Lady Macbeth
In the fifth act of William Shakespeare's play, a woman walks through the castle in her sleep. Her hands are stained with invisible blood that she scrubs at endlessly. She speaks words that haunt the English language: Out, damned spot! The report of her death follows this scene and inspires Macbeth to deliver his famous Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow speech. Before this moment, Lady Macbeth was a powerful presence who goaded her husband into killing King Duncan. After the murder, her role diminished as she became an uninvolved spectator to her husband's plotting. She served as a nervous hostess during a banquet dominated by hallucinations. Her descent into madness marked the turning point of the entire tragedy.
Stephanie Chamberlain wrote an article titled Fantasizing Infanticide: Lady Macbeth and the Murdering Mother in Early Modern England. In it, she argues that Lady Macbeth wants power but her power is conditioned on maternity. This status was conflicted in early modern England where mothers were often accused of hurting people placed in their hands. When Lady Macbeth discusses dashing the brains of the babe that sucks her breast, she reflects controversies concerning motherhood images. Jenijoy La Belle took a different view in A Strange Infirmity: Lady Macbeth’s Amenorrhea. She states that Lady Macbeth asks spirits to eliminate basic biological characteristics of womanhood. Specifically, she focuses on menstruation when asking to be unsexed and make thick blood stop up access to remorse. The play contains examples like the strangled babe whose finger is thrown into the witches' cauldron and Macduff's babes who are savagely slaughter'd.
Modern day critic Joanna Levin defines a witch as a woman who succumbs to Satanic force or desires supernatural powers. She refers to Marianne Hester's Lewd Women and Wicked Witches which articulates a feminist interpretation of the witch as empowered. Hester claims witches challenged patriarchal authority and threatened hegemonic sex/gender systems. Literary scholar Jenijoy La Belle assesses how Lady Macbeth conjures spirits similar to the Weird Sisters from the play. Both use metaphoric powers of language to call upon spiritual powers influencing physical events. One case involves workings of the state while the other concerns workings of a woman's body. Lady Macbeth proves herself a defiant nonconformist by manipulating Macbeth into murdering King Duncan despite calling him a coward. She enforces a masculine conception of power only after pleading to be defeminised.
Sarah Siddons, Charlotte Melmoth, Helen Faucit, Ellen Terry, Jeanette Nolan, Vivien Leigh, Isuzu Yamada, Simone Signoret, Vivien Merchant, Glenda Jackson, Francesca Annis, Judith Anderson, Judi Dench, Renee O'Connor, Helen McCrory, Keeley Hawes, Alex Kingston, Reshmi Sen, Marion Cotillard, Hannah Taylor-Gordon, Frances McDormand, Tabu, Ruth Negga, Saoirse Ronan, and Valene Kane have all played this role over centuries. In 2013, Alex Kingston starred as Lady Macbeth opposite Kenneth Branagh in an adaptation performed at the Manchester Festival before transferring to New York for limited engagement in 2014. Maura Tierney portrayed a modernized version in the satirical film Scotland PA released in 2001. Pegasus Books published The Tragedy of Macbeth Part II by Noah Lukeman in 2009 which endeavoured to resolve loose ends including her reference to having had a child from a previous marriage.
Marion Cotillard played the character in Justin Kurzel's film adaptation opposite Michael Fassbender as Macbeth. Frances McDormand appeared in the 2021 film The Tragedy of Macbeth directed by Joel Coen who was making his first film without brother Ethan Coen. She acted opposite Denzel Washington playing Macbeth. In the 2022 Broadway revival directed by Sam Gold, Ruth Negga played Lady Macbeth opposite Daniel Craig. Tabu portrayed the character in the Indian movie Maqbool by director Vishal Bharadwaj which adapted Macbeth with a twist making the character wife of King Duncan played by Pankaj Kapur. The adulterous relationship between Macbeth and Abbaji is central to this version where Irrfan Khan plays Macbeth.
During Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign for American presidency, Daniel Wattenberg wrote an August 1992 article titled The Lady Macbeth of Little Rock comparing Hillary Clinton to Shakespeare's famous character. Julia Gillard was compared to Lady Macbeth after she ousted Kevin Rudd as Prime Minister of Australia in June 2010. Most cited parallels included that Gillard was red-haired and deliberately barren while the event occurred late in evening like King Duncan's murder. Jill Biden was compared to Lady Macbeth after being adamant about her husband staying in the 2024 presidential election following debate performance concerns. Kim Keon-hee has been compared to Lady Macbeth after being accused of being main culprit behind 2024 martial law crisis affecting South Korea's President Yoon Suk-yeol. Gisele Barreto Fetterman was compared to Lady Macbeth for alleged manipulation of husband John Fetterman by right wing pundits.
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Common questions
What happens to Lady Macbeth in the fifth act of William Shakespeare's play?
Lady Macbeth walks through the castle in her sleep while scrubbing invisible blood from her hands. Her death follows this scene and inspires Macbeth to deliver his famous Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow speech.
How does Stephanie Chamberlain interpret Lady Macbeth's desire for power in early modern England?
Stephanie Chamberlain argues that Lady Macbeth wants power but her power is conditioned on maternity. This status was conflicted in early modern England where mothers were often accused of hurting people placed in their hands.
Which actresses have played Lady Macbeth over centuries according to the script text?
Sarah Siddons, Charlotte Melmoth, Helen Faucit, Ellen Terry, Jeanette Nolan, Vivien Leigh, Isuzu Yamada, Simone Signoret, Vivien Merchant, Glenda Jackson, Francesca Annis, Judith Anderson, Judi Dench, Renee O'Connor, Helen McCrory, Keeley Hawes, Alex Kingston, Reshmi Sen, Marion Cotillard, Hannah Taylor-Gordon, Frances McDormand, Tabu, Ruth Negga, Saoirse Ronan, and Valene Kane have all played this role over centuries.
Who portrayed Lady Macbeth in the 2021 film The Tragedy of Macbeth directed by Joel Coen?
Frances McDormand appeared as Lady Macbeth in the 2021 film The Tragedy of Macbeth directed by Joel Coen who was making his first film without brother Ethan Coen. She acted opposite Denzel Washington playing Macbeth.
How was Hillary Clinton compared to Lady Macbeth during Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign for American presidency?
Daniel Wattenberg wrote an August 1992 article titled The Lady Macbeth of Little Rock comparing Hillary Clinton to Shakespeare's famous character.