question-oodle one

Mrs. Macbeth

I have to admit I do feel bad for Lady Macbeth as I don't think it was ever her intention to murder so many people. Even after Duncan's death she mentions to Macbeth that "these deeds must not be thought after these ways; so, it will make us mad." As if she realizes the utter consequence of what she is getting herself into yet her passion for fulfilling what has been told to her husband overpowers her better judgement. I believe her true mistake in this instance is how she only thinks about what seems good at the time, and not how it will make her feel in time. She wants nothing but happiness for Macbeth, yet she goes beyond even her own conscience in the midst of it. She uses the excuse of him being less than a man or being a coward if he were to not go through with the act. She tells him that in being a coward he is "...letting 'I dare not' wait upon 'I would,' like the poor cat i' th' adage..."! In these words she appears empowered against him, but I think she is just as weak as she is in the end of the play. It is only when Macbeth kills more and more innocent people and the guilt of what she has done finally sinks in that Lady Macbeth's character evolves to a more vulnerable one. So, yes I do feel sorry for Lady Macbeth and her inability to cope with what has been done in her name.