Macbeth Vs Lady Macbeth

1. Macbeth's and Lady Macbeth's relationship changes throughout the course of the play. In the beginning we see Lady Macbeth playing the more superior, more dominating role of the two. She lays all the plans and all Macbeth has to do is obey her commands. She comes across as a woman, who is persuasive and manipulative. Macbeth on the other hand is fickle-minded and unsure. We discover that the man, who is praised so highly by the King and the general public, is actually weak and submissive man.

However, towards the end of the play, Lady Macbeth, comes across as one who has succumbed to her guilt and is paying the price sub-consciously by taking to somnambulism. She takes responsibility for the murders of Duncan, Banquo and Macduff's wife and children. She discovers that nothing that she does could rid her off her guilt, by admitting that even the 'sweet-smelling erfumes of Arabia' would not be able to remove the stench of blood from her 'little hand'. She now takes up the role of the weak, submissive partner in the relationship, who is unsure of herself and very frightened of the future. Macbeth, on the other hand, now makes all his decisions by himself, and reaches the extent whereto he does not even bother to inform his wife of his plans. He gains false confidence from the witches second predictions and builds castles in the air. He becomes a tyrant and a man, despised and hated by his public. He becomes 'insane' and goes out of control.