Lady urges Macbeth towards killing the king
Lady Macbeth is a cruel woman.
She is a deeply determined woman who seeks high status and power. She is the stronger and more fearful individual of the relationship. Unlike Macbeth, she has the courage to do whatever it takes to gain power. She doesn’t shy from murder and urges Macbeth towards killing the king to reach the power she seeks. She worries from Macbeth’s warm side since it may stop him from achieving their goals.
She claims that Macbeth “is too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness” which will hinder their progress and achievements (Act I-V). She calls on the powers of darkness to “fill me from the crown to the toe top-full of direst cruelty”, and to steel her against regret over killing the king (Act I-V). She doesn’t mind losing herself in order to reach the power she seeks. There is something interesting about Lady Macbeth which is that she feels that she is too human (too weak) to achieve what she seeks. Therefore she calls on the dark powers to “Come, you spirits That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full Of direst cruelty” (Act I-V). She fears that her humanity will obstruct her from killing the king.
Therefore, she wants darkness to “Come, thick night, And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell, That my keen knife see not the wound it makes, Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark” so that she wouldn’t be able to see herself murdering the king which would obstruct her plan (Act I-V). Lady Macbeth is pretty smart and manipulative. When Macbeth had second thoughts about killing the king, she brought up a combo of challenging his manhood, charging him with cowardliness, and taunting to get him on the right track.
She taunted, and stated, “Art thou afeard to be the same in thine own act and valor as thou art in desire? Wouldst thou have that which thou esteem’st the ornament of life, and live a coward in thine own esteem” (Act 1- VII). This way she manipulated him into murdering the king to achieve what she desires. Lady Macbeth’s attributes are shared with the great drug dealer Pablo Escobar. Escobar is one of the greatest drug dealers in history. He started off with a family he deeply loved and cared about. This wasn’t enough for him he needed more; he needed power. He became a drug dealer to grasp the respect and power he looked for. He used all the methods he can use to reach the respect he desired.
He bribed, murdered, or raped any person that has disrespected or obstructed his way. He didn’t mind losing his soul and wealth as long as he has the power he desired. When he tried to be the president of Colombia in order to reach the true power he was looking for.
Therefore he bribed the poor people of Colombia to vote for him. However, when he lost the election, he started a war on the whole country. He was ready to go to war, and murder everyone who opposed him to achieve his goal. The only thing he cared about is to be a “god”.Both Pablo Escobar and Lady Macbeth have common characteristics. They both are power seekers. They will do whatever it takes to reach the power they desire. Gender roles in Macbeth were absorbing.
The characteristics of being cruel and a power seeker are usually seen in a man such as Escobar. However, in Macbeth, Shakespeare gave Lady Macbeth “manly” characteristics which made the play mysterious and compelling. Lady Macbeth even uses her beauty and feminine kindness to manipulate the king. She wears a face of an honored host, and states, “Your servants ever have theirs, themselves, and what is theirs in compt, to make their audit at your highness’ pleasure, still to return your own” to trick and kill the king (Act 1- VI). Lady Macbeth was able to utilize her feminine side to reach the power she desires. Escobar had the same mentality, but he had a more aggressive aspect. He didn’t need to wear any face to reach to power.
He brutally murdered whoever stood in his way. Both Lady Macbeth and Escobar were able to use their brutality to reach their goal. They are power maniacs who would eliminate anything that stands between them and the power they desire. They would rather be soleless and brutal than be disrespected or powerless.
