In the beginning of Macbeth, namesake Macbeth and his wife, who throughout the play is referred to as Lady Macbeth, have a relationship based on trust. By the end of the tragedy, their relationship has turned into a rotten corpse of what once was beautiful. In Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, the reader is shown that throughout the introduction of deceit, lies, and murder, a flourishing relationship can deteriorate rapidly. In this essay, I highlight examples from throughout the entirety of the play that show the disintegration of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s relationship.
The first representation of their once-trustworthy relationship was during Act I, Scene V. During this scene Lady Macbeth received and reads the letter sent to her from her husband, where he writes about the prophecies given to him by witches. Macbeth professes his love for his wife multiple times throughout this scene, even referring to her as his “dearest partner in greatness” (I, V, 11). Lady Macbeth is ecstatic about the news she receives that her husband is prophesied to take over the throne.
You can tell from just the first few scenes in Act I that Macbeth and his wife can confide in each other about everything. Clearly, Shakespeare’s representation of Macbeth and Lady…show more content… Macbeth and his wife plan a banquet, to which Banquo was invited to. Macbeth covers up the upcoming murder by telling his wife to “present him eminence, both with eye and tongue” (III, II, 30-31). By telling his wife to be exceptionally charming to Banquo, Macbeth is deceiving both his wife and the general public about Banquo’s imminent murder. Macbeth’s lie to his wife represents that he is beginning to commit heinous crimes on his own--the crimes that he would have had no interest in if it weren’t for his wife pushing him towards them in the beginning of the