Lady Macbeth’s language in Act 5 Scene1 and Act 5 Scene 1 Essay

Ambitious, enthusiastic and assertive are merely few of the words that describe Lady Macbeth, a woman so controlling she convince her husband to murder the king. She carefully plans it out, but her obsession leads to nightmares, and further on a brutal suicide. The Act 1 scene 5 opens with Lady Macbeth, reading out a letter sent to her from her husband, regarding the encounter he had with the three witches and what they had said about the prophecies, and that he would become king. She then begins her first soliloquy, this doesn’t just echo the witches prediction but also suggests how certain she is that the prophecies will come true ‘Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be/ what thou art promised.'(Lines 14-15) She shows signs of her exceptional language from the start, and she speaks in blank verse, she emphasizes her confidence and sense of purpose in carrying out the murder by using iambic pentameters ‘That I may pour my spirits in thine ear’ (line 25) she starts to build up her control and self-confidence, becoming so powerful she is more ambitious than her husband, the warrior of a great a army, but this is mainly because he is to soft-hearted, she uses the breast-feeding metaphor to describe this ‘too full of the milk of human kindness,'(line 16) This in contrast to her wish that she be the man that Macbeth isn’t, so that she could be in complete control, as the man is the one who is mainly in control, ‘unsex me here,’.(line 40) To emphasize her control of language and thought she uses balanced phrases between the lines ‘May read strange matters to beguile.'(Line 26) She is also easily able to change her state of mind that is extremely compatible depending on the situation she is in. Her double sided nature can switch easily can switch easily, obviously this can be seen by the audience but isn’t visible to the other characters. When the messenger enters the room, Lady Macbeth is still speaking of her plans on murdering King Duncan, and to avoid him understanding what she is saying she uses coded language and speaks in riddles, this also for fear that she is overheard and someone realizes what she is conjuring up for the future, ‘to catch the nearest way,'(line 17) While the messenger remains in the room the change in her character and her language is yet again visible, she stops using ostentatious and sophisticated words, and instead returns to her ordinary self . Another incident which took place while the messenger was in the room, was when she got angry, this was mainly because she feared that she wouldn’t have enough time to prepare and fully plan out the rest of the murder ‘Thou art mad to say it’ (line 31) Once again proving her ability to switch focus especially at the right time, ‘what is your tidings?'(Line 29) This also suggests how she is over powering the messenger and proving how authoritative she is. Her prevailing nature becomes so controlling that even tries dominating the evil spirits as she calls out for them ‘come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts!'(Lines 39-40) And to dominating Macbeth she uses persuasive flattery ‘Great Glamis! Worthy Cawdor!'(Line 53) And to demonstrate the control she has, not only over her husband but also over the entire situation, she uses imperatives, ‘look like the innocent flower’ (line 64) she has become her own woman and fully responsible over her every action, no longer does she need anyone to control her, on the contrary, she will control them, and she has already done so over her husband. She can also vary the tone and pace of her language, the dark side that slowly started devouring her after she called for the evil spirits soon takes effect on Lady Macbeth, she uses fricatives to expose this, they are all words that begin with the hard C sound, and this is how she establishes her second soliloquy. She uses the fricatives mainly so that it would sound as if the raven himself was speaking, Creaks, Come, Crown, Cruelty, etc†¦. Her role in the murder becomes so much more superior to that of her husband. Throughout the scene she enlightens us with her dominance and solid control, this is mainly conveyed through the way she speaks so much more than Macbeth, and he is hardly given a chance to speak, but this also shows how she is scheming the murder ‘and you shall put/ This night’s great business into my dispatch’ (line 67) Her highly elaborated and sophisticated language though out the scene is ended with a rhyming couplet, this emphasizes on the great reward which will soon belong to them. For them to become King and Queen ‘which shall to all our nights and days to come, Give solely sovereign sway and masterdom’ (lines 68-69) Over all though out Act 1 scene 5 she shows great infatuation onto carrying out the massacre, the words that she applies into her language are imposing and dignified, to achieve utmost control, which was the basis for her success over persuading Macbeth into committing the murder. The built up to Act 5 Scene 1 is tense and the pressure starts to mount as Macbeth begins to face truth of what is going to happen, but he faces reality through fatality, and after contemplating what he must do, he tells his wife that he will not carry out the murder ‘we will proceed no further in this business’ but to his displeasure, he is once again persuaded to perform the murder execution. The witches also tell Banquo of the fortune he is to achieve, and that his offspring are to become kings. He murdered Duncan in order to make the witches prophecy to come true, but now he plots to murder Banquo and Fleance so that witches promise to Banquo will not come true. Lady Macbeth suffers from a guilty conscience, despite being the main instigator of the murder. The scene begins with her walking in her sleep, and dreams that she and her husband are murdering King Duncan. The difference in her language, from Act 1 Scene 5 can be recognized instantly, you can tell this as she speaks in prose ‘Yet here’s a spot.'(Line 31) The sophisticated vocabulary and grammar are no longer a custom of Lady Macbeth, it is replaced by language which is almost of a childlike simplicity ‘one, two, why, then it’s time to do it’ (line 34) This scene mainly conveys the manifestation of her guilt and how badly she feels about bringing the plan of the murder to this extent. This pushes her limits and certain actions question her sanity, she once again speaks in a child like manner ‘The Thane of Fife had a wife'(line 41). Previously, she was in total control, but now the burden has become too much, she has become a broken woman, this mainly due to the fact that she had to play the role of the man, this can be proved as on several occasions she has had to play this role, for example, when she had to disguise the visions Macbeth was seeing after the death of Banquo. The disturbances in her mind have made her think without order ‘hell is murky! Fie my Lord fie!'(Line 35) and remembrance of the past as she contemplates on what had happened ‘here’s the smell of blood still’ (line 48). As Macbeth and Duncan are two characters who have been the main subjects of Lady Macbeth’s mind, she relieves past conversations that took place (Macbeth talking to King Duncan), ‘To bed, to bed: there’s knocking at the gate’ (line 63). One of the things that she mentioned in her sleep was concerning the ghost of Banquo ‘I tell you again, Banquo’s buried, he cannot come out on’s grave’ (lines 60-61), this was the subject of a past conversation with her husband. The manifestation of her guilt soon becomes an obsession, still in her sleep and unaware of what she is saying and totally senseless. She is still able to speak about reality and what has been going on, she is also able to release her true emotions and express how blameworthy she feels ‘would these hands never be clean?'(Line 42) As Lady Macbeth is in a deranged state of mind, the excuse that she was asleep is valid enough to cover up and hide what she had said throughout the entire period that she was sleep walking ‘To bed, to bed, to bed’ (line 65). Lady Macbeth’s great ability to switch focus, use of impressive words, her controlling and convincing taunts and her authoritative state of mind, somehow fall to pieces, she turns into a broken woman. The tale of Lady Macbeth unfortunately ends tragically, her plans turn to dust, and her life ends in a brutal suicide. As for her husband Macbeth, despite becoming King his rein didn’t last, and he was killed during a battle and Malcolm became king.