Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Lady Macbeth's Role in the Play (Block B)


We have discussed in class the role that Lady Macbeth holds within the play Macbeth. We've also spoken about how the relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth was not typical of the time period. Using references to their partnership or feelings for each other, comment on their marriage. Overall, do they seem to have a good marriage? Do they seem to hold genuine affection for each other? Are they well matched? To what extent is Lady Macbeth responsible for the murder of Duncan?

***"To what extent means: Not necessarily yes or no but is it more of a yes or more of a no?

Remember to support your ideas with references from life and the text!

61 comments:

  1. Lady Maceth does refer to Macbeth in fond loving ways. My love, she calls him handsome, and she worries about his well being. And Macbeth does what she wants, so he does hold some respect and love for her.
    We can't say if they had a good or bad marriage prior to this play, but it's obvious that their lives are getting screwed up, but not necessarily their marriage.
    I believe every relationship should hold dynamic and different personalities, you shouldn't be dating yourself. And I think that if you have a good quality and it rubbs off onto your partner that's great.
    However in saying that, Lady Macbeth's lust for power and being quick to murder isn't really an ideal trait for Macbeth to have picked up.
    So they may have been well matched in the beginning, but the lust for power could corrupt anybody- no matter how good they may have been before.
    And I believe both the characters hold responsibility for the death of Duncan. Most definitely Lady Macbeth pushed for the murder, attacking Macbeth's masculinity and pride. But Macbeth already had the thought planted in his mind, it was just a matter of time he acted upon it.
    I think yes Lady Macbeth is responsible for making it happen so suddenly and rashly, but I do believe Macbeth would have acted upon it sooner or later anyways

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    1. Layla, I agree with you that they both hold some respects for each other, in that Macbeth called her “dearest chunk”, and Lady Macbeth called him “my husband”. I thought they were well-matched in the beginning. But similar as what you mentioned, the similarity they shared are both driven by lust for power, shows that the couple is very ambitious. If they are not emotionally and deeply connected with each other, I think their marriage will fall apart sooner or later when they start having different opinions about things after they are crowned. For instance, Macbeth doesn’t tell Lady Macbeth his plan of murdering Banquo and Fleance, even though she was the one planned Duncan’s death.

      And I would say they both have responsibility for Duncan’s murder. However, Lady Macbeth was driven by her ambition of becoming the queen, while Macbeth is manipulated by her and other factors such as the weird sisters’ prophecy. Thus, I wouldn’t say that she holds all the responsibility because Macbeth ended up being the one who holds the dagger of death. But as an conclusion, both of them are responsible for the murder.

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    2. I agree with both of you. Sure, Lady Macbeth is quite manipulative, and she definitely played a major role in Duncan's death. However, it was Macbeth himself who killed Duncan, and he definitely wanted it in the first place.

      I think that they are a well-matched couple because they share common interests (especially a lust for power), they act genuinely affectionate with each other (as proven by Lady Macbeth calling Macbeth "my lord" and Macbeth calling Lady Macbeth "my love", to name a few nicknames) and have a very open, communicative marriage. Although they both have misintentions, and act on them while they are within the sanctity of their marriage, it is not the marriage that causes this, but rather, the fact that both of their personalities work TOO well together.

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  2. Lady Macbeth and Macbeth do have genuine feelings for one another. This is shown because they were together even before they knew about the prophecy about how Macbeth was to become king. Lady Macbeth was even willing to kill Macbeth's cousin the king, Duncan for him so that Macbeth could become king. Lady Macbeth pushes Macbeth to chase his goals and achieve them, even though she goes about it in a strange way. I believe they do have a good marriage, they haven't fought over anything and get along rather well. They listen to each other's ideas and trust one another. Macbeth trusted Lady Macbeth when she was planning the murder of the king, and vice versa when Macbeth told Lady Macbeth to not worry about anything but that she would need to sever her emotional tie with Banquo. I do not believe Lady Macbeth and Macbeth are matched well. Macbeth is more passive and honourable. He believes that whatever happens happens and should happen on its own, an example of this is when he decides at the end of Act I, Scene iii to not kill Duncan. "If chance will have me king, then chance will crown me without my stir" Or something along those lines. While, Lady Macbeth climbed a friggin tower and just started going off and screaming about how she wanted to become a man and emotionless robot so she could just kill people without feeling remorse. She is completely responsible for Duncans death. If she hadn't attacked Macbeth's manhood and his entire identity and pushed him so hard. Macbeth wouldn't have decided to kill Duncan. He would have just waited like he had decided originally before he had consulted Lady Macbeth.

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    1. I completley dissagree lady macbeth is not soley responsible for duncans death like i said in my original post this had been in the making for a long time you can't just decide one day to kill a king this takes years of thought and planning by both guilty parties also I don't think that lady macbeth would have origianally brought up the idea it would have to be macbeth beacause lady macbeth would not want to go against her husband

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    2. It couldn't have been in the making for a long time for many reasons. 1. He didn't know he was destined to be King until the witches foretold it. 2. He didn't originally believe it in the first place until he was made Thane of Cawdor. 3. Immediately after becoming Thane he began to think about becoming king and told Lady Macbeth. 4. He decided he wasn't going to kill Duncan and that he was just going to wait for chance to crown him. 5. Lady Macbeth planned the entire murder, and Macbeth wasn't going to do it. Until Lady Macbeth began to attack his manhood. So essentially I'm saying your entire theory about them planning it for years is improbable. In the play they didn't begin to think about it until after Macbeth was made Thane and the Witches foretold the prophecy. The time span between the prophecy and the decision to kill the king was only a few days. Macbeth didn't originally bring up the idea either, he just informed Lady Macbeth that he met some crazy witches who told him he would become thane of cawdor then king. And that he had just become Thane of Cawdor so it meant he would become king soon. Lady Macbeth become impatient and started doing the whole unsex me thing at the top of the tower so she could just kill Duncan and Macbeth would become king sooner. It even says at the end of Act I, Scene iii. "If chance will have me king, then chance will crown me without my stir"

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    3. firstly macbeth never brought up killing duncan with lady macbeth. secondly macbeth was one of duncans most trusted officers why would lady macbeth risk commiting treason by telling macbeth to kill duncan when he becomes thane of cawdor lady macbeth wouldn't risk macbeth killing her. picture this Lady macbeth telling macbeth to kill duncan "hey Macbeth yah you know your cousin the king that guy you've been fighting for yah well him we should kill him" it doesn't make sense like that macbeth would have to be the one to say lets kill duncan which he never did in the play so there for they would have had to plan the murder for a while.

