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Lady Macbeth is perhaps one of the most influential characters in Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”. She serves as the driving force behind Macbeth’s actions and ultimately leads him down a path of treachery and greed. At first, Shakespeare portrays Lady Macbeth as a cold and heartless woman, yet as the story progresses it becomes obvious that her personality undergoes a drastic change. After Duncan’s murder, Lady Macbeth feels no remorse for the part she played in his death. But as Macbeth becomes less dependent on her, she loses control and finally succumbs to her own guilty conscience. A person’s character can gradually fall apart due to their emotions, the influence of others, and the choices that they make. A person’s feelings can become so strong that they completely take all sense and reason. A good example is Lady Macbeth’s decline to a state of insanity, which was brought on by tremendous guilt. After the murder of Duncan, Lady Macbeth reassures her husband by saying, “A little water clears us of this deed.” (Act 2, Scene 2) This action is symbolic because Duncan’s guilt represents their guilt, and through the act of washing the blood from their hands, Lord and Lady Macbeth purge the guilt from within themselves. On the contrary, Lady Macbeth later reveals that the power they had once sought after and attained was not as grand as it seemed at first.
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