Notes

William Shakespeare was an English playwright, poet, and actor. He is regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world’s pre-eminent dramatist. And often universally called is England’s national poet. The Stories of Shakespeare wrote about tragedy, comedy, and history. Moreover, he was a master of multiple forms, capable of writing everything from side-splitting comedy to bloody tragedy, heady romance, magic and mischief, historical epics. And his most representative works are “Macbeth”. Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare that was written between 1605 and 1606. It is a tragedy that tells the story of a Scottish general who murders King Duncan and usurps the throne, driven by ambition and power. The play reflects the public interest in Scotland and its history, as well as the themes of loyalty, betrayal, and war. The play is mostly written in blank verse, Soliloquies help us know the real personality of the characters in the play which form the visible actions of them isn’t so easy to know. In the play, Macbeth is physically responsible for King Duncan’s death. However, there were many other people involved with the murder including the three witches, Lady Macbeth, Banquo, and even the king himself. Lady Macbeth is often seen as most responsible for the killing of King Duncan because she manipulated her husband into doing it and established the details of the plan to kill Duncan.
Although the witches did provide the prophecies which contributed to the act of regicide. Lady Macbeth is the person most responsible for King Duncan death. This is because she manipulated and persuaded. Macbeth to kill Duncan and created the murder plane. And the above has been expressed by Shakespeare in the following quotes. “Look like the innocent Flower , But be the serpent under it” In this sentence , the Flower is often associated with femininity and the serpent represent her subversion of gender roles. The simile creates a contrast between the passive image of the “innocent flower “and violent imagery of a “serpent” This highlights how unlike Macbeth . Lady Macbeth is fully committal to killing the king . She sees manipulation and deception as the best mean of achieving her goof. Lady Macbeth is defying the strict gender roles and expectation of the 17th century woman because she desires power an influence. Second quote. The demonstrating her determination to aspire to power through the quote “Yet do I fear thy nature . It is too full o’th’ milk of human kindness to catch the nearest way” Lady Macbeth compares Macbeth’s kindness to milk , saying that he is “ too full o’th’ milk of human kindness” to take the most direct path to power.This metaphor suggest that macbeth’s compassionate nature will prevent him being ruthless enough to achieve his ambitions. Third quotes, “Wouldst thou have that which thou esteem’st the ornament of life, And live a coward in thine own esteem, Letting ‘I dare not’ wait upon ‘I would,’ Like the poor cat i’ the adage?” . The purpose of this quote is to persuade Macbeth to go through with the murder of King Duncan by questioning his manhood and courage. The technique used in this quote is metaphor. The metaphor compares Macbeth’s hesitation to a cat that wants to eat fish but is afraid to get its feet wet. This quote reveals that Lady Macbeth is willing to use any means necessary to convince Macbeth to commit murder. She is manipulative and cunning, using her words to play on Macbeth’s insecurities and doubts.