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  3. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh this the third time i'm writing this stupid thing beacause sometimes when i ht the backspace button it takes me away from the page anyway I think that macbeth and lady macbeth may have been in love at one point but this was probably before macbeth was thane of glamis but once macbeth became thane of glamis they slowly grew apart beacause macbeth was probably away from home alot.But i think they still have a good marriage but not as lovers but as buisness partners. as for lady macbeth being the sole cause of duncans murder. I don't think that lady macbeth and macbeth had already planned to kill duncan the reasdon i think this is beacause when lady macbeth got the note from macbeth that he was the thane of cawdor she automatically assumed it was time to kill duncan. macbeth diddn't even mention killing duncan but she knew that was what he wanted to do.

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    1. I agree with you on this point Tanner, in the respect that Macbeth has probably been away from Lady Macbeth for long periods of time at once, and it must be hard for them to keep in touch without email or phones yet. AND the point about them planning out the killing of Duncan ahead of time does have good reasoning. I mean, she doesn't hear anything about the witches because it was only Macbeth and Banquo who were there, and Macbeth never said anything about it to Lady Macbeth when he got home.

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    2. Don't you just hate it when browsers don't work the way you want them to. Anyways, I see your point here but I disagree. They still do care for each other and still have a deeper connection than just business partners. Also as for the killing Duncan part I agree with you there. He didn't even have to say it she just knew.

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  4. I think that their marriage is a strange one. I would probably say that they are well matched together, only because they are both basically crazy but smart at the same time...
    As well, I would say that they probably have a hard time being together still with Macbeth being Thane of Glamis because like tanner said, he is probably away a lot.
    Lady Macbeth is responsible for Killing Duncan around 55%. Macbeth comes up with the idea of killing him, and I'm sure that, like Tanner said and I already agreed with, they had planned it ahead of time, because how else would they have that plan set up almost instantly and not even have to tell each other about it or the witches saying that he will be king. Lady Macbeth is responsible around 51 percent because Macbeth backed out of the plan. SHE was the one who pulled him back in and made him actually do it. She manipulated him by insulting his manhood and making him feel bad, just so that he would do it. She said that she would if he didn't but in the end she said that she couldn't anyway after Macbeth has already done it.
    And I'm sure that near the beginning of their marriage they loved for each other and cared for each other much more then they do now if they even do at all. Because to me it seems like Lady Macbeth is pretty power hungry and might just be using Macbeth to become a Queen.

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    1. i feel like lady macbeth is more responsible because if she hadn't been there macbeth wouldn't have killed duncan at all. He woulda just sat back and waited for his chance to be crowned like he had originally decided. However, i believe that lady macbeth does love Macbeth and although i agree that she is power hungry and wants to become queen at the same time. I cant help but feel like she is also trying to fuel her husband to achieve his goals and be the best that he can be.

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    2. I actually disagree with both of you. I don't think that Lady Macbeth is mostly responsible for the death of Duncan at all. Sure she manipulated him and insulted his manhood and everything, but he probably would've done it anyway. He probably would've sat back and waited for the crown for a while, but then after he realized that it won't come by chance he would go and kill Duncan anyway. Lady Macbeth isn't the only one who is power hungry; Macbeth is too. Lady Macbeth only caused the murder to happen earlier than it would have without her help.

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    3. I agree with Haley the most on this one.
      Sure Lady Macbeth insulted him and pushed him towards the murder, but Macbeth didn't have to kill Duncan. That last action was his own.
      Dion- I like how you said Lady Macbeth is pushing her husband to be the best he can be, I can't help but feeling the same way.
      However I don't agree that Lady Macbeth is using Macbeth because she is power hungry. Yes, she lusts for power but it is for her husband. If she truly didn't care for him as you say Jeremy, I think that perhaps we would be seeing her plotting to kill her own husband as well. And in the last scene it did show lady Macbeth remorseful over her actions, so it does show she has a conscience. Everyone buckles over in the lust for power, it doesn't necessarily make you a bad person

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  5. Even though the play does not directly tell us all the details surrounding their marriage, we begin getting a sense of their relationship as the play progresses. I think part of their relationship is built on their respect for each other. Lady Macbeth and Macbeth share similar traits, such as ambition. They share a common goal of rising to power and that makes them admire each other. As for affection, I think they do care about each other at some level. For example, in act 1 scene 7, Lady Macbeth tells Macbeth that she would do anything for him, even bash their child’s brains out. They are both willing to listen and go along with each other’s ideas, which is important in a relationship. They are well matched because both are capable of doing the same things. For instance, in act 1 scene 5, Lady Macbeth plots the murder of Duncan and in act 3, scene 2, Macbeth plots the murder of Banquo and Fleance. The roles are reversed and it shows that they share similar qualities. Even though Macbeth murdered Duncan, I believe Lady Macbeth was more responsible for the murder than Macbeth. Macbeth had become hesitant after thinking about their plan and it was Lady Macbeth who attacked his manhood and pushed him to commit the crime. I think that Lady Macbeth is more responsible, but only for Duncan’s murder. She pushed Macbeth into killing Duncan and the success caused him to become reckless and plan Banquo and Fleance’s murder. As it has been said already, ambition is Macbeth’s tragic flaw. Even though he doubted his actions at some point, I think he still would’ve found a way to kill Duncan by either doing it himself or bribing someone else to do the deed.

