Macbeth
Female Power There are many major characters that play a large role within the plot of Macbeth. For example, the three witches control Macbeth and force him to do evil things. Some of their prophecies seem self-fulfilling and it is doubtful that Macbeth would have murdered the king if he wasn’t pushed by the witches. However, Lady Macbeth plays the largest role in the plot and conflict of Macbeth. Lady Macbeth alters the plot in many ways. Lady Macbeth controls Macbeth and messes with his mind so that they both can achieve power. Lady Macbeth is the person that Macbeth goes to when he needs advice for his problems and when he goes insane. She plotted the murders for Macbeth because he didn’t have the evil in him to start it himself and also because she is a female. Females did not commit crimes of such nature during that time period. As the play goes on, Lady Macbeth makes Macbeth lose his humanity towards others because she is stronger, more ruthless, and more ambitious than her husband Macbeth. Macbeth no longer has sympathy for what he does because his ambition grows too big. Clearly, Lady Macbeth plays a vital role in the mindset of Macbeth throughout the play. As Macbeth became used to committing murders and other serious deeds on his own, Lady Macbeth’s huge role in the plot began to dwindle. She began to become an uninvolved spectator to Macbeth’s plotting, and a nervous hostess at a banquet dominated by her husband’s hallucinations. Not only does Macbeth want power, but Lady Macbeth does too. Both of their ambitions grow rapidly from the beginning of Act 1 to the end of the play. They feel that they need recognition for what they do and that they cannot achieve too much power together. During that time period, women weren’t seen as high as men. That is why Lady Macbeth had to control Macbeth and persuade him into committing these crimes. It seems as if Lady Macbeth forces and uses Macbeth so that she doesn’t commit the crime herself. Both Lady Macbeth