On the one hand, Lady Macbeth has committed terrible crimes in the context of the medieval period in which the play is set in. This includes plotting and assisting in regicide. She violated the code of hospitality in her home. These were one of the key responsibilities of women in this historical period. She retains a shocking rejection of femininity, wifehood, and motherhood. She also consults supernatural spirits frequently. This is particularly shocking to the audience of the play because of the witch hunts of that time. On the other hand, we must consider the delicate conditions of the society Lady Macbeth lived in to sympathize with her and unpick MalcolmΒs point of view as a man. The great chain of being and social hierarchy could have affected Malcolms judgment as the chain of being was gendered. In this context, therefore, any wrongdoing by Lady Macbeth may have been exaggerated in his mind. As a woman living in a hyper-masculine and sexist society, many limitations were placed on women during this period. Women were often viewed as trophies and objectified, leading us to sympathize and think better of her despite all her crimes and shift more of the blame onto Macbeth. Shakespeare also hints towards a possible miscarriage before the play starts. Lady Macbeth could be emotionally affected in an irrational way which could affect her decision-making. Witchcraft was shed in a very bad light which would have almost definitely distorted Malcolms view.
Act scene 5, is imperative in our understanding of Lady Macbeth. A particularly interesting line shows Lady Macbeth saying, unsex
me here, and fill me from the crown to the toe top-full of direst cruelty. This imperative dark imagery using words like direst shocks the reader as lady Macbeth directly wants to strip herself of her femininity. This is in order to be able to follow through with her desperate plans to seize power from the King by assisting and plotting regicide. Imperative verbs such as quoted in the above quote and, make thick my blood also raise her status as an empowered character, although the audience would clearly see this as a manipulation of the early modern humoral theory. This is a model for the human body and sickness, it was believed that the four senses of humor, including blood, have to be balanced to ensure a healthy body. The fact that she is asking for her blood to be made thick would be alarming for the audience, showing the lengths to which, she will go for power. She says, Stop up the passage to remorse this metaphor is another example of her trying to rid herself of any femininity in her. It is also a tragic misconception of femininity as a weakness that one cannot help feeling empathy towards her. More dark imagery is used in her soliloquy in this scene, pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell. This metaphor for concealment implies that Lady Macbeth wants to be blind to her crimes and seeks Queendom with no conscious knowledge of her passage to the throne. This emphasizes the importance of the crown and the attraction of power. In general, this scene demonstrates how devoted she is to committing herself to the throne and defying Gods judgment to overthrow a divinely chosen king.