indication into how she has changed. Towards the beginning of the play, Lady Macbeth was full of ambition, and urged Macbeth to kill Duncan to claim power that she thought he deserved. Through much persuasion by Lady Macbeth, Macbeth finally kills King Duncan. From this point in the play on out, Lady Macbeth is obsessed with ridding her guilt. She showed strength by unsexing herself and becoming more masculine. However, this falls apart as she feels increasingly guilty for all of Macbeth's murders. As a result of her desire to rid the guilt from her soul or the blood from her hands, Lady Macbeth becomes insane towards the end of the play because she can't clean her hands.
ReplyDeleteWhy do you guys think that Lady Macbeth feels responsible for the murders although she wasn't the one that committed them or ordered them to be done?
DeleteLady Macbeth thinks the murders were her fault after she had to convince Macbeth to do the original murder of Duncan. Lady Macbeth also prepared for the murder by drugging the servants, so she basically did everything except stab Duncan. In her eyes, she probably thinks this murder created the monster of Macbeth, who killed many more people to try and cover up Duncan’s murder and stay in power.
DeleteLady Macbeth has a mental breakdown at the sight of blood on her hands. This is because she understands what she has done and that even though the blood will physically wash away from her hands, she will never be able to forget what she has done. Earlier in the play Macbeth has blood on his hands and Lady Macbeth just tells him to wash it off, like it is no big deal. Once the blood is on her hands she realizes the gravity of what she has done and what Macbeth has been doing for quite some time now. Lady Macbeth was the person who originally forced Macbeth to be the person he is today and she felt no problems with wanting more power. But, once she stands in his shoes, with blood all over her hands her ideas on life change. She understands that it is not worth living a great life at the expense of so many others.
ReplyDeleteLady Macbeth convinced Macbeth to kill Duncan. When he came back, he had blood on his hands, which got smeared on Lady Macbeth’s hands, and she said, “A little water clears us of this deed.” Literally, she meant that if they had clean hands, there is no evidence that Macbeth committed the murder, but this also symbolizes the cleansing of their souls. Lady Macbeth was worried that Macbeth was scarred from killing Duncan, and would give it away, but in the end it was she who could not handle it.
ReplyDelete