Macbeth and Lady Macbeth's Personalities Switch Throughout the Play

In the play Macbeth there are many interesting characters that make the play successful. There are several types of characters who each have their distinct qualities. Amongst these characters Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are of audience's prime interest. The characters Macbeth and Lady Macbeth display different qualities and they each face different challenges throughout the play. In the beginning of the play Lady Macbeth is shown to be the more cunning and wicked of the two whereas Macbeth is portrayed to be an ambitious man with morals. After Duncan's murder Lady Macbeth doesn't want to hurt anyone else whereas Macbeth continues his cruel killings of other characters. Towards the end of the play Shakespeare displays that Lady Macbeth feels immensely guilty but Macbeth - despite of the guilt he once felt - wants to continue.

In the beginning of the play when Macbeth was still undecided of committing Duncan's murder, Lady Macbeth proved to be the more cunning and wicked than Macbeth. To gather up the courage to kill Duncan she prays for great cruelty and no humanity towards Duncan ("Make thick my blood, /, to cry Hold! Hold!" (I, V, 46-57)). She persuades Macbeth into killing Duncan by challenging his manliness and by manipulating him, "What beast was it then, /, and that their fitness now does unmake you" (I, VII, 52-59). She doesn't feel any guilt right after the murder either and she is in complete control of herself as she orders Macbeth to feel no remorse, " My hands are of your colour, /, be not so poorly lost in your thoughts" (II, II, 81-91). She also has a double personality which she displays towards Duncan and even Macbeth to a certain extent. Macbeth on the other hand is completely opposite of Lady Macbeth in the beginning of the play. He is ambitious but he still possesses moralistic values and knows right from wrong. At one point of the play he even decides that he doesn't want to kill Duncan. He says, "We will proceed no further in this business, /, not cast aside so soon (I, VII, 33-37) He gives reasons to himself to why he shouldn't kill Duncan. His reasoning also displays that he is generally noble and loyal toward the King. Macbeth also has a guilty conscience that doesn't allow him to be calm and collected after committing the murder. His guilty conscience plants fear within him which stays throughout the play until the witches show him the apparitions. His fear is displayed when he killed Duncan's guards, Banquo, and Mucduff's family.

After Duncan is murdered Lady Macbeth doesn't want to hurt anyone else but Macbeth continues committing murders. Lady Macbeth believes that Macbeth and she have achieved what they wanted and therefore she doesn't wish to hurt anyone else. She faints when she hears that Macbeth murdered Duncan's guards. I think she fainted because Macbeth and her didn't discuss