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  6. We cannot comment on the state of their marriage before the issue of Kingship came about, however, if Macbeth sent Lady Macbeth a letter of such importance it means he trusts her, and vice versa. In any case I think the topic of their marriage is based on the time period in which the play was taken place. We see that Macbeth did something he didn't want to do because of Lady Macbeth (the murder of King Duncan), and later Lady Macbeth let Macbeth do something she didn't want him to do (continue murdering for Kingship). This shows that they are fairly equal in their relationship, so their marriage isn't necasarily a happy one, since they both strive to get what they want. They seem affectionate for each other as they both try to do what is right for the both of them (the death of Duncan in which Lady Macbeth is responisble of, to better her husband's status, and Macbeth who kills Banquo to help Lady Macbeth remain Queen). Despite affection, they don't seem very well matched because it is because of each other that Lady Macbeth got Duncan killed, and Macbeth killed Banquo, further digging their own graves. Although it wasn't completely Lady Macbeth's fault, if it wasn't for her Duncan would have never been killed and the whole story would have probably led to a happier ending, so most of the blame goes on her.

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    1. I actually believe Macbeth and lady Macbeth are well matched. The murders of Banquo and Duncun just show the extent of their ambition. Duncan was murdered for Macbeth to attain the throne, and Banquo was murdered because he was a threat to Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Lady Macbeth and Macbeth look out for each other and help each other gain power. I don’t think that because they both committed terrible acts, they are not well matched. It just demonstrates that they think alike and are willing to go to great lengths to achieve their goals. If Macbeth were to be extremely cautious and rational and Lady Macbeth manipulative and cruel, they would not be well matched. Their qualities and traits will not be balanced and one will always be overpowering the other and controlling the relationship. In the play, we see that both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are capable of manipulation and murder. Similarity is an important aspect of any relationship.

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    2. Yes but the thing is is that on the instances that I stated, they both thought differently about the situation. For the murder of Duncan, Lady Macbeth wanted to do it but Macbeth did not, thus they thought differently on the situation, not alike, like you stated, and the same thing goes for the (attempted) murder of Banquo, except for this case the roles were reversed. Yes, they do these terrible acts for each other, however, that shows that they have affection for one another, not that they are well paired. I have personally seen people who say they love each other, and show it too, however they fight over jealousy and what to do in their lives. These people, although affectionate, are not well paired because of this. Although Lady Macbeth and Macbeth do not show signs of fighting, Lady Macbeth had manipulated Macbeth to kill King Duncan, and later, Macbeth carried on with his plan to kill Banquo despite what Lady Macbeth said. Thus they are affectionate, but not well paired.

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    3. I disagree. The fact that they both want to get rid of someone by murdering them shows that they are alike. As for the murder of Duncan, Macbeth did want to kill him. After the weird sisters spoke their prophecy to Macbeth and Banquo, Macbeth says ‘my thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical’ (I.iii). This means that murder jumped immediately to his mind when he wondered how he would get the throne. Both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have similar ways of dealing with situations. After reading Macbeth’s letter, Lady Macbeth instantly plots to have Duncan killed even though there is no mention in the letter that Macbeth felt the same way. This shows that without communication, they still have an idea of what the other wants. Their shared ambition for power causes them to think and act in similar ways. The fact that Lady Macbeth and Macbeth are willing to commit those acts shows that they are well matched. As I said before, if their personality traits were completely different, I think Macbeth and Lady Macbeth would not get along. Even though it seems like they rely on manipulating each other when they don’t agree, I think it shows they are compatible. The way the Lady Macbeth is able to manipulate Macbeth and vice versa shows that they know each other’s weaknesses and exactly how to act.

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    4. Although murder did jump into Macbeth's mind the moment the three witches prophecy became plausible, in several occasions he tried to get out of it, such as when he said "If Chance will have me King, Chance will crown me" or when he told Lady Macbeth that "(they) will proceed no further in this business", when they were about to kill King Duncan (A1Siii pg.20) (A1Svii pg.29). In fact, all of page 28 revolves around Macbeth's inner struggle to kill Duncan or not, and when he decides not to, Lady Macbeth insults him and manipulates him to do it. Although you think that manipulation means they are good for each other, if you had a husband would you like it if he manipulated you? Probably not since it's a cruel thing to do. Thus, I stand by my point of the marriage of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth being affectionate, but are not very well matched.

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    5. Yes, but I think Macbeth would’ve found a way to get rid of Duncan in the end. His ambition led him to his tragic fall and it all started with getting rid of the current king, which was the first obstacle. Lady Macbeth and Macbeth both wanted to see the prophecy fulfilled. Maybe Macbeth didn’t want to kill the king himself, but that doesn’t mean he could easily get someone else to do it for him. In my earlier paragraph, I meant that manipulation was a quality they both shared. It doesn’t mean they are good people, it just means that they know each other’s strong and weak points and how to cope with each other.

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    6. Now what you both could have done is agreed with me on the fact that macbeth and lady macbeth had plotted to kill duncan long before the weird sisters prophecy beacuse like zoey said they both had the same idea so that means that they had to have had the conversation earlier.

