Macbeth, a tragedy written by Shakespeare, follows the successes and eventual downfall of Macbeth, Thane of Glamis and of Cawdor. Macbeth and his wife, Lady Macbeth, struggle with the effects of secrecy as Macbeth makes poor decisions to ensure his power in Scotland. Lady Macbeth must conceal the secrets that she and Macbeth are keeping, and in doing so, her personality changes drastically. From being cold-hearted and eager to kill, Lady Macbeth quickly changes into a distraught, fearful person who
on the other hand, thought otherwise. She showed her drive, determination and Macbeth’s lacking when she devised the plot to murder King Duncan. Lady Macbeth felt that her husband was a ‘coward’ and too full of “th’milk of human kindness” to take the required steps to make himself King. (Shakespeare 1.5. 15-20). Furthermore the quote also explicates that Lady Macbeth not only devised the plot but also minimised Macbeth’s actual involvement. Thus Lady Macbeth did not have faith that her husband would
prophecy before Oedipus, she pleads with him “…if you care for your own life,/Don’t seek it! I am sick, and that’s enough!” (Sophocles 40), trying to protect him from figuring out the unfortunate truth. Jocasta is a mother figure for Oedipus, which is ironic because in actuality, Jocasta is Oedipus' mother. Like a mother, Jocasta tries to calm down Oedipus when he threatens, “Evil, in evil, he may pine and die” (12). His ignorance for finding the truth is excessive. Hiding the truth from her husband,
causing him to become a merciless killer. However, throughout the play you can see that Lady Macbeth was very scared and regretful after aiding in the murders of King Duncan and Banquo. This caused her to go into PTSD as well as OCD. This is a bit ironic because in the beginning of the play, Lady Macbeth was the one who decided to go through with murder leaving Macbeth skeptical and fearful to do it. However, it ends up switching because Lady Macbeth ends up scared and terrified while Macbeth does