Macbeth Vs. Lady Macbeth

One of the most difficult questions to ask yourself is: Who actually is more foul, Macbeth or Lady Macbeth? And the answer, yet doubted by some, is Macbeth. He shows no regret for what he had done by the end of the play. Macbeth murders his way up to power, even killing his best friend Banquo. It takes a very selfish man to take the life of a best friend, no matter how big the prize was. For Macbeth, the prize was countless days of worrying, wondering what he had to do next to cover his tracks and keep his power.

"Fair is foul and foul is fair." [Act I, Scene i] This quote represents the characteristics of Macbeth and his wife Lady Macbeth. In the beginning of the play, Lady Macbeth is the foul, greedy woman who tries to convince her husband to commit murder to become king. She manipulates him into killing the King, sparking the many murders to follow this event. After this is done, Lady Macbeth softens up and feels remorse for what has been done. On the other hand, Macbeth truly does not feel bad at all, and almost seems pleased to kill the others to cover up his tracks and to stay in power. This quote shows how Macbeth turned into Lady Macbeth, from fair to foul.

"Macbeth has no feeling for others, except envy, a common middle-class trait." [McCarthy]

This proves that Macbeth is fouler than Lady Macbeth because he simply doesn't have feeling for others. He is jealous of others that are better than him, ones with more power or an upper hand. "He is never contrite or remorseful." [McCarthy] Macbeth has no respect for the lives of others, as long as he gets what he wants, no matter what it takes. If someone is going to take another's life, they should at least feel sorry and plead for forgiveness. Macbeth just moves on, worrying about his next challenge of his power.

"What, will these hands ne'er be clean?" [Act V, Scene i] This quote was said by Lady Macbeth to the doctor towards the close of the play. What she means by this is will this mess ever be over; will she be rinsed of all this worry and crime? She, unlike Macbeth, feels very bad for what she and her husband have done. Lady Macbeth grows a great sense of guilt and if she could turn back the hands of time, she would not have manipulated her husband into killing Duncan. She feels extremely sorry for what has been done,