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    7. There are many things good relationships are built on, such as: trust, affection, loyalty, honesty, and you should know your partner on a more intimate level. These are all traits I see that the couple possess.
      I do think that they are well matched for each other. They are not just there for each other, but they also push each other to gain to be the best they can be. It is good usually, but perhaps not in the examples we have seen.
      But just because they haven't done good things, doesn't mean they are I'll matched for each other.
      Instead of saying Lady Macbeth manipulated him, we could say she just persuaded him. She was poking at his pride because she knew he needed a little push into the direction they wanted to go. Again doing that isn't a bad thing, it was just seen under unfortunate circumstances.
      Macbeth would not have sat around until the King had died, Macbeth would have eventually become crazed by the prophecy and murdered Duncan himself anyways. All Lady Macbeth did was give him a little head start

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    8. Yes but manipulation of each other does not coincide with being well paired. If you have to manipulate each other to get what you want (even if it's best for the other), it means that they are not well paired. If they were well paired, then the moment Lady Macbeth suggested murder, Macbeth would have jumped on the idea without hesitation and that would have proved that they are alike. However, Macbeth did not like the idea and he tried to get out of it, and he only did after his manhood (a big thing ESPECIALLY back in medieval ages) was insulted by Lady Macbeth. Another example is that Lady Macbeth would have encouraged Macbeth to kill Banquo if they were alike, not hesitate on the idea. Thus, they are not (completely) alike as you said and thus I stand by my point of them being affectionate, but not well paired.

      And Tanner the argument is about whether or not they are well paired, not about the murder of Duncan.

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    9. Sorry Layla you must have posted your comment just before I did I didn't see it. Any ways because this won't get marked because it is after 6pm I'll keep it brief. In class we have discussed that Lady Macbeth was in fact manipulating Macbeth by insulting him and guilt-tripping him, thus you're point, although plausible, does not coincide very well. I do believe that they want what is best for the other, however, if manipulation is the key to how things get done in the marriage, regardless how affectionate they are towards one another, and regardless whether or not Macbeth would have killed King Duncan in Lady Macbeth was able to "persuade" him or not, manipulation is a terrible thing to do to someone else you care about, especially if they don't want to do what they asked. Thus I still stand by my point of the Macbeths being affectionate, but not well paired.

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  7. Over several Acts, I think Lady Macbeth and Macbeth do have a good marriage because in Act One Scene 5, when Macbeth returns home, he calls his wife “my dearest love.” And even though Macbeth is often away because he is a Thane, Lady Macbeth does not betray this marriage. However, they listen to each other’s opinion and idea. I think they are well matched because they all have crazy ideas going on in their minds and have similar characteristics(great ambition), and also they don’t really have any argument.
    I think Lady Macbeth has a great responsible (90%) for the murder of Duncan because she is the wire-puller of this evil plan. At first, Macbeth believes what is going to happen is going to happen, so he will wait. But his wife insults him and attacks his manhood and she pushes him so hard that he goes kill the king. If she didn’t insult him, nothing will happen; Macbeth would not have the guts to kill Duncan. Everything would turn out to be fine.

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    1. I agree with you that Lady Macbeth and Macbeth do have a good marriage and they are well matched for each other. However, I disagree with you. I believe Lady Macbeth has nothing to do with the death of Duncan. Yes, she is the one the make up the plan. However, Macbeth has the choice to say no, Lady Macbeth did not force him to do so. Macbeth even has doubt about the plan, but at the end he lost to his ambition which leads to his destruction. In the play, Lady Macbeth plays the role that pushes Macbeth. She is only giving Macbeth ideas to fulfill his desire. Yes, Lady Macbeth did attack Macbeth’s manhood to make him agree with the plans. However, Macbeth himself already has doubt in it, but at the end he put it aside, and lost to Lady Macbeth. He wasn’t brave enough, wasn’t strong enough to stand up for himself. He is a man, but lost to a woman, so I think that Macbeth holds complete responsibility for this murder of King Duncan.

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    2. Although Lady Macbeth and Macbeth do share some similar characteristics, like ambitious, their marriage may not be good. Having common personalities and ideas doesn’t mean they may truly love each other. Also, Lady Macbeth doesn’t betray their marriage may not because she loves Macbeth, but trying to use him. She may act like very obedient and lovely in front of Macbeth to gain his trust and love, but her heart is actually cruel (shown in Act 1, scene 5 that she even uses their not-yet-born baby to threaten Macbeth to murder Duncan). Therefore, there may be no argument between them. Moreover, I disagree that Lady Macbeth has a 90% responsibility on the death of Duncan. She did not commit the crime herself; instead her husband is actually the one who chooses to kill Duncan. No matter how Macbeth uses nasty and unbelievable words, “screw your courage to the sticking place” and “live a coward in thine own esteem”, Macbeth is the one to make the decision because Lady Macbeth can’t kill Duncan, she’s a women. If Macbeth does not choose to murder Duncan, then nothing like the scenes in Act 3 will ever happen. He is the one to blame for sure, not Lady Macbeth.

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    3. I agree with you that they share similar qualities such as ambition. And you also mentioned that even though Macbeth is away most of the time, Lady Macbeth still supports him as a spouse. I would say that they are well matched, but not completely without any arguments. Lady Macbeth was the one who provided Macbeth with the murder plan, but later on Macbeth doesn’t share his plan with her anymore when he plans for the murder of Banquo and Fleance. This shows that they start to have different plans to do after they are crowned.
      As for Lady Macbeth, I wouldn’t blame it all (or 90%) on her for the murder of Duncan just because she is the one who planned it. Macbeth at the mean time is under the influence of the witches’ prophecy, knowing that Malcolm just got crowned the Prince of Cumberland, and himself is the Thane of Cawdor. He also has great ambition as well to become the king, though he didn’t want to throw away his honor as a thane so soon. Therefore, I think there are many other factors in the play that contribute to the murder of Duncan, and I wouldn’t say Lady Macbeth being the only one responsible for it. After all, Macbeth is the one who hold the dagger in his hand.

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  8. They definately have feelings for each other. Lady MacBeth is worried for her husband and she does love him. They seem to have a pretty good marriage. Some of the relationship does revolve around manipulation and and insults for Lady MacBeth to get her way but they do have love for each other and the relationship does seem to have a solid foundation. They seem to be matched well enough. A strong, powerful man with a power hungry woman. they love each other and seem to function well as a couple. During the murder of Duncan they made a great team. Lady MacBeth does play a big part in MacBeth's motivation to kill Duncan but it's not all her. She just feed off MacBeths inner desire for power and fanned the flames of his ambition. She didn't start it sh just saw that it was finished.

