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Partners in Crime
William Shakespeare is a well-known writer of tragedies, and Macbeth, written in 1606,
while not as bloody as some of his other works, is no less interesting. The relationship between
Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, while possessing almost a negligible amount of romance, is
decidedly mutual. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth's marriage revolves around the need for power
and while Macbeth is Lady Macbeth’s transportation, she is his fuel. Unfortunately, they are both
corrupted by the very power they desire. They are partners in crime who slowly drift apart as the
power overcomes them. As a couple, the relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth can
be characterized as dysfunctional but beneficial for both parties in achieving their ambitions, and
as the play progresses, the two of them establish individual roles in relation to one another.
To Macbeth, his wife is the woman that assuages his fears and insecurities and enables
him to succeed, whereas for Lady Macbeth, her husband is a means to an end. Lady Macbeth is
ambitious but knows her husband well enough to manipulate him, thus overcoming the obstacles
set before her by society. For instance, when Lady Macbeth receives Macbeth’s letter telling her
of his encounter with the three weird sisters, she says, “It is too full o' the milk of human
kindness / To catch the nearest way: thou wouldst be great; / Art not without ambition'” (I, v, 1618), showing that Lady Macbeth has her own ambitions. It was society that put restraints on the
methods she was able to use to achieve her ambition, so it could be interpreted as Lady Macbeth
wanting to be in the man's world of ambition. As the military wife, Lady Macbeth is in charge of
Macbeth’s castle when he is away and it seems that this taste of power has left Lady Macbeth
craving for more. However, she only sees the ambition, not the blood that needs to be spilled,
and because of this she can proceed so easily in the beginning. Once she comes to realize what
murder is like, she is completely unprepared for it. She seems to believe him too virtuous and
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therefore doubts his ability. When Macbeth is resolved not to murder King Duncan, Lady
Macbeth manipulates Macbeth by playing on his masculinity until Macbeth exclaims, “I dare do
all that may become a man,” showing that Lady Macbeth knows her husband and knows exactly
what to say in order to get any desired result.
Macbeth is insecure, possessing doubts and fears that are assuaged by Lady Macbeth.
Macbeth is constantly relying on Lady Macbeth to give him reassurance and he seeks her
approval. When Macbeth is afraid that they will fail in their murder of King Duncan, Lady
Macbeth assures him of success: “We fail? / But screw your courage to the sticking place / And
we’ll not fail” (I, vii, 60-62). After Macbeth kills Duncan, he brings the daggers used to kill
Duncan with him and it is Lady Macbeth who points out that if they want to successfully frame
Duncan’s two guards, they have to make sure that the daggers are in the guards’ possession. She
cleans up after him and makes sure to rectify his mistakes. Even after Macbeth becomes king, he
still has moments of insecurity. In an attempt to prove himself to her and obtain her approval,
chooses to keep her unaware of what he has done in regards to the murder of Banquo in hopes
that she approves when he says, “Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck, / Till thou
applaud the deed” (III, ii, 46-47).
It is implied that Lady Macbeth had a child in the past but lost that child. When Lady
Macbeth says, “I have given suck, and know / How tender 'tis to love the babe that milks me: / I
would, while it was smiling in my face, / Have pluck'd my nipple from his boneless gums, / And
dash'd the brains out, had I so sworn as you / Have done to this” (I, vii, 54-58), it is revealed that
she had a child previously but this child is never shown so it can be implied that she no longer
has this child. If Lady Macbeth can so easily use that child as an example of her resolve, since it
is doubtful that a woman will so freely claim that she will dash the brains of her own child, then
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she must be bitter. This implies that she could potentially kill a baby out of spite for the child that
she lost. Macbeth, on the other hand, seems resigned and at the same time resentful that he does
not have any children Macbeth turns that resentment onto Banquo when he rcalls his first
meeting with the three weird sisters. Macbeth does not question how the three sisters know what
they know, but takes it for granted that what they say is true, so when “He chid the sisters / When
first they put the name of king upon me, /And bade them speak to him: then prophet-like / They
hail'd him father to a line of kings: / Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown, / And put a
barren sceptre in my gripe, / Thence to be wrench'd with an unlineal hand, / No son of mine
succeeding (III, I, 57-64),” Macbeth feels that having become king is meaningless without
progeny to succeed him. It seems, however, that Macbeth does not show any resentment to Lady
Macbeth despite the fact that she does not bear him any children. It is almost as though she not
only is able to manipulate him, but also is in charge of their relationship.
The relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth slowly evolves as they become
more comfortable yet fearful of their position as King and Queen of Scotland. As Queen of
Scotland, Lady Macbeth is less manipulative of Macbeth since she is now in a position of power.
Lady Macbeth is also less manipulative because she no longer has to be. As the queen, she has
the power to do as she wishes and can be more direct in asserting her authority. She exercises
that power when she says, "Stand not upon the order of your going, / But go at once" (III, iv,
120-121). She says this to order all the Lords to leave the castle in fear that Macbeth, in his
delusional state, will say something he ought not to, so she exercises her authority as queen. At
the same time, Macbeth is hallucinating, and she has to make sure he does not say something that
will implicate the both of them to their previous misdeeds. During his blabbering, Macbeth
reveals that blood has been shed and this makes the situation a suspicious one, especially for the
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Lords present. Also, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth fear their position because they fear people
murdering them just as they murdered Duncan, with a very real possibility of revenge for
murdering King Duncan. The weird sisters show this when they tell Macbeth, "Macbeth.
