Monday, February 27, 2012

In Macbeth, how does Macbeth betray Lady Macbeth?

One could argue that Macbeth betrays Lady Macbeth by completely distancing himself from her after Duncan's assassination, neglecting her psychological and emotional needs, and acting independently without informing her of his wicked plans. After Macbeth informs his wife about the witches' favorable prophecies, Lady Macbeth formulates a seemingly foolproof plan to help her husband successfully assassinate King Duncan with impunity. Lady Macbeth not only plots King Duncan's murder but also participates in the assassination by placing the bloody daggers back into the king's chamber and acting surprised. Despite her going to extreme lengths to help her husband attain the Scottish throne, Lady Macbeth is immediately betrayed by her husband when he assumes complete authority, refuses to take her advice, and commits horrendous crimes behind her back. Macbeth does not inform Lady Macbeth of Banquo's murder or his orders to slaughter Macduff's entire family. In addition to acting independently, Macbeth also emotionally neglects his wife. While Lady Macbeth sleepwalks and hallucinates, Macbeth distances himself and completely focuses on destroying his political enemies. In act 5, Macbeth learns of his wife's suicide and is unfazed by the news, which emphasizes his callous nature and complete disregard for her well-being. Overall, Macbeth betrays his wife by acting independently, neglecting her emotional needs, distancing himself from her at crucial moments, and refusing to inform her about his bloody orders.


Macbeth betrays Lady Macbeth in his total withdrawal from her. He loses empathy for her by the end of the play, although he once loved her and was deeply influenced by her opinion of him.
After Macbeth murders Duncan, however, his heart begins to harden. Macbeth starts to make decisions without consulting his wife. It is evident by act 4 that he is not spending much time with her because it is her servants who first discover she is sleepwalking and muttering dangerous words in her sleep.
Finally, in act 5, when he hears the scream that means she has committed suicide, Macbeth doesn't even recognize it as the voice of his once beloved spouse. He merely says that sounds such as shrieks used to startle and unnerve him but now have no effect. When he is told it was Lady Macbeth who screamed as she died, all he can say, indifferently, is that she would have died sooner or later anyway:

She should have died hereafter.

Lady Macbeth envisioned the two of them sharing the throne and enjoying its power and prestige together. Instead, she is psychologically betrayed by a husband who turns hard-hearted and self-obsessed.


He betrays Lady Macbeth in the sense that he dispenses her advice and starts to act unilaterally. Lady Macbeth, more than anyone else, is responsible for her husband's rise to power; she made him what he is. She planned King Duncan's murder; she questioned Macbeth's manhood, goading him into committing the wicked act; she even drugged Duncan's guards and planted bloody daggers on them to avoid the merest hint of suspicion. But as soon as Macbeth's on the throne, he starts acting on his own initiative. Hubris takes over Macbeth's character, dissolving what had previously been very much a power marriage. Puffed up with such overweening pride, Macbeth carries out a series of increasingly vicious murders, showing that whatever "milk of human kindness" there may have been in his soul has now turned rancid.
To some extent, Lady Macbeth has helped create a Frankenstein's monster which is now completely out of control. As the bodies start piling up, and Macbeth wades deeper and deeper through blood, Lady Macbeth cannot handle the immense psychological strain that her husband's murderous rampage has unleashed upon her fraying mind. Wicked though it was, at least Lady Macbeth's plot to murder Duncan had a certain rationale behind it. But there appears to be no such justification for Macbeth's murder of Macduff's family, for example. Crucially, Macbeth is defying fate, whereas Lady Macbeth's plot to murder Duncan was entirely in keeping with the Weird Sisters' prophecy. Macbeth, in defying fate, is also betraying his wife, leading directly to her psychological breakdown and eventual death.
 
 

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