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    1. I agree with you andrew there relationship runs on a manipulation system. If macbeth dosent get what she wants she attacks with words. I like when you said "they are well matched, a strong, powerful man with a power hungry woman" and that is exactly how there relationship is described in a nutshell.

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    2. I agree as well, they are definitely a strong powerful couple. Just because they killed someone doesn't mean they are an ill matched couple. Morally good? Maybe not so much. But that doesn't mean they aren't good for each other.
      I think it's healthy to have each other push and strive to a common goal

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  10. In my opinion, I believe t Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have a descent marriage and both seem to hold genuine affection for each other. This show in Act one Scene 5, in the letter Macbeth wrote to Lady Macbeth, he has called her “my dearest partner of greatness.” Also, when they meet, Macbeth stated “my dearest love.” From the words Macbeth uses, we can see that Macbeth respects his wife. He uses dearest, reveal how Lady Macbeth is precious, important to him. Moreover, Macbeth listens to Lady Macbeth’s plans and even does as she says. It seems as if Lady Macbeth is the boss of the house even though, Macbeth should be the one in charge. Moreover, the way Lady Macbeth keep pushing Macbeth to murder the King in order to gain power, shows her desire for power, but also reveal how much she cares, loves for Macbeth. Because she loves Macbeth, she wants what’s better for him.
    Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are very well matched. Both of them fill up each other’s weakness, as a whole they are complete. I conclude this is because Macbeth seems tuff, trustful, honorable in his appearance, however as one understand him more, he turn out to be a weak, cowardly man. On the other hand, Lady Macbeth seems beautiful; respectful in her exterior, but actually contains a manly side inside. She wishes she could be “unsex”. She wishes she could become a man to do what should be done. Both of them seem to be reversed. However, as the play goes on, at the point where King Duncan’s dead, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s role has completely changed. It feels like both of them switch back to their actual role with matching interior and exterior. Now, Macbeth becomes a very powerful, manly, strong warrior, with evil plans that could fulfill his wishes. Likewise, Lady Macbeth becomes the one that is trying to stop this plan, warning him to wake up. Therefore, both gender reversals made them very matched for each other.
    In my mind, I believe, Lady Macbeth has no responsibility in this murderer. Yes, she was the one that order this plan. Yes, she is the one that makes Macbeth commit this crime. However, Lady Macbeth did not force Macbeth. Macbeth has the decision upon his hand, but he fail to stop it. He did have the doubt in the plan but was too overwhelmed by his ambition that he lost to his conscious. At the beginning, Macbeth was the one that believe in the prophecy, although, his best friend, Banquo keep warning him. Yet, Macbeth doesn’t bother to care. He was over confident of himself that leaded him on this path of destruction. It is his fault that this incident had occurred. If he tries to stand up for himself, this could never happen. King Duncan might never die and the balance of this world would not break. Therefore, I felt that Macbeth should take all responsibility for the murder of Duncan.

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    1. I like how you said "Because she loves Macbeth, she wants what's better for him". It shows me that her lust for power can be seen in this different point of view. This makes me think that maybe because her love toward Macbeth is too strong, she really wants him to "live well", she wants him to be happy since she fully understands that Macbeth WANTS MORE. Instead of judging, she supports him and even wishes to be "unsex", in order to assist Macbeth.

      However, I disagree that Lady Macbeth holds zero responsibility of the assasination. I think in a way, she DID force Macbeth. When Macbeth clearly states that he will not go on with the plan of killing Duncan because "[Duncan] hath honored [him] of late, and [he] have bought Golden opinions from all sorts of people, Which would be worn now in their newest gloss, Not cast aside so soon" (Act 1, Scene 7, Line 32-35), Lady Macbeth does not give up, but keep on pushing him using sarcastic insults. By using ways of manipulating, I think it counts as forcing Macbeth to go on with the plan.

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    2. I think their actions are very clear indeed, we all agree that Lady Macbeth and Macbeth have a good marriage. Apparently, their orals show how much they care for each other, the examples you wrote, “My dearest partner of greatness” and “my dearest love.” Normally, people will not say that to people that are not their love or close to them, only husband and wife, boyfriend and girlfriend, those with lovely relationships will sweet talk to their mates. However, this proves that Lady Macbeth and Macbeth are happy together. On the other hand, for the murder of Duncan, I kind of agree with you, but kind of not agree with you. See, I know its Macbeth, he kills the king, he should take all the responsibility, but it’s also Lady Macbeth who insults him and attack his manhood to let him do it. She helps him do it, and then she must be the one who encourages him to do it. Likewise, She is involved in this incident. This clearly shows she is an accomplice too, so I think she also has fault on the murder of Duncan incident.

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  11. Lady macbeth role is to make sure that macbeth is doing what he is suppose to do. Because if lady macbeth wasn't there, then macbeth wouldn't have killed king Duncan. They both love each other with a passion, but lady macbeth insults him to get the way that she wants from him. Lady macbeth also wants to be the man of the relationship, because she thinks that macbeth is a coward and that he will not do anything unless he is told by her. She tells him that and then strikes his man hood to do what she wants him to do. she also said that she wants to unsexed and she told him that she will smash babys. She also believes that he has no responsibilites to do anything by himself. She always bosses him around to get what she wants, not what he would like.

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    1. I agree with you alex because if lady macbeth wasent there duncan would still be alive and macbeth would not becoming king. She totally attacks his manhood when he dosent want to do things she wants him to do such as killing duncan to become king. She runs the relationship in a big part because she gets macbeth to do anything she wants by insulting him. Her attitude is kind of like the term "my way or the highway" if you dont do what she wants or what she thinks is right she attacks at full speed.