Macbeth. Macbeth, beware Macduff. / Beware the Thane of Fife. Dismiss me. Enough" (IV, i,
93-94). Macbeth takes the three weird sisters at their word and fears Macduff without asking for
any elaboration. Macduff is in England at the time and is spared from the carnage. In his fear,
Macbeth has Macduff’s entire castle brutally slaughtered, except Macbeth takes it to the next
level and kills all of Macduff’s children and servants as well.
Lady Macbeth gets wrapped up in the power, and it isn't until later that the magnitude of
what she has done sinks in and begins to slowly eats away at her. Lady Macbeth shows her lack
of concern by the lines, “'Tis safer to be that which we destroy / Than by destruction dwell in
doubtful joy. / How now, my lord! why do you keep alone, / Of sorriest fancies your companions
making, / Using those thoughts which should indeed have died / With them they think on?
Things without all remedy / Should be without regard: what's done is done” (III, ii, 7-13). Lady
Macbeth claims that it is better to be safe with their enemies destroyed rather than sorry that they
were not showing her disregard of consequences and lack of remorse. However, in wishing to
prove himself, Macbeth chooses not to implicate Lady Macbeth in his later murders, hoping she
will approve his actions. By not involving her, Macbeth is giving her time to reflect on her
previous misdeeds and this leads her to experience great guilt and remorse that begins to affect
her mind. This, in turn, causes Lady Macbeth to hallucinate and see spots of blood on her hands,
presumably as a result of holding the daggers used to kill King Duncan that were coated with his
blood. It is also possible that she is seeing the blood of the people who have died because their
deaths were necessary for Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to remain in power. When Lady Macbeth
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is sleepwalking and says, “The thane of Fife had a wife: where is she now?-- / What, will these
hands ne'er be clean?--No more o' / that, my lord, no more o' that: you mar all with / this starting”
(V, i, 42-45), it almost seems as if Lady Macbeth is pleading with Macbeth to not kill anymore.
Macduff, the Thane of Fife, had a wife and she has been slaughtered. It stands to reason that the
blood that Lady Macbeth believes she is seeing on her hands is the blood of the people
slaughtered from Fife. There is also the possibility that the blood Lady Macbeth is seeing is the
blood of the people that Macbeth is killing to instill fear in the people as seen when Macduff says
the Malcom, “Blood, bleed poor country! / Great tyranny, lay thou thy basis sure” (IV, iii, 31-32).
The guilt and remorse that Lady Macbeth experiences affects her mind until she cannot take it
anymore and commits suicide.
Although Macbeth attempts to help Lady Macbeth, he does not regret killing Duncan.
Instead, he enjoys too much the power that the position of king affords him. Despite his love for
his wife, Macbeth is too far gone and enjoys his position of power. Even though he still loves her
enough to send for a doctor when he realizes she is sick as seen by his endearment, “dearest
chuck” (III, ii, 46), he does not mourn her death. When Lady Macbeth starts to show signs of
insanity, Macbeth calls a physician in an attempt to cure her. In his discussion with the physician,
Macbeth asks, “How does your patient, doctor? / Not so sick, my lord, / As she is troubled with
thick coming fancies, / That keep her from her rest. / Cure her of that” (V, iii, 38-42). Macbeth is
adamant about curing Lady Macbeth, which shows his affections for her, but regardless of his
love for Lady Macbeth, Macbeth does not mourn her death. Macbeth’s lack of remorse for the
death of his wife can be seen in the lines: “She should have died hereafter; / There would have
been a time for such a word. / To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow, / Creeps in this petty
pace from day to day / To the last syllable of recorded time, / And all our yesterdays have lighted
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fools / The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! / Life's but a walking shadow, a poor
player / That struts and frets his hour upon the stage / And then is heard no more: it is a tale /
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, / Signifying nothing” (V, v, 17-28). Macbeth seems to
no longer need the assurances of Lady Macbeth. He says that she would have died sooner or later
and has no emotional reaction when Seyton tells him the Queen is dead. It is almost as if
Macbeth doesn’t care that his wife and counterpart has killed herself. Then again, the power that
Macbeth has lived with for so long as king, as well as the assurances of the three weird sisters,
keeps him from worrying about his own death. It is also possible that with is life guaranteed, in
his own mind, by a supernatural force, Macbeth feels that he no longer needs the assurances of a
mortal. However, even when he realizes that he is about to lose, Macbeth refuses to give up.
Even though Macbeth realizes that Macduff is the one person that can defeat him, Macbeth still
declares, “I will not yield, / To kiss the ground before young Malcolm's feet, / And to be baited
with the rabble's curse. / Though Birnam wood be come to Dunsinane, / And thou opposed,
being of no woman born, / Yet I will try the last. Before my body / I throw my warlike shield.
Lay on, Macduff, / And damn'd be him that first cries, ‘Hold, enough!’”(V, viii, 28-34). Macbeth
dies with honor despite his less-than-honorable actions.
The roles of both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth develop independent of one another, each
with their own ambitions. Macbeth is insecure and filled with self-doubt while Lady Macbeth,
being a woman, is restricted by society from achieving her ambitions. Macbeth depends on Lady
Macbeth for emotional support, and Lady Macbeth, in turn, depends on Macbeth as a means to
attain and maintain power. With the progression of the play, Macbeth’s dependency on Lady
Macbeth turns into overconfidence, whereas Lady Macbeth’s former ambition leads to insanity.
The affection between the Macbeth couple is present but rarely seen. In the end, the two drift
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apart and become independent of one another. Power is a corruptive force, and even the Macbeth
couple is not immune to the repercussions in their lust for power.