"It is Macbeth who kills Duncan, but it is Lady Macbeth who is the true villain of the play."

Lady Macbeth is the true villain of the play, Macbeth. This is portrayed and supported by many different productions as well as the play itself. In every Shakespearean tragedy, a crucial character is always present. This is the villain, someone who triggers a chain of unfortunate events, leading the to protagonists’ downfall. In this case, it is inevitably Lady Macbeth’s role.

The major turning point of Macbeth begins with the assassination of King Duncan due to his intensified ambition. However, Macbeth's ambition had not been strong enough to carry the motive to kill King Duncan until Lady Macbeth introduced the concept of murder to him. It is Lady Macbeth’s ambition, rather than her husband’s that ultimately creates the tragedy and the murder of Duncan. It is clearly shown that Macbeth is unlikely to have committed the murder without his wife’s powerful taunts and persuasions. This leaded to the new character of Macbeth controlled by greed, violence, and domination.

Lady Macbeth by George Cattermole.

The sleepwalking Lady Macbeth

Sarah Siddons in the Sleepwalking Scene

The marriage of the Macbeths’ is held together through a particular bond. It depicts a change in the typical Shakespearean married couples in which romance and love is the key to their relationship. In Macbeth, they are united by their crimes, their mutual madness, and their isolation from the rest of their society. Lady Macbeth cleverly manipulates their relationship in persuading her husband in the assassination. When Macbeth’s conscience tells himself he shall not kill King Duncan, Lady Macbeth becomes outraged, calls him a coward and questions his manhood: “When you durst do it… then you were a man” (I.vii.49). Throughout the play, whenever Macbeth shows signs of faltering, Lady Macbeth implies that he is less than a man. e.g. (I.vii.38-41)The idea of Lady Macbeth being the true villain of the play is further emphasised by different productions including...