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    2. I disagree with you on your point that MacBeth wouldn't have killed Duncan if Lady MacBeth hadn't told him to. Sure it helped him make the decision faster but if he adamantly didn't want to kill Duncan he wouldn't have done it. A part of him did want to kill Duncan without her encouragement. If he had time he probably would have killed Duncan without her influence.Also I don't think that Lady MacBeth thinks him a coward, killing a king is a big deal and there should be some thought of the consequences before doing it. MacBeth is not a coward he was just thinking it through a bit. Lady MacBeth does manipulate MacBeth a lot but she's just nurturing the seeds of ideas that were already in his head.

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    3. I agree with Alex, Lady Macbeth cares about him, and this is because she knows Macbeth is coward and have too much milk in him, so she will help him to get through it. And that is why she needs to unsex herself and becomes a man to do the right decision, just for Macbeth. However, Macbeth is a weak man; he doesn’t follow her plan correctly because he is very scared of himself being discovered. Well, of course, Lady Macbeth would get mad and attacks his manhood and uses this method to encourage him to become stronger. She is like a guide to Macbeth; she is smarter than him and knows how to solve a difficult situation. She loves him and that is why she does the bad thing for him to just to make him good.

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  12. I find that the roles that are supposed to be played by macbeth and lady macbeth are switched around so that macbeth is the women and lady macbeth is the man of the relationship. I would say that they have an okay marriage but it could be alot better then what it already is. In my own opinion lady macbeth is 100% at fault of killing duncan because macbeth didnt want to do it in the first place and he had his mind made up to not kill duncan but lady macbeth attacked his manhood and now duncan is dead. Lady macbeth "tricks" macbeth into doing the things she wants him to do by saying that a real man would kill duncan and just attacking his manhood in general. I would say that they do have a genuine affection for each other and are pretty well matched but they could use some work.

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  13. Personally, I think that Lady Macbeth and Macbeth's marriage is a fairly decent one from what we see in the play; there's no way to know what it was like before. Obviously, a "good" marriage doesn't equate to good people, however. Their marriage is good that they work together and encourage each other's goals. They also trust each other, which is very important.

    Lady Macbeth encourages Macbeth to fufill his dreams and become king. She knows exactly what buttons to push, and is very good at getting him to do what she wants, even if there is a little manipulation involved. They compliment each other, and spur each other along when the other is reluctant, thus achieving their common goals in an interesting show of teamwork.

    He actually trusts her enough to let her come up with a plan on how to assassinate Duncan, even if it does take some convincing. Likewise, the tables do turn, and in Scene II, Macbeth has to convince Lady Macbeth to act as though she is calm and composed at the feast.

    In addition to this, they both call each other names of endearment, like "my lord" (Lady Macbeth), "my husband" (Lady Macbeth) and "my love" (Macbeth).

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    1. Tessa I agree with your point "the good marriage doesn't equal to good people", and I do think their marriage worked out well. Lady Macbeth give Macbeth a lot of pressure but at the same time she did try her best to make his dream come true. She also comfort him at some point when he was freaking out. Though it might seem a bit brutal sometimes but I think she's doing her best to get Macbeth the best. Also I agree that Macbeth trust Lady Macbeth a lot or else he really wouldn't let her do the planning or even listen to her at all.

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  14. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are perfect for each other. To me, a successful marriage depends on the partner and an ideal partner means someone who shares common goal and willing to support each other until the end. In the play, the goal is to have Macbeth become King, and both Lady Macbeth and Macbeth work hard planning to make the prophecy come true. Even though their goal is not considered to be... good, but couples willing to cooperate with each other surely is something to be envied. I think the relationship between Lady Macbeth and Macbeth is truthful since in the play it shows that they truly care about each other.
    When Macbeth returns home, he calls his wife “my dearest love” (I.v).
    When Macbeth receives a good news (of becoming Thane of Cawdor and the prophecy of becoming King), Lady Macbeth is the first one he informed. This shows that Macbeth sincerely trusts his wife and, through this situation, an example of self-disclosure is shown. Self-disclosure is revealing intimate aspects of oneself to others.
    Although their lives are getting unstable at this moment, their downfall has nothing to do with the marriage. It is Macbeth’s own ambition and Lady Macbeth’s lust for power brings his/her own destruction; therefore, Lady Macbeth does not hold complete responsibility for the death of Duncan. “It takes two to tango.” Macbeth has already intended to steal the crown. Lady Macbeth just gives him a big push, making their plan work sooner.

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    1. Beverly, I totally agree with you. Same as me, I believe that Lady Macbeth and Macbeth are perfect for each other and both of them truly love each other. I agree with this is because in the play, both of them cooperate with each other to successfully accomplish their ambition to become king and queen. Moreover, how they speak to each other reflects the respect among them and showed they have a close relationship. I also support your idea that Lady Macbeth does not hold complete responsibility for the death of Duncan. I personally think that Macbeth lost to his ambition which leads to his downfall. Even though, Lady Macbeth is the one plan out the idea of killing the King, however, Macbeth has the choice to choose whether he do it or not, which he pick to kill. I believe Lady Macbeth is a motivation that helps Macbeth to succeed his wish. Therefore, Lady Macbeth has nothing to do with the death of the King.

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    2. I agree with both of you. I think that Lady Macbeth and Macbeth are "perfect" for each other. The things that they do, while harmful to society, are a remarkable show of teamwork. For example, Lady Macbeth spurred her husband on to committ murder; by doing this, he accomplished something that they both wanted- Macbeth being King. Their marriage is also full of communication. When coming to a big decision, such as Macbeth deliberating whether or not to murder the King, they discuss it. This makes their marriage, despite them both being horrible people, a good one.

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    3. I agree with you guys, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth does have a good marriage after all. If you truly love somebody, you will have a feeling of not afraid of dead. When your lover is in danger, you will not hesitate to save him/her; you will sacrifice yourselves in order to do him/her good. However, in this play, Lady Macbeth “unsex” herself to help her husband achieving the goal. In my opinion, she sacrifices her woman’s trait and becomes a man. I think no one can do this, except her. (such a great courage she has) this has proven that she loves him very much.

