FREE ESSAY ON MACBETH COMPARATIVE ESSAY

MACBETH COMPARATIVE ESSAY

Comparative Essay #2
Compare and Contrast Macbeth and Lady Macbeth in terms of ambition, action and subsequent
destruction
Macbeth is one of Shakespeare's darkest and most tragic works. Known as one his last four
great tragedies, this play has been read and performed throughout the English-speaking
world. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, although their characters may seem similar, they are in
fact different in many aspects. The once noble Macbeth, as he was known before he walked
down the dark path, was in the end a cold, heartless murderer who neither deserved nor
desired life. Lady Macbeth did influence her husband, though her evil persona was greater
even than Macbeth, near her end she did show some redeeming traits. Through ambition,
action and subsequent destruction, this essay will prove their difference. 
Both Macbeth's and Lady Macbeth's ambitions were great. However each had their own limits
and beginnings. Macbeth's ambition, while one of his fatal flaws as a tragic character,
did receive a slow start. During the first couple acts his dependence on Lady Macbeth and
her ability to motivate him was great. The lady comments here that her husband is too
weak to strive 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 with ambition... (Act 1, Scene 5, Lines 16-19)
Nevertheless, after becoming king, his ambition takes on a life of its own as he
struggles to keep his power. Once this point had been reached, everything he sees as a
threat, he removes. Lady Macbeth on the other hand had an iron will and a steadfast drive
to begin with. She was the dominant one within the couple for much of the beginning. Once
again however, with the attainment of the crown there is a change; her ambition for more
slowly dies as she is satisfied with her accomplishments. But she suspects and believes
that Macbeth maybe doing more than is necessary to keep the crown.
Macbeth And make our faces Vizards to our hearts,
Disguising what they are.
Lady Macbeth You must leave this (Act 3, Scene 2, Lines 33-35)
She is attempting to deter him from committing anymore unnecessary evils. Her ambition
for more is now gone and in its place seems to be a desire for peace.
Their actions also contribute much to the definition of their character, as do their
thoughts. Macbeth had a huge hand to play in all three of the great crimes in the play.
The first, being the murder of Duncan, was committed with the poisonous influence of his
lady. Macbeth's guilt and regret is evident after the killing.
To know my deed, 'twere best not know myself.
Wake Duncan with thy knocking! I would thou could'st!
(Act 2, Scene 2, Lines 73-74)
Even so, his conscience does not stand in the way of the last two crimes, the killing of
Banquo and the slaughter at Macduff's castle. The murders are ordered with a cold heart;
his ruthlessness is now clear and so are his enemies. Lady Macbeth was the leading player
during Duncan's murder. Her staunchness to the dreadful deed was overwhelming. She
accused Macbeth of cowardice and faithlessness when he doubted their success. 
...Art thou afeard
To be the same in thine own act and valour
As thou in desire? Wouldst thou have that 
Which thou esteem'st the ornament of life,
And live a coward in thine own esteem? (Act 1, Scene 7, Lines 39-43)
Yet Lady Macbeth seems to have a change in character as the play progresses. Her once
evil thoughts are replaced by thoughts of entertaining her guests at the banquet. She has
no part in Banquo or Lady Macduff's assassinations. During her last scene while in her
sleep walk she says, "no more o' that, my lord, no more o' that." (V. i. 43-45)
Both Macbeth and his lady faced the same fate of death, but how it came and how it was
administered are different. In the final scene we see Macbeth as what can be described as
a man fighting out of desperation. Nonetheless, there is no doubt the courage he
demonstrates is as real as his expected death. He has relinquished his trust in the
witches and now he fights against his destiny. Though his ruthlessness, brutality and
cold heartedness was evident almost straight to the end, one cannot but admire his
stubborn spirit during the last scene. For a man who desires death and the peace that
comes with it, his unspoken final wish still is to die as a warrior in battle. Lady
Macbeth died a different death. Her last scene in the play displays a shadow of the woman
she once was. Constantly fighting her own demons, she has become weak and vulnerable. Her
guilt and overwhelming regret for what she has done and what her husband has become is
now her bane.
Out damned spot! Out I say! One: two:
Why then 'tis time to do't: hell is murky. Fie my lord,
Fie, a soldier, and afeard? What need we fear who 
Knows it, when none can call our power to account?
(Act 5, Scene 1, Lines 35-39)
She has soiled herself in blood and not even "all the perfumes of Arabia will sweeten
this little hand." (V. i. 51) She is in a pitiful state and even though one knows the
evils she has committed, one will still feel sorry for her. One can only hope that her
self-inflicted death will free her of the nightmares that replay continuously in her
sleep. 
Here one clearly sees the differences in character that are exhibited. The essay plainly
illustrates the different states they were in before death, during the crimes and the
reasoning behind their ambitions. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth may seem similar but what is
presented here clearly sets the differences they exhibit through ambition, action and
subsequent destruction. However one thing in common they do share is a premature death,
though it was not wholly unexpected. Macbeth's silent wish of a tragic death of a warrior
bathed in his own blood gives Macbeth some credibility that he was once a noble thane.
And Lady Macbeth, the iron lady in the opening act who receded into a shattered and
pitiful shadow of her former self invokes much emotion; her suicide is a final message
that none should endure such suffering however evil.