Lady Macbeth's Downfall

Lady Macbeth is responsible for her own downfall due to her involvement with supernatural forces, her ambition and her guilty conscience.

Lady Macbeth claims that she can “look like the innocent flower/But be the serpent under ’t” (1,5,64-65). She imagines that she has the capability to be remorseless and determined enough to do anything. Yet, she calls upon supernatural forces to use to her advantage. She does not ask for the help of the ‘dark side’ but demands it as though she could undermine the power of unearthly evil forces. She demands: “Come, you spirits/that tend on mortal thoughts! Unsex me here…stop up the access and passage to remorse…you murdering ministers…come, thick night, / And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell…nor the heaven peep through the blanket of the dark, / To cry, ‘Hold, hold!’”(1,5,39-53). She’s asking the supernatural forces to make her insensitive so that she feels no remorse and not hesitate in her plans to kill Duncan. Lady Macbeth is embracing the darkness and welcoming it, implying that she holds no evil in her soul. This ‘agreement’ with the ‘dark side’ makes way for the reason as to why she begins carrying a lit candle wherever she walks. She does this as if she is now afraid of the forces she once called upon in her quest for more power.

Lady Macbeth’s great ambition is evident when she receives the letter from Macbeth with the news that he was prophesied as the King of Scotland. She immediately thinks that she and Macbeth will have to kill Duncan as she says “thou…shalt be / What thou art promised” (1,5,14-15). She also decides that Macbeth is too good natured to kill the king, saying “it is too full o’ the milk of human kindness” (1,5,16). After Lady Macbeth plots the murder of Duncan she learns that he will be making an appearance at the Macbeth house. She seems quite pleased with this new information as she says, “He brings great news. The raven himself is hoarse / That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan” (1,5,37-38). Her ambition to have more power by being Queen is so great that she will do anything to get what she wants. However, once Lady Macbeth becomes Queen she also becomes very unhappy. She gets what she wants and still wants more.

The guilt Lady Macbeth felt is indescribable, for the feeling of committing murder can only be felt by those who have committed murder themselves. Her guilt was so great, that while she