Grade 9 English Literature (AQA) GCSE table with six pages of quotes and in depth analysis about Macbeth and Lady Macbeth's changing relationship throughout the play. Includes AO3 context and an example essay conclusion. Can be used for revision and to help with essay writing.
LM: "Great Glamis worthy of Cawdor… by In the exposition of the play, they initially
the all-hail hereafter" appear strong within their marriage. Her
head is full of ambition from the moment
M: “My dearest love”, “my dearest partner she greets him, shown through
of greatness” emphasises the status and titles Macbeth
has now but also as king in the future. As
a woman in Jacobean society the only
route to achieve power and status is
through men, her partner Macbeth. We
see this again through the double
entendre “fill me from the crown to the toe
top-full of direst cruelty” denoting from the
top of the head, but also connoting the
crown representing her and Macbeth as
Queen & King. By him calling her the
non-gendered noun ‘partner’, it creates a
sense of equality within marriage that
would have been unusual in the Jacobean
era, illustrating to a contemporary
audience the positive aspects of their
relationship. The emotive superlative
adjective ‘dearest’ is a term of
endearment, and acts as a clear depiction
of how valued Lady Macbeth is by her
husband - he's a warrior, so the role of his
wife contrasts with the violent male world
he’s from and allows him to switch off from
that (pleasure, relaxation, love). The
lexical choice ‘greatness’ connotes
ambition, and as they are ‘partner(s)’,
Shakespeare suggests that Macbeth and
Lady Macbeth are equal in their desire for
power and control, further confirming their
compatibility but potentially hinting that
said compatibility will serve as the
couple’s hamartia.
M: “Tomorrow as he purposes” – LM: “"O, They are a parasitical couple feeding on
never. Shall sun that morrow see!"” those more powerful and benevolent than
themselves. When Macbeth tells Lady
Macbeth Duncan is coming, they both
have the same mindset and think about
murder without mentioning it. The pathetic
fallacy foreshadows the death of Duncan
– they imply he will die on the night of his
, stay. The use of sibilance creates a
snake-like effect alluding to “the serpent”
in the bible (Genesis) that tempts Eve to
sin – marking the catalyst of her plans for
Macbeth (Adam) to kill and suggesting
how patriarchal society believed women
were at fault. The personification of the
sun highlights the point they are plunged
into darkness, which progresses through
the play. This uses a circular structure as
at the end of the play we are told by the
doctor that Lady Macbeth uses a candle
and “has light by her continually”, as
protection from evil and the “blanket” of
darkness.
Rapidly decreases as a struggle for power within the marriage ensues (Act 1 Scene
7):
M: ‘We will proceed no further in this Macbeth uses a declarative statement - to
business’ exude masculinity, embracing his gender
LM: ‘When you durst do it, then you were role and dictating both his and his wife’s
a man’ decisions. The negation ‘no’ clearly
indicates his alleged definitive attitude.
Lady Macbeth refutes her husband’s
statement and attempts to belittle and
emasculate him to see their plan through.
The verb ‘durst’ (meaning dare) illustrates
the risk-taking behaviour she is
encouraging; implying an element of
toxicity within their relationship, and her
harsh speech makes the cracks in their
relationship further visible to the audience.
She plays into husbands’ weak sense of
identity and insecurities due to the toxic
masculinity he has developed through the
environment he is in, by emotionally
manipulating him by proposing the murder
of Duncan as a way to define himself as a
man (as she knows he cannot bare his
masculinity being questioned). She uses
the past tense to taunt him about his
future and drive the point that she no
longer thinks of him as a man but he has a
chance to prove that he is “more the man”
than she thinks him to be. She plays into
the Jacobean stereotype and present-day
ideas of masculinity, by stating he will only
be a man once committing this brutal act
of violence (such as when Young Sidward
is praised for dying in battle “like a man he
died”. Lady Macbeth wants him not to be
“full of’th’milk of human kindness” and to
have her personality as this will enable
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