Help please!

[*grace*]

Im in year 10 and starting to do english coursework on Macbeth. My teacher told us to study the way Lady Macbeth and Macbeths characters change through the play, honestly i dont have a clue! Can anyone help???

[andaryial]

Hi,
I just read Macbeth today, and then noticed your question. If you haven't found an answer, maybe I can help. I think the character development or change is really interesting. It seems like Macbeth and Lady Macbeth did a complete role reversal. In the beginning Macbeth was really hesitant about murdering Duncan. He couldn't make up his mind and he started seeing things--hallucinations. And his wife basically said 'you're a wimp. If you don't kill him I will--and I'll be happy about it too!' But then, after the deed is done, it's like they trade places as far as their consciences are concerned. She is the one wringing her hands and seeing things (basically going insane), and he is the hard-hearted one now.
Anyway, that's just one simple example that I saw of how they changed throughout the play. Hope that helps! :-)

[Charles Darnay]

Some good points Andaryial, however, I would have to disagree with the "role reversal" theory. Yes, Macbeth is hesitant at the beginning at his wife pressures him into the deed becasue she really wants to be queen. The deed is done and she does go insane (leading to her inevitable death) but Machbeth doesn't really become hard-hearted. He does not kill anyone else (Banquo) out of lust for power, but now simply as a means of survival. he killed one man, to cover his tracks, he must kill another, and another and so forth. So really, he is just as insane as Lady Macbeth (leading to his inevitable death).

So to answer the initial question - their characters change from those of a gracious couple, to a greedy couple to a paranoid couple in attempts to display how corruptive poisonous thoughts can really be (they being the witches' promises).

[andaryial]

I think you are definitely right about them being insane. However, in a round about way, it seems as if he did kill Banquo (and attempted to kill Fleance) because of his lust for power. You are right that the element of survival was there; however, if it was not for his lust for power, he would not be in a position where he would need to survive.
On a different note, I think the witches' role in this story is very interesting. Did Macbeth have designs on the kingship before he heard the witches' prophecy? Obviously he was disappointed that Duncan named one of his (Duncan's) sons as the heir. I wonder what might have happened if Macbeth had not decided to take matters into his own hands. Would the prophecy have come true the way it did, or would there have been another method?

[soye]

After macbeth killed king Duncan, what happened to him.

[Woland]

Hi,
I just read Macbeth today, and then noticed your question. If you haven't found an answer, maybe I can help. I think the character development or change is really interesting. It seems like Macbeth and Lady Macbeth did a complete role reversal. In the beginning Macbeth was really hesitant about murdering Duncan. He couldn't make up his mind and he started seeing things--hallucinations. And his wife basically said 'you're a wimp. If you don't kill him I will--and I'll be happy about it too!' But then, after the deed is done, it's like they trade places as far as their consciences are concerned. She is the one wringing her hands and seeing things (basically going insane), and he is the hard-hearted one now.
Anyway, that's just one simple example that I saw of how they changed throughout the play. Hope that helps! :-)

Fair is foul and foul is fair. Macbeth is the loyal soldier and quickly succumbs to fantasies of power while Lady Macbeth later fails under the strain of her earlier ambitions. She is driven mad with regret and kills herself, while Macbeth fights to the end. I never caught how their respective character development ties into that theme.

[cybergal]

Im in year 10 and starting to do english coursework on Macbeth. My teacher told us to study the way Lady Macbeth and Macbeths characters change through the play, honestly i dont have a clue! Can anyone help???

Hi!

Well, maybe you can try listing the differences in their characters right? Like they develop from the very beginning towards the end of the play. Yeah, always remember to relate your whatever answers to the theme of the play and the issues in Shakespeare's society.

I hope that helps. :)