Theme of Treachery and Illuminates in The Macbeth

A villain is defined as a cruel or malicious person who deliberately harms and/or breaks laws to get what he or she wants. In William Shakespeare's play, Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is portrayed as a tenacious, ambitious and independent female lead, eager to do whatever it takes to put herself in positions of power and control. Shakespeare at first depicts Lady Macbeth as a villain but she is then contorted to redefine the concept of a Villain- From there, Lady Macbeth is gradually reconstructed to be portrayed as a victim, as opposed to a classic villain. From the beginning- Lady Macbeth is successful in her attempts to manipulate and exploit her husband, establishing them both in a position of power but as the play continues, it becomes clear that it is Macbeth who is driving the plot forward and triggering the development of the play. Lady Macbeth is then morphed into a victim, realizing what she has done and obsessing over intense guilt and remorse, essentially victimizing herself in the process, concluding her conversion from villain to victim.

Shakespeare puts forward the theme of manipulation and highlights how this influences one's lust for power, persuading other's moral ideas and deteriorating integrity in order to receive what they want. Lady Macbeth's immoral actions of manipulating Macbeth radiates villainous intentions which leads to the audience's perceived view of Lady Macbeth to skew towards a more nefarious characterization. During the Jacobean era, the portrayal of a woman was especially clear-cut and transparent- Women had little to no rights at all and were considered to be subordinate to men, manifesting a more nurturing and gentle exterior. However, through Lady Macbeth's manipulative actions and behaviours, we see a less defined and the line between feminine and masculine, blurring what would be considered a typical Jacobean woman. Shakespeare initially portrays Lady Macbeth as an ambitious, independent woman who is prepared to do whatever it takes to obtain power and control, adopting a more villainous persona and overall nefarious charm to the character.

Quench her lust for power for personal gain. Lady Macbeth resorts to her successful attempt at manipulation to convince her husband to commit regicide- 'When you durst do it' she proclaims, 'then you were a man' exemplifying Lady Macbeth's influence over her husband, bringing into question his masculinity and manhood as a way to discredit him. Lady Macbeth showcases her control over her husband, willing to influence him to kill King Duncan in order to position themselves both in power and control demonstrating her constrictive villainous tendencies nearing the start of the play. Once Macbeth decides to halt the plan on the assassination of King Duncan, Lady Macbeth boasts her masculinity while additionally bringing Macbeth's into question. Lady Macbeth rejects the stereotypical sweet-tempered traits of her sex and favours masculine like qualities of blood lust and power, as well as villainy and treachery- Lady Macbeth appeals to the spirits to 'unsex me [her] here' highlighting how she desires to remove her femininity and adopt a gender-fluid like the concept. Lady Macbeth also showcases her depravity insisting she would 'dash'd the brains out' of her baby if she had promised to do so, criticizing why Macbeth is having cold feet about the slaughter of King Duncan which illuminates her nefarious nature nearing the start of the play. Lady Macbeth's deceptive and villainous qualities show through when discussing the plan to execute King Duncan. Lady Macbeth is tempting Macbeth to 'look like the innocent flower' hiding his ambition which is the 'serpent under't'. This exemplifies how Lady Macbeth plans for Macbeth to look innocent when Duncan is killed, so no one suspects that he committed regicide. Symbolically, a flower represents purity and innocents however, the serpent represents evil contentions and even Satan, linked to the biblical story of the Garden of Eden. This also represents how Lady Macbeth is the brains behind the regicide of King Duncan, concocting the plan and convincing her husband to see it through to put them in a position of power and claim the throne. Lady Macbeth showcases how she influences her husband into regicide, illuminating her nefarious acts and how this affects the play's events. Conclusively, Lady Macbeth is portrayed as the villain at the start of the play, manipulating her husband by questioning his masculinity and influencing him to pursue the throne. Shakespeare demonstrates Lady Macbeth's nefarious and villainous characteristics through her exploitation of her husband whom she influences to assassinate the King, putting her in a position of power and control.

Shakespeare introduced the theme of treachery and illuminates how this skews one's perceived judgement on moral and immoral actions leading to catastrophic reverberations. Although Lady Macbeth is perceived to manipulate Macbeth and generate the development within the play- In reality, it was Macbeth who truly committed these heinous acts prompting the consequences central characters will inevitably encounter. During the Jacobean era, attempted regicide or conspiracy of regicide was punishable by high treason. Macbeth is the one who committed these treacherous acts would be held responsible and punishable for this distorting the audience's vision on who the real villain was. Shakespeare now showcases how Macbeth's deceptive and treacherous actions exceed Lady Macbeth's initial manipulation, leading to Macbeth to be seen as the more nefarious character rather than his wife. After Lady Macbeth's persistent persuading, Macbeth finally agrees to go through with the homicide of King Duncan. Lady Macbeth is sure this is the fastest way to the throne, and Macbeth agrees- But Macbeth's 'False face must hide' the secret plans that his 'false heart doth know'. This highlights how they must act surprised and shocked after Duncan's death and rise no suspicion that it was really Macbeth who killed the King. This showcases how in reality it is Macbeth who is committing these heinous acts, no matter who is influencing him to do this, exemplifying how Macbeth transitions to become the nefarious and villainous character.

