Macbeth--Tragedy

"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 th’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 woman’s breasts, And take my milk for gall, you murd’ring ministers, Wherever in your sightless substances You wait on nature’s mischief. Come, thick night, And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell, That my keen knife see not the wound it makes, Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark, To cry ‘Hold, hold!’"

This passage is found early-on in the play. Lady Macbeth says this upon Duncan's arrival at the castle. She desires to eventually have Duncan murdered, so she needs to summon up all of the evil that she possibly can. She casts aside her womanhood and femininity, for only men are perceived as srtong and brute. She feels that as a woman, she would lack the power necessary. The most obvious reference to this is when she says "unsex me here". She no longer desires to be a woman, because she feels it is holding her back. This passage gives the reader insight into exactly how power-crazed Lady Macbeth is fairly early on. She is a crazed wife who is dissatisfied with her husband's accomplishments. She feels she must take matters into her own hands, for in her eyes Macbeth is simply too weak to carry out the actions she thinks are essential to his success. She wants to live vicariously through him, and takes more pride in his successes than he himself does. Her power-hungry, show-no-mercy attitude is transferred to her husband, just as she intended. Because of her, Macbeth was as he was.

Tragedy
As is the case with most Shakespeare tragedies, Macbeth is filled with blood, violence, and murder. By definition, a tragedy must entail a person falling from a zenith to a nadir. This path is clearly followed in Macbeth; he seems unstoppable as his power continues to grow. He eventually reaches the top, only to fall plummeting into death, to be remembered as a failure and villain forever. Macbeth, essentailly, is not an unlikeable character. He is subdued and thinks carefully about his actions. He is too easily manipulated. He emblematizes innocence, but only for a brief while. After his thoughts are corrupted by his wife, he turns into a mass-murderer. This emotional transformation engages the audience, and they are able to foresee his fall in advance. Since emotional ups and downs, characterized by extreme violence, greed, and revenge make up this story, it is correctly labeled as a tragedy.

What I think...
This story was an "okay" read. It was difficult to decipher at times, making for a rather slow read. The pace of the plot, on the other hand, was quite different. The plot moved along at breakneck speed. Twists and turns, up and downs, all characterized by the violent and ingenious scheme of Lady Macbeth. I loved how Lady Macbeth was able to completely transform Macbeth into an object of her own creation. She modified him to her liking, to better suit her ends. That is quite relatable to today; people are yet manipulative and use others for their own gains on a regular basis. This is particularly true in the world of politics, just as in the play. Lady Macbeth's scheme was quite simple in the start, but grew more and more complex as time went on. This is natural and to be expected, as problems and setbacks are likely to occur along the way, but seeing how it all unfolds is quite spectacular. The constant setbacks and obstacles that Macbeth faced just go to support the overall theme: attempts at gaining power fraudulently are futile.