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  15. Overall, I believe they have a fairly good marriage. Even though their relationship might be untypical of the time, they still have a decent sense of bonding between them. For example, he calls her as his “dearest partner of greatness” and she calls him “my husband” or “worthy Thane” shows that they do have some degrees of affection towards each other. In addition, they both share the common ambition and goal to become the King and the Queen, thus they trusted each other. Macbeth trusted the plan made by Lady Macbeth, and through the “teamwork” they committed the murder of Duncan. As well, they are pretty well matched and both have the willingness to support each other. It is shown when Lady Macbeth comes up with the murder plan, and Macbeth gets convinced to do the deed, for fulfilling HER goal of becoming the Queen (even though he also has the desire to be King).
    However, I wouldn’t agree that they are the “perfect match” for each other, if their affection for each other only builds on their common ambition instead of deeper emotional support for each other as a spouse. For example, when Macbeth was in a sense of severe insecurity and guilt right after the murder of Duncan, Lady Macbeth only urged him to wash off the blood on his hands and put the daggers back. I would only agree that they are only well matched as partners who share the same goals, but lack deeper emotional attachment in their marriage.
    As for the murder of Duncan, I’d say that Lady Macbeth definitely plays a large role of influencing Macbeth’s decision of whether or not to kill Duncan. However, Lady Macbeth is not the only factor that plays a role. Other influences such as Macbeth’s own ambition, the prophecy from the weird sisters, and crowning of Malcolm as the prince of Cumberland all plays a part in contribute to Macbeth’s decision making. Therefore, I wouldn’t blame it all on Lady Macbeth’s persuasion, since Macbeth could’ve possibly come up with a solution of his own. Yet, she is responsible for her act of providing Macbeth with the plan, and the attempt to manipulate him.

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  16. Although Lady Macbeth and Macbeth’s relationship before the time period of the play has not been shown much, I think their marriage might not been very good and they don’t seem to hold genuine affection. While Macbeth is fond of Lady Macbeth, (shown in Act 1, scene 5: delivering letters to her wife about his victory and also uses “dearest partner of greatness” in the letter to express Lady Macbeth.), Lady Macbeth seems to be using Macbeth to gain more power for herself. She is easily upset when Macbeth hesitates to kill Duncan. She even uses words like “live a coward in thine own esteem”, “screw you courage to the sticking-place” (all from Act 1, scene 7) to attack Macbeth physically and mentally in order to persuade him to take the responsibility of murdering. She must have known that Macbeth may have a possibility to become king because he is Duncan’s cousin, so she married him, just like Hitler using the Jewish to blame all his mistakes. This is proved by the wild reaction of Lady Macbeth in Act 1, scene 7, “I would, while [our baby] was smiling in my face, have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums and dashed the brains out had I so sworn as you have done to this” when Macbeth intends to avoid assassination and let go of the chance to be crowned. She has desired to become queen so much that she even uses their not-yet-born baby as a weapon to convince Macbeth to do the deed. This shows that she is unscrupulous and unethical and she doesn’t care about Macbeth’s feeling and thoughts. Furthermore, despite the fact that both Lady Macbeth and Macbeth took a big role and responsibility of the murder of Duncan, Macbeth is more in charge of this crime because he has the conscious to make the choice between killing or not. However, with Lady Macbeth’s simple manipulation he has given up on his indecision and actually executes the king. He has the power to choose his path, yet giving up on it just directs himself to the path of a tragic hero.

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  17. I think they actually have a really good marriage, because their personality balance out each other and they both have pretty much the same goals. At first, Macbeth was the one that can't do what he should do to get what he wants, but Lady Macbeth pushed him so he could become the king. Then after he become king, Macbeth realized he's best friend will be his enemy one day, so he planned to kill him. Then Lady Macbeth step in and tried to stop him. Though she didn't success but I think she was right about how Macbeth shouldn't kill Banquo. I think Lady Macbeth is a really important character in this relationship because she thinks more than Macbeth and she knows more about how to do or what should not be done. Though she really should be responsible for the crime of killing King Duncan, because at the end it's she was the one that planned everything and force Macbeth to do it. On the other hand, I don't think it's wrong because as far as we know the country was still working and happiness was still happening. Macbeth was not a bad king after all, at least from the surface view he's not bad.

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    1. I agree with you that Lady Macbeth and Macbeth’s personality balanced out each other and they are gender reversal. Although Lady Macbeth (woman) is manlier, she doesn’t have capability to do masculine things. On the contrary, though Macbeth (man) is weaker, he is easily manipulated and do the deeds Lady Macbeth asked. Therefore, they make up the perfect match of the planner (Lady Macbeth) and the performer (Macbeth). However, I disagree that their marriage is good because in my opinion Lady Macbeth is just using Macbeth to gain more wealth, power, and reputation, yet Macbeth truly loves Lady Macbeth (called her “my dearest partner of greatness” in Act 1, scene 5). If you disagree with me, then why would Lady Macbeth force Macbeth to commit crime for his and her ambition? Why would she drive Macbeth to kill Duncan when he decided not to in act 1, scene 7, and using nasty words, like “live a coward” and “dashed the brains out [of their child]” to convince him? Are her actions for Macbeth or for herself?

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    2. I don't know for sure, but I think for some part of it she does want to make Macbeth happy. Yes, if Macbeth become king she will gain a lot more than she used to had. But at the same time, Macbeth will gain even more than she does. She gave Macbeth a lot of pressure and pushed him hard, but at the end he did become king and gain the power he always wanted. I can't tell you if she did all that for herself, but I do know that She's not the only one that gain things in this action.