After Macbeth decides to execute King Duncan, he speaks his mind to the audience revealing his fears and paranoia around the regicide but persists and eventually kills the King. Macbeth implies he hears a 'summon', almost forcing him to commit the regicide- 'Hear it not, Duncan' showcasing the death of the King and how Macbeth's fate has been sealed in committing the regicide at the end of his soliloquy. Shakespeare also suggests that Macbeth desires to assassinate King Duncan and doesn't care if he's going 'to heaven or to hell' illuminating how Macbeth will kill the king no matter what, showcasing his immoral intentions and nefarious acts. Macbeth is portrayed now as the villain, being the one who actually killed Duncan even though his wife persuaded him to do so. Once Macbeth decides to kill the king, he starts to hallucinate blood and the dagger he may use to commit his regicide- The dagger is imaginary as a product of Macbeth's paranoia. Macbeth starts to imagine a dagger, 'The handle toward my [his] hand' demonstrating how Macbeth plans to undertake the task of executing King Duncan, reinforcing how he is the real nefarious and villainous character of the play. Through the blood motif, the dagger symbolizes Macbeth's blood lust and desire for power and control through his ambition and how this would be obtained by him through the assassination of King Duncan. Shakespeare utilizes these instruments as a way to convey the guilt and paranoia Macbeth is experiencing and will experience through the rest of the play because of King Duncan's murder, further emphasising how Macbeth is terrified but slays Duncan anyway. Ultimately, Lady Macbeth is portrayed as the villain, to begin with, but through Macbeth's ambition and drive to kill the King, he now becomes the real villain of the play- conducting the regicide and catapulting himself into dire consequences. In reality, it was Macbeth who slew King Duncan which generated the developments through the play.

Shakespeare puts forward the theme of remorse and guilt and highlights how once one realizes what they have done, it triggers obsessive fixation on guilt and remorse leading to corruption and insanity. Even though Lady Macbeth was displayed as manipulative in exploiting her husband, she eventually realizes her actions, cripples and breaks down essentially victimizing herself and causing the audience to feel sympathy for her unexpected downfall. During the Jacobean era, a typical woman would have feminine characteristic and be submissive and conservative in favour of men. Lady Macbeth directly challenges this with her tenacious and ambitious nature, devoid of feminine characteristics, until she has processed her actions in influencing Macbeth into killing the king which corrupted her and reverted her into a more submissive and victim like character. Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth's downward spiral into insanity through her obsessive guilt and paranoia caused by the realization of her actions leading to her ultimate downfall, being her suicide. After the regicide of King Duncan, Macduff reports back to Macbeth and Lady Macbeth about the murder of the King. Upon the discussion of Duncan's death, Lady Macbeth 'pretends' to faint- 'Help me hence, ho!', illustrates how Lady Macbeth 'pretends' to faint to distract everyone from Macbeth's apprehensive behaviours utilizing feminine stereotypes to shift suspicion off Macbeth. However, Lady Macbeth may have also fainted because of the shock from her husband continuing the plan of assassinations. If Lady Macbeth's faint was real, it would suggest her moment of realization has just hit her, overwhelmed by Macbeth's actions to kill King Duncan. Lady Macbeth is now unwinding in her realization of her actions and is slowly descending into insanity and paranoia during her conversation with the doctor. Lady Macbeth is in shambles, stating that 'The Thane of Fife had a wife' and questioning 'Where is she now?' Showcasing her mental and emotional instability and highlighting her downfall caused by the recognition of her actions. This is instrumental in examining the feminine gender roles in the play- Nearing the start of the play, Lady Macbeth was a strong and independent ambitious character but this has contorted and been stripped into passive, guilt-ridden and subordinate character. By this, Shakespeare reinforces the gender characteristics their society is based upon and showcases the standards of what a woman or a man should be. Lady Macbeth continues to sink into madness, hallucinating blood which she claimed: 'a little water' could clean you of. Lady Macbeth unravels and presents her inner thoughts, highlighting 'the smell of blood still [on her hands]' which 'all the perfumes of Arabia' would be rendered ineffective against, exemplifying the hyperbole and exaggeration through her mind obsessively returning to this scene. Through the motif of blood, Lady Macbeth's guilt is showcased and her descent into paranoia and madness becomes deeply apparent. Lady Macbeth's hallucination of blood reflects her mental and emotional state, overwhelmed with guilt and paranoia. Lady Macbeth's 'Oh! Oh! Oh!' reinforces the theme of guilt and enhances Lady Macbeth's descendance into insanity and guilt. Lady Macbeth has now garnished a full transformation from malicious villain to a precarious, mentally unstable victim through her recognition of her actions. Lady Macbeth's realization of her actions slowly descent her into insanity and paranoia, becoming riddled with guilt eventually leading to her downfall being her inevitable suicide.

Shakespeare showcases Lady Macbeth's transition from a dominant and ambitious nefarious female lead into a subordinate and passive typical Jacobean female character. At first, Lady Macbeth is portrayed to be the villainous character but, it becomes apparent that in reality, it is Macbeth who is the nefarious character. Lady Macbeth then contorts herself into a submissive traditional Jacobean female through her recognition as to what she has done essentially victimizing herself and bring her development to a close. Shakespeare demonstrates how a villainous character may not be as nefarious as once thought, highlighting how the concept of a villain can distort one's vision of a character.