Unsex Me Here Macbeth Analysis Essay - 642 Words

Scene Analysis: Macbeth Act 1 Scene 5 Act 1, Scene 5 is a soliloquy spoken by Lady Macbeth after she has read her husbands letter, and when she knows from the messenger that the king will be arriving that night. The raven himself is hoarse That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan Under my battlements. Come, you spirits That tend on mortal thoughts! Unsex me here, And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full Of direst cruelty; make thick my blood, Stop up the access and passage to remorse, That no compunctious visitings of nature Shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between Th effect and it! Come to my womans breasts, And take my milk for gall, you murdering ministers, Wherever in your sightless substances You wait†¦show more content†¦She then prays that they unsex her, in other words, she wants to be stripped of all her natural female emotions, tendencies and qualities, she wants to be deprived of any loving, maternal qualities, and to have them replaced by a direst cruelty. Lady Macbeth also pleads that they make thick my blood, Stop up the passage to remorse. Technically if her blood was made thicker, the blood flow throughout her body would be slowed down, and natural human functions would shut down. Metaphorically she wants the flow of remorse and pity to be cut off, and to be unhuman. However, it also shows that naturally she could be a decent person, because if she was all bad she wouldnt be pleading to dark forces to block up her consciece and pity. passage and access describe entrances, openings or routes. Lady Macbeth wants them all to be blocked so that she can commit any evil deed without remorse, so that no natural feelings can divert her from her original intent ions. (No compunctious visitings of nature). Lady Macbeth pleads that her breast milk be turned to bile. A womans breasts have the natural function to feed, and is a source of life for a growing baby, while bile is a bitter, foul green coloured substance made in the liver which provides no nourishment. This again links back to the central theme of the reversal of nature. Lady Macbeth also pleadsShow MoreRelatedPsychoanalytical Criticism of Macbeth1170 Words   |  5 Pagescharacter Lady Macbeth in William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth. When Macbeth was written in the beginning of the seventeenth century, masculine traits included valor, authority, and undaunted aggression while femininity was related to virtue, compliance and obeying her husband’s desires—the phrase: yes, my Lord was extremely common. In this sense, Lady Macbeth’s conduct must adhere to the strict codes of femininity placed before her by cultural injunctions of the period. 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