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How does William Shakespeare introduce the character of Lady Macbeth?

Shakespeare introduces the character of Lady Macbeth by allowing the audience to see her private response to Macbeth's news via letter in Act I, Scene 5. We know we are glimpsing into the very soul of the character because she is alone when she learns of the prophecies her husband received from the Weird Sisters. While it took Macbeth some time to consider violence, Lady Macbeth immediately jumps to the idea that they should kill Duncan to hasten the prophecy along. She says,


Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be


What thou art promised.  Yet do I fear thy nature;


It is too full o' th' milk of human kindness


To catch the nearest way (I.5.15-18).



In other words, Lady Macbeth is sure Macbeth will fulfill the prophecy eventually, but fears he is too loyal and compassionate to take the fastest route to the throne: murdering the one who currently sits on it.


Further, Lady Macbeth's private response to the news that Duncan is on his way to their castle shows her ambition and ruthlessness; she refers to his arrival as his "fatal entrance" (I.5.46). Moreover, she prays for murderous spirits to "unsex [her] here" and "take [her] milk for gall," filling her "from the crown to the toe-top full / Of direst cruelty" (I.5.48, 55, 49-50). Lady Macbeth pleads for the ability to commit terrible violence without remorse or regret. She wants to be as ruthless as a man, to lose any part of her that might retain any compassion or care. By allowing us to see her alone first, the audience gets an accurate idea of Lady Macbeth's character before she reunites with her husband.

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