It is true, according to Stallybrass’s assertion, that Lady Macbeth replaces the witches in the Shakespeare play Macbeth. Even though she does not replace the witches in literal sense, however, she serves characters the witches embody. In the play, Lady Macbeth personifies the character of the supernatural presence of the witches when they are off the stage. She influences the actions and decisions of Macbeth, her ambitions and manipulative nature exploits Macbeth weakness and fuel his desire for power, this is a sign of supernatural forces that drives Macbeth to Kill. The lady Macbeth in the play manifests through the theme of manipulation, moral corruption, and controlling character. This essay will examine the character Lady Macbeth based on the what Stallybrass says “it is important to note the shift of emphasis when Lady Macbeth ‘replaces’ the witches” (p.197)
Lady Macbeth’s role in witchcraft in the play is complex and multifaceted. His roles has contributed to the fall of Macbeth. She is more ruthless than Macbeth, and as a witches plants a seed of evil ambition in Macbeth mind, Lady Macbeth takes over the seed and cultivates into becoming a full blow evil. In Act 1 Scene 5, with Lady Macbeth driven too greedy for power, she now convinces Macbeth, the husband, to Kill King Duncan and take over the power. She claims that Macbeth must kill the King Duncan to fulfill the prophecy of the witches and that he is destined to be the king. He pushes the husband into committing murder despite him hesitating to murder the innocent King. Macbeth hesitation to murder is questioned by Lady Macbeth on his manhood, this makes him feel intimidated by his wife and pushes him to kill to prove himself as a man to his wife. Lady Macbeth boldly convinces his husband to murder the King and practically gives him guidance on how to do it. Lady Macbeth even wished she could have done it herself if she was a man. Even immediately after the act, she comforts Macbeth, not feeling guilty about his act, and gives him emotional support.
Besides, she holds the supernatural powers of the witches. In the play she is considered as the fourth witch. She is aware of the future and she fights to fulfill what the witches had started in the mind of Macbeth. She seems to understand Macbeth more and drives him to kill without his wish. This comes after they meet the three witches returning from the battle, and their wish is to kill the king. Lady Macbeth, with the greed to meet the demands of the witches in exchange for the promise from the witches, manipulates the husband to kill on his behalf. He is willing to commit any act to achieve her goals. She is willing to anything within her power and serves as an instrument that brings change in the future. Her influence on Macbeth is undeniable, and she is the primary driving force behind Macbeth, and as Macbeth turns into a tyrant, it is attributed to Lady Macbeth’s foundation. Macbeth doubts the feminine nature of their wife, Lady Macbeth, with her character overriding his objections against the evils. Macbeth sees his wife as a masculine soul inhabited in the human body. Traditionally, masculinity is linked to power and violence, contrary to Lady Macbeth’s feminine character.
Just like other witches, Lady Macbeth becomes a symbol of evil in the play. Traditionally, it is believed the witches are associated with the massive destruction, violence and darkness. Lady Macbeth is the living human personified with the qualities of witches. She is ruthless and ready to do anything to achieve her goals despite the cost. The struggle of evil and goo within Macbeth soul ended by Lady Macbeth directing him to evil in the hope of fulfilling the witches’ prophecies. The three witches in the play seems to work in the same supernatural power with Lady Macbeth, because she is willing to do anything to satisfy the ambition of the witches. Her ambitions leads to tragic outcome after she makes a choice to kill the King without having the clear understanding why the witches wanted him dead. She is a crafty woman who manipulates to fulfill his supposedly male ambitions of power. She is overwhelmed with power, particularly in the kingship; even though she succeeds in killing the king, her ambitions gradually drive her into madness, and she eventually hangs herself out guilty of murder. Lady Macbeth, despite her perceived masculine nature in the feminine body, was not able to deal with the legacy of her crime, which sent her to intentional death.
Lady Macbeth is a woman with moral corruption. Even though the witches had made a prophecy, it was an individual choice to walk in the same path, and in this case, Lady Macbeth intentionally decided to walk and act in alignment with their desire for power and kingship. In the act of killing the king, In Act 1 scene 7, she drugs the King Duncan guards and makes all the arrangement on how the king will be killed without his knowledge and using Macbeth as the frontline to murder. The act was successfully done, and he covered up the story by smearing the blood of King Duncan’s guards on their faces in act 2, Scene 2. He covers the murder case to appear the guards being the first suspect of the crime of killing the king. This is the corrupt morals of the society in which he has to kill other innocent people to reach to the king. Her morality of motherhood is questionable with the destructive she did to get this husband mount on the kinship power. Lady Macbeth seems to have unchecked ambition, and they do not weigh the consequences of her ambition, which destroys her later. She could withstand the consequences of her ambitions, which drove her to death.
In Act 3 Scene 2, when Macbeth is haunted by the ghost of Banquo, she comforts him and tells him he needs to be more ruthless in order to achieve his desired goals. It is clear that he is the driving force behind Macbeth’s transformation.
In the play, she becomes guilty of her action, which drives her into madness. after the successful murder as instructed by the witches, she is then haunted by the guilt of her actions. This manifests through her sleepwalking, and she tries to wash imaginary blood from her hands in Act 5, scene 1. She seems to be hallucinating following what she did, and it is a sign of her losing her sanity to the evils she did.
Lady Macbeth invokes the supernatural powers where he calls upon the supernatural forces to unsex him and fill her with the cruelty power. It is clear that she is a witch who desires to be cruel to people, and her acts are intentional. she invokes the dark forces, which she feels with the cruel spirit, she will fulfill what she wants by making Macbeth ascend to the power of the king after King Duncan is murdered.
In conclusion, Stallybrass’s claims that Lady Macbeth replaces the witches is true, and this is reflected in her character and the bold role she plays in transforming Macbeth into a credulity to achieve her ambitions. The character has shown the conflict between good and evil in the human soul, particularly Macbeth, which Lady Macbeth contributes to his downfall by leading him to the path of evil. The witch’s role in Lady Macbeth is a symbol that evil lies within humanity. However, it is a personal choice to be evil, and every deed is inspired by another human. without Lady Macbeth pressure on Macbeth, he would not have become a tyrant and cruel person.
References
Bloom, H. (Ed.). (2010). William Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Infobase Publishing.
Burn, A., & Durran, J. (2013). Playing Shakespeare: Macbeth–narrative, drama, game. Teaching English, 1, 33-34.
Stallybrass, P. (2013). Macbeth and witchcraft. In Focus on Macbeth (pp. 189-209). Routledge.
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