lady macbeth
... Lord so that she may get what she wants: a dead King Duncan in her house. Indeed, Lady Macbeth does get what she wants, and ultimately what she deserves, as the play progresses. Usually, though she has to nudge her husband a bit before he takes action, Macbeth is relatively obedient. Lady Macbeth seems to realize that her husband probably will not go through with the murder of Duncan until she pushes him to the point of no return, so she prepares everything in advance. All Macbeth has to do for 4 his part in the murder is actually kill Duncan; Lady Macbeth sets out the daggers and gives the guards enough alcohol so that they pass out. She was so eager to have Duncan dead that she almost killed him herself. "Had he not resembled/ My father as he slept, I had done 't" (II. ii. 16-17). Yet she still had her husband commit the crime, whether it was because she was actually scared to do so, or because she wanted him to feel empowered. Either way, Lady Macbeth was definitely ready for Duncan to die. Despite her eagerness earlier in the play, Lady Macbeth seems a bit afraid that she might get caught later in the play. When she sleepwalks and talks in her sleep, she demonstrates a fear that clearly represents the fact that she is scared of being caught. She talks of going to bed and washing her hands with the famous "Out, damned spot, out, I say!" (V. i. 37) phrase. When she yells about ridding herself of Duncan's blood, she is presenting a metaphor: she does not truly want to be rid of Duncan's blood itself, but rather the fear and guilt that his murder has forced upon her. The constant nightmares she has and the f...