An evil person thinks about no one but themselves, and what will benefit them most in the future. Lady Macbeth proves she is complex because she loves her husband and is willing to murder for him. “Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be what thou art promis'd. Yet do I fear thy nature, It is too full o' th' milk of human kindness to catch the nearest way.” (Shakespeare)
“Lady Macbeth is ambitious, and fears that her milky husband lacks the mettle to grab the Scottish crown in the most expeditious manner. "The nearest way," as she sees it, is to murder King Duncan” Lady Macbeth is fearful that her husband wont murder the king himself. She she attempts to take the situation into her own hands, by considering murdering the king herself. She considers this because she knows her husband is reluctant to murder, but he wants to take the throne, and she wants what is best for her husband.
A truly evil person would not be faced with complication when it comes to murdering someone else. Lady Macbeth proves that she struggles with the idea of murder when she calls upon evil spirits to “unsex” her.
“Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,
And fill me from the crown to the toe topful of direst cruelty!” (Shakespeare)
If Lady Macbeth were truly evil, she would have not called upon the evil spirits to help her think differently, so she would be capable of committing murder.
“Lady Macbeth embodies the frailty of a woman since she is unable to carry out the murder of Duncan.” (joan 3)
Since Lady Macbeth calls upon these evil spirits to unsex her. It means that she knows she wont be able to commit this murder, because her womanly instinct will forbid her from committing such an act. She needs to evil spirits to block her from her natural thoughts so she is able to do something evil.
A truly evil person would not think twice about murder, if it meant getting what they wanted. Lady Macbeth proves that she is not evil because her love for her father stops her from murdering King Duncan. “Had he not resembled my Father as he slept, I Had done’t.” (Shakespeare)
In order for Lady Macbeth to be truly evil, she would have murder he the King, She already had the daggers in her hand. Since the King served as a reminder to Lady Macbeth of the love for her father, she could not find the willpower to murder the king.
“Lady Macbeth has limitations to her evil and cannot physically slay a man.” (Goddard 1)
An evil person often cannot tell, or does not care about the different between right and wrong actions.
Lady Macbeth is complex because she loses her mind from guilt.
Lady Macbeth never consciously admits to her crimes. But her guilty mind has caused her to women”: “Out, damn'd spot! out, I say!—One; two: why, then 'tis time to do't.—Hell is murky.—Fie, my lord, fie, a soldier, and afeard? What need we fear who knows it, when none can call our pow'r to accompt?—Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?” (Shakespeare)
This scene shows Lady Macbeth as she hallucinates, due to her guilty conscience.
“ As Lady Macbeth replays this scene for the eavesdroppers, she not only incriminates herself, but also reveals the pangs of conscience she had ridiculed in her husband.” (Macrone.) People who are truly evil would fail to see their wrong in a situtatuion. Since Lady Macbeth starts to sleep walk and hallucinate due to her guilty conscience, this shows she is not truly evil.
Lady Macbeth is complex because she seeks justice through suicide in place of the murders.
Since Lady Macbeth’s death does not take place on stage. There are no quotes. Her death is simply reported to her husband. When Macbeth hears the tragic news of his wife, he simply says “ She would have died hereafter.”
"In a mind constituted like that of Lady Macbeth, conscience must awake at some time or other, and bring with it remorse closed by despair and despair by death." (Tyson) An evil person would not care to seek justice for their actions. Since lady Macbeth feels her own death is fair justice, this shows that she is not evil.
Though these five things, you can make the judgment that Lady Macbeth is not truly an evil character. But she is very complex. It is shown that Lady Macbeth was never truly evil because of her actions such as, losing her mind because of the burden of guilt. And not being able to murder the King because he resembled her Father as he slept.
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