Relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth

Macbeth, a story written by William Shakespeare (1564-1616) is a tale of violence, corruption, and deception. Macbeth and his wife, Lady Macbeth, are at the center of all this, with both in a relationship. That relationship is one of the play's functions, creating just about all the actions, emotions, moods, attitudes, and feelings. As the play continues, their relationship dramatically changes because of how each manages their feelings after the murder of King Duncan.

Macbeth underwent gloom and despair because he wishes to kill Duncan, the Scottish king, not minding the possible consequences. After receiving a message from the Weird Sisters, Macbeth becomes overcome with greed and avarice. These sisters would go on to lead Macbeth to his death because of overconfidence. Macbeth decided to kill King Duncan and assumes the throne, supported by the prophecy and his wife, Lady Macbeth. Macbeth's relationship with Lady Macbeth is a complicated relationship that holds several differences and similarities throughout the story.

Macbeth and Lady Macbeth were close at the start of the play. For instance, when he notified her in a letter about the prophecies of the witches, he referred to her as "my dearest partner in greatness." Lady Macbeth has a powerful thirst for power and the ridicule and coercion that prompted Macbeth to kill King Duncan all came from her.

In the play, Macbeth first appeared when he met the Weird Sisters. The witches gave three prophecies to Macbeth: that he would finally become King and Thane of Cawdor, and that after Macbeth the son of Banquo, Fleance, will become King. Fearful of Malcolm, as King Duncan's next in line to inherit the throne, Macbeth pops up with an evil plot to kill the king for the throne. Macbeth displays self-indulgence and inhumanity by wanting the crown only for himself. He's ready to do whatever it takes to get him powerful, including killing the king. Although, on the day that Macbeth meant to kill Duncan, he begins to have hesitations and remorse, and finally said, "If it were done when 'tis has done, then 'twere well it were done quickly. If th’ assassination could trammel up the consequence and catch with his surcease success, that but this blow might be the be-all and the end-all here, but here, upon this bank and shoal of time, we’d jump the life to come”.

Macbeth is having trouble deciding if to murder Duncan, and for his thoughts, he appeared guilty. Macbeth tells himself there will be no problem if the king's assassination were that simple and swift. Once Macbeth has accomplished the crime, he starts to worry about the catastrophic results, both current and future. Yet if he were ever sure that everything would go exactly right, he would jeopardize these consequences. Then Macbeth decided to tell his wife, Lady Macbeth, who was poisoning his mind with the murder plot that he has no more intention of killing King Duncan. Astounded by this decision, Lady Macbeth replies, “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’ th’ adage?” This shows how insidious and ambitious the personality of Lady Macbeth is in contrast to her continuously unwilling husband. In declaring him a coward, she attacks the integrity and bravery of Macbeth. Lady Macbeth also criticizes him for moving from “I would” to “I dare not”. She hurts him by stating he's behaving like a cat that tries to eat fish but doesn't want to wet his feet. Lady Macbeth finally convinced him to assassinate King Duncan by mocking his personality. This gave the audience a feeling that Macbeth appears to be quickly swayed, which makes him feel weak, and Lady Macbeth appears to be in charge. When plotting to kill King Duncan, both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth share a close connection as partners in crime.

Following King Duncan's assassination, both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth almost started to trade places. Macbeth understands that because two parts of the prophecy of the witches had come to fruition, he felt the need to kill Banquo and his son because they are a threat to his position as king, and then prevent the final part of the prophecy from coming true. In a dialogue with the killers, Macbeth quietly says “The moment on ’t, for ’t must be done tonight and something from the palace; always thought that I require a clearness. And with him…Fleance, his son that keeps him company, whose absence is no less material to me than is his father's must embrace the fate of that dark hour". Macbeth hires murders for the murder of Banquo and Fleance, his son. He wants to kill Banquo far off from his castle so it would look like a clean assassination. Like Lady Macbeth before, Macbeth was slowly becoming too ambitious and fearless, but as time goes by, Macbeth would become also assured, resulting only in his downfall.

On the other hand, not long after the assassination of King Duncan, Lady Macbeth began to feel guilty for her bad decisions. She started questioning herself and what her actions have resulted in and reconsidering everything she had done. Hesitantly, Lady Macbeth says, “Nought’s had, all’s spent, where our desire is not without content.” ‘Tis safer to be that which we destroy than by destruction dwell in doubtful joy”. Lady Macbeth felt that just by murdering Duncan, nothing had been accomplished. Even though she and her husband got what they desperately desired, it wasn't worth it because they couldn't be satisfied with it. She thinks it's easier to be dead than living overwhelmed by fear and guilt of the possible consequences that could arise. Overall, the effects of the killing gradually worsened and hurt the relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth as both of them were isolated from each other.

Close to the end of the play, Macbeth's overconfidence caused his fall from the throne as it's his incapacity, while Lady Macbeth becomes overwhelmed by guilt and disappointment forcing her to throw in the towel. The relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth is a complex one in which they swap roles ironically all through the play. The authoritative and ambitious one in the early part of the play was Lady Macbeth, while Macbeth felt uncertainty and guilt. The turning point, however, was when Macbeth killed King Duncan. Macbeth's worry and guilt over the death of Duncan spurred him to commit more crimes to secure his kingly power. His excessive trust in the witches' prophecies eventually leads to his downfall and those whom he has oppressed kill and overthrow him. In the meantime, Lady Macbeth soaked in fear, guilt, and lunacy that she optionally became delusional and demented. She is worried that she will be forever holding to her guilt regarding her actions and the repercussions that may happen in the future. Finally, she can no longer cope with the pressure and so decides to commit suicide.