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    3. I do agree with you that they both do gain the position of King and Queen. Lady Macbeth may have some affection for Macbeth, but I think she's mainly using him to become Queen. Why pushes Macbeth in a foul way to achieve their ambition? Why not just plan something else that Macbeth will accept and something without committing any crime? The murder of Duncan will just lead to destruction of Macbeth. Moreover, when Macbeth decided not to kill Duncan in Act 1, scene7, Lady Macbeth should not use nasty words to convince him. Because is forcing someone to do something he or she doesn't want to do a fair thing or a foul thing? No, obviously it’s foul not to consider the other’s decision. Therefore, I think Lady Macbeth gives Macbeth a lot of pressure to push him to do the deed is 90% for her own good.

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  18. In psychology class we just finished learning social psychology and what makes for a good relationship. To maintain a good relationship a couple must have equity (give equal amounts to the relationship) and self-disclosure (share personal information with each other). I believe that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s marriage shows both of these. Macbeth shares everything that has happened to him with Lady Macbeth. He shared that he met the witches, that he would become king and that he felt guilty about killing Duncan. Similarly Lady Macbeth shared personal information as well; she wanted to become queen and that she couldn’t kill Duncan because he looked like her father.

    I think that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth do, indeed hold genuine affection for each other, because everything they do they do it as a team. After the murder of Duncan, both Lady Macbeth and Macbeth knew that their lives could be in danger (Macbeth’s life more) and Lady Macbeth could have left before she got herself into more trouble, but I think she stayed because of her love for Macbeth. She didn’t want to leave him alone in a time of need.

    Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are very similar to one another. They both have a strong desire for power and would do anything to get there, such as killing the king. They also both are a little cowardly. Macbeth was a coward at first when he was afraid to kill Duncan and Lady Macbeth is a coward because she said she would kill Duncan but then couldn’t do it in the end.

    Although Lady Macbeth did persuade Macbeth to kill Duncan in the end, I don’t think she is responsible for the murder. Macbeth’s desire to be king was so strong that if the crown hadn’t come to him soon, he probably would’ve killed Duncan anyways. I think that Lady Macbeth’s persuasion just made the murder happen sooner.

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    1. ↓ LOL Yeah, I meant to reply Haley's, but i accidentally typed in the wrong box :x

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  19. I agree with the idea you brought up about equity and self-disclosure. When I first look at Macbeth and Lady Macbeth in terms of their marriage, I immediately thought of these two elements.

    However, I still think Lady Macbeth is responsible for Duncan's death. Before knowing her husband's desire to become King, she already has that idea of murdering Duncan. (At that time, Macbeth only informs her that Duncan will come to visit, and she just immediately react of wanting to kill). She also agrees with her husband and supports her husband. Above these are enough to make her a accomplice. Therefore, I think she is responsible.

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    1. I also agreed with you and Haley on the idea of equity, but not so much in self-disclosure. Since they both contributes to the murder, and share the same goal and strong ambition at the beginning of the play, i'd say that there are equity between their relationship. However, as for self-disclosure, not so much in a few scene we've read so far. For example, Lady Macbeth was careless about Macbeth's guilty feeling right after Dun's murdered, and Macbeth stops sharing the detail of his plan of get rid of Banquo and Fleance as a threat to his crown.

      As for Lady Macbeth responsibility for Duncan's murder, I would say that Macbeth himself is sharing the responsibility with her, because she is not the only factor which manipulates him to make the decision. In addition, Macbeth once thought that "if chance will have me King/ Why, chance may crown me without my stir." (I,iii) Thus, even though Lady Macbeth being responsible for supplied him with the plan, Macbeth should have more responsibility for making the decision whether or not to kill, and hold the dagger in his very own hands.

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    2. BEVERLY - Just because Lady Macbeth had the idea of murdering Duncan before knowing about her husband's desire, doesn't mean that she is responsible for the murder. As Judy said, Macbeth was the one who held the dagger in his very own hands and killed Duncan himself. It was HIS decision to actually murder Duncan and he could've chose not to, but he made the wrong decision.

      JUDY - I think that at the beginning of the play Macbeth and Lady Macbeth did share self-disclosure with each other (Macbeth told Lady Macbeth about the prophecy, they made the plan to kill the king, Macbeth told Lady Macbeth he felt guilty), but I do agree with you that in the past few scenes it has been fading a little. But, then again, what do we know? We don't know every single thing that happens in the play; maybe he did tell Lady Macbeth about the plan, but it just wasn't written down for us to see.

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    3. That's true. We'll just have to read more and see what happens next! And i do believe that there are parts of it when we cannot "see" everything happened between the couple.

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  20. Wow so late sorry people totally forgot

    To me it seems like they have a good marriage on the surface and from what people see it seems like a great marriage but they have issues just like every marriage. They both don't seem to show exceptional affection towards each other but they both treat each other as if they know the other person wont argue too much with what they say. So in other words they may still love each other but don't show strong signs of it. Its easy to say that they are poorly matched as in Macbeth a noble hero is married to a evil minded Lady Macbeth but then some people could also say that opposites attract and those make the best couples. If you ask me they are well matched because of how they understand and dont complain too much about what the other person wants to do. As for being responsible for Duncans death there is very little blame for Lady Macbeth but most of the blame goes to Macbeth himself. Sure he got pressured into killing him but that's just pressure. All he had to do was say no but Macbeth HIMSELF was too weak and stupid and had to go and kill Duncan HIMSELF. Also at the same time Macbeth knew that killing duncan was always an option, his wife just pressured him into doing it which makes her take a tiny bit of the blame.

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  21. Sigh forgot again.

    I think as far as marriages go, they are a very successful do to the fact that they've never fought. Lady Macbeth has manipulated Macbeth to do what she wants which is not morally right, but Macbeth seems okay with it. They aren't well matched in the sense that Lady Macbeth wanted to kill where as Macbeth didn't. They are a good match in the perspective of control. Two control freaks don't work well together, so fortunately for their marriage, Macbeth isn't one. Lady Macbeth is 100% responsible. Macbeth said, "If chance will have me king, then chance will crown me." This shows that Macbeth was willing to wait to be king, until Lady M rolled up.

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