![]() Unlike the witches, Lady Macbeth shows signs of vulnerability, and becomes wracked with guilt. The use of The aforementioned term (“swinish sleep”) corresponding with the sacrifice of the men being described as such, would be a hint to the audience of Lady Macbeth’s witch-like character, and would have, once again, have connected Lady Macbeth to witchcraft for the audience of Shakespeare’s day. The sacrifice of swine has been known as a common act of mythical witches since before Shakespeare’s day, and again, links Lady Macbeth to witchcraft. The chamberlains are sacrificed by Macbeth, to avoid any fault in their plan of the murder of Duncan. The witches refer to “killing swine” (I, 3, 2) early in the play, and Lady Macbeth unknowingly echoes this when she refers to the two chamberlains as in a “swinish sleep,” (I, 7, 67). Parallel phrase with Lady Macbeth and the Weird Sisters are also evident in the play. This shocking statement shows Lady Macbeths evil thoughts, which no mother could have for her child, in turn making her an anti-mother, which would probably have been linked to witchcraft by the original audiences in Shakespeare’s day, if not by today’s audiences. The myths of witches through history are seen as anti-mothers, and Lady Macbeth reveals this evil characteristic rom within herself, and the fact of a previous maternal relationship when she says “I have given suck - I would - have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums,/ And dashed the brains out! ”(I, 7, 54-58). Another common trait between Lady Macbeth and witches is that both are anti-mothers. If Lady Macbeth had successfully connected with the evil forces in her invocation scene, then both the witches and Lady Macbeth exhibit an androgynous character, although Lady Macbeth only has masculine mental traits, while the witches have a masculine physical appearance as well as mental character. As Lady Macbeth discarded her womanish traits and understands the true nature of a man, she began to share a certain gender ambiguity with the witches, Banquo observes the genderless appearance in the witches when he proclaims “You should be women / And yet your beards forbid me to interpret / That you are so. Soon after the invocation, she questions Macbeth’s manhood by telling him that “When you durst do it, then you were a man/ And to be more than what you were, you would be so much more the man. Order custom essay Lady Macbeth Has Been Described as the ‘Fourth Witch’ This invocation signifies a link between Lady Macbeth and the supernatural, or witchcraft, which is utilized by her and the witches. In order to differentiate or associate Lady Macbeth from or to the weird sisters, the similarities and differences of Lady Macbeth and the witches must be explored.įirstly, Lady Macbeth and the witches both call on to evil forces at times of need, such as when Lady Macbeth cries “Come, you spirits/ That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,”(I, 5, 39-40) to discard her feminine traits in order for her to eventually be successful in fulfilling the witches plan by spurring Macbeth to kill Duncan. This possibility would also change the nature of the witches from the future-seers they are portrayed as, to merely influencers of a string of events that they plan. ![]() The fact that the three Weird Sisters’ predictions would not have become true without the supreme influence of Lady Macbeth provokes the thought that, perhaps Lady Macbeth is more than an anti-mother and a schemer, perhaps she is a witch. The line between an evil human being, and a scheming witch, is so fine that Lady Macbeth could easily be either. Lady Macbeth is shown to the audience as a loyal wife who wants the best for his husband, but at the same time, she is portrayed as a malicious character from the very beginning of the play. Throughout the course of the novel, she manipulates her husband, Macbeth, and spurs him to commit his first murder in order for him to ultimately achieve what she believes he deserves. Lady Macbeth is an insidious and complex character.
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