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Lady Macbeth Greed Quotes

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Although critics argue that Lady Macbeth was a ruthless character from the start, Shakespeare chooses to have her display actions over time that can be characterized by modern medicine as displaying a mental illness. Right from the start, Lady Macbeth displays a lack of humanity due to her burning passion and ambition to become queen. Through dramatic irony, readers are able to see through her amicability towards King Duncan, characterized by letting him into her own home with open arms, and ultimately, not displaying her true intentions. This passion to gain more power only becomes stronger and stronger over time as she persuades Macbeth to commit murder, even going as far as questioning his “lack of courage” (Jamieson). Once there is an …show more content…

Once the idea and prophecy for Macbeth to gain more power arose, Lady Macbeth decides to act on that opportunity, proving that she was greedy for more power. Initially, Lady Macbeth shows a small ounce of greed which slowly spreads over time. Eventually, the greed that she possesses changes into guilt, therefore proving that she is not the same person that she was at the beginning of the novel due to the events that have happened to her. Although she might have been able to pull it off at first, the readers are able to see the events that have happened to her slowly catch up to her based off of her actions (Shanahan). Instead of being the ruthless character that she initially exhibited herself to be, she lets her guard down and becomes a character in a highly emotional state of mind (Shanahan). This character comes across as vulnerable and weak, showing signs of mental illness such as depression, trouble sleeping, and an increased amount of stress. This deterioration as shown throughout the play can be characterized as the result that greed has on the mind of Lady Macbeth, ending in her downfall and ultimate …show more content…

Lady Macbeth displays many characters similar to that of a paranoid schizophrenic of today’s standards due to the hallucinations, delusions, recurring nightmares, and hyper arousal that she conveys, especially towards the end of the novel. (Downfall). Hallucinations are defined as sensory perceptions that have no basis in reality, such as the visions of blood that Lady Macbeth imagines is there (Downfall). Over time, the readers see how these events catch up to her and lead her to see things that are not there based off of events that have happened to her. The line, “Is this a dagger which I see before me...art thou not, fatal victim, sensible” describes a vivid hallucination about a dagger, taken as an effective and guilt for the murder of King Duncan (Downfall). The line “Will these hands ne’re be clean” proves that Lady Macbeth feels guilty for the murder of King Duncan, both literally with physical blood, and figuratively with mentally blame that she puts on herself

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