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Ella Peck

Mrs. Gonet

Honors English 11

22 March, 2021

Does Lady Macbeth Resemble a Tragic Figure?

A tragic figure acts like an individual graduating high school. One must meet specific

requirements in order to establish oneself as an individual qualified for this position. In order to

graduate, one must complete specific courses, finish a certain number of years in a class, and

pass several state tests. To establish oneself as a tragic figure, a character must exhibit a tragic

flaw, possess high moral and social status, realize nefarious actions, and fall with dignity. In

Shakespeare's Macbeth, Lady Macbeth shows strong reasons why she would or would not

display a tragic figure. Lady Macbeth, even though she exhibits a tragic flaw and realizes her

wrongdoings, does not model a tragic figure because of her low moral status, her low social

status, and her lack of dignity in her death.

Lady Macbeth’s low moral status displays a characteristic not of a tragic figure. From the

moment she enters the story, Lady Macbeth shows her lack of morality. She very first think sof

murder when she reads the letter Macbeth has sent her. Lady Macbeth knows the rewards this

brings and how much power it would grant both her and Macbeth. And when Macbeth

encounters doubts about this murder, she strongly coaxes him to follow through with the plan.

She calls upon evil spirits to take out all of the kindness and morality from her soul so that she

feels no remorse about her future sins. This presents itself when Lady Macbeth says, “Come you

spirits...unsex me here,/ And fill me...top-full/ Of direst cruelty!” (I.v.40-43). Here she asks to

literally turn from female to no sex at all in order for her to feel nothing for anyone. One can
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argue that she never is truly “unsexed” or voided of her feminine feelings because she never kills

Duncan herself. She says, “Had he not resembled/ My father as he slept, I had done’t” (II.ii.12-

13). This shows the hesitation of Lady Macbeth, revealing that she still does possess those

feelings to tell her what persists as right and wrong. But she still convinces her husband to do the

murder over and over. If she did not want this to happen, she would have stopped it. She would

not enter back into the room and wiped blood all over the guards faces to unjustly frame them for

the murder. If Lady Macbeth was truly a moral character, she would not beseech spirits to strip

from her remorseful feelings, convinced Macbeth to kill the king, or let Macbeth go through with

the murder of Duncan. These things show she does not symbol a tragic figure.

Lady Macbeth also does not have a high social status. While it does not directly say her

rank, Lady Macbeth portrays, simply, the wife of Macbeth. This displays when Macbeth says,

“My dearest love” (I.v.49). Here the audience can see that Lady Macbeth is obviously in a loving

marriage with Macbeth. She does not hold any power or have any influence at the beginning of

the play. She then goes on to say, “Which shall to all our nights and days to come/ Give solely

sovereign sway and masterdom” (I.v.61-62). Lady Macbeth exposes her low social rank here by

saying that in murdering Duncan, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth will reorient socially. Macbeth

will become king, and Lady Macbeth’s status will augment as well. This shows that she, as of

right now, exhibits a lower social standing. The audience does not look up to her as an individual

of rank and her femininity moves her further down on the scale of social rank because most

women during this time did not hold much power. People looked up to men in regards to power

rather than women. One can argue that Lady Macbeth holds the position of the wife of a thane so

therefore she has a bit of social power. But it does not provide enough power to establish her

social status as high. If the story does not present Lady Macbeth as a highly ranked individual
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from the beginning, one cannot see her fall from strong order and track that social fall.

Therefore, since Lady Macbeth does not have a high social status, she does not display a strong

tragic figure.

Finally, Lady Macbeth’s death by suicide does not bring her the title of a tragic character.

As the play starts to come to an end, one can see the fall of Lady Macbeth. She becomes

mentally ill, sleep walks, and states puzzling testimonies that reveal her guilt for the things she

has done. This may lead one to think that since she feels guilt, Lady Macbeth represents a strong

tragic figure. But, her death does not dignify her as tragic. Throughout the play, Lady Macbeth’s

ambition displays itself. She allows herself to get carried away by that tragic flaw, convincing

Macbeth to kill. This compiles a group of consequences when people start to ascertain that Lady

Macbeth and Macbeth were responsible for the deaths of, specifically, Banquo and Duncan.

Lady Macbeth knows that she lost control and let her ambition overtake her when her desires for

the throne increased. She releases the horror of her acts, and kills herself. As Macbeth and his

castle fall, Seyton tells him, “The queen is dead my Lord” (V.v.17). This quote states what

Macbeth thought was going to eventually happen anyway, Lady Macbeth has passed away. The

audience can infer from the acts that occurred as Lady Macbeth was sleepwalking that Lady

Macbeth most likely killed herself. The doctor even predicts this when he states earlier in the act,

“Look after her,/ Remove from her the means of all annoyance” (V.i.53-54). Here the doctor

expresses concern about the fact that Lady Macbeth will harm herself. This foreshadows her fate.

Her suicide does not dignify itself death because instead of going down with the castle and

facing ramifications by the enemy soldiers, Lady Macbeth kills herself. She realizes the horror of

her acts and instead of facing those consequences, she decides to avoid them by taking an easy

way out. Lady Macbeth kills herself before the soldiers even get the chance to vanquish her. She
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evades any attempt of defeat. Therefore, Lady Macbeth does not resemble a strong tragic figure

because she avoids consequences of her actions by killing herself in an unjustifiable death.

In conclusion, Lady Macbeth does not meet all the qualifications of a strong tragic figure.

She lacks moral and social status, and she leads an undignified death. Again, Lady Macbeth

parallels a student who has not yet taken all of the courses required for graduation. Both fail to

provide the demands for meeting a specific title. Just as the student cannot graduate, Lady

Macbeth cannot establish herself as a tragic character. She instead exhibits a force behind

Macbeth’s fall, and the overall fall of the empire under the couple’s rule.