Lady Macbeth’s Motivation?
A recent Saturday, we went to the Brooklyn Academy of Music to see Patrick Stewart play a Cold War-version of Macbeth. 
Always a cipher to me is Lady Macbeth. In this production, she is played slinky and elegant by Kate Fleetwood. I’ve always wondered about Lady M’s motivation. After all, the witches said that Macbeth would be king. They’ve got a good track record. Why not let destiny take its course?
Is it because Macbeth isn’t getting any younger? Or are the Macbeths deeply insulted by Duncan’s paltry-to-them reward after the battle? Is she frustrated with living in a patriarchal society? Why all the rage?
That’s when my imagination spins possibilities. Was she from some barbarian tribe in which warriors advance via murder? Did she have a sexual history with King Duncan? And would Macbeth have known? And just how “whipped” was Macbeth anyway? Not in “The Honeymooners” sense of the word but in the “Body Heat” connotation?
I’m not sure the answer is in the text. But I find the possibilities fascinating to contemplate.
photo by Richard Termine
Rhonda,
Glad you enjoyed the production of MacBeth. Patrick Stewart is an amazing actor.
Interesting thoughts on Lady M. If she hadn’t acted, the witch’s predictions might not have come true. Maybe it was her destiny to kill Duncan. Some kind of karmic payback from a past life. Who knows? LOL, being writers, we always have to as “why” and “what if”.
Lyndi
Lyndi Lamont
March 19, 2008
Who is to know if what we do is by choice or by fate? Lady Macbeth’s actions could indeed have been necessary for the predictions to come true. I love your take on her though… ‘what ifs’ are always endless and intriguing.
~Debbie
Debora Dale
March 19, 2008
Freud had nothing on Shakespeare. That man was a genius when it came to knowing what makes people tick.
bethyarnall
March 20, 2008
Lady M as necessary element for the predictions to come true … Hmm.
I have this mental image of the witches peering into their cauldron (or in this case, body bags) and saying, “Oooh, that wife of his. She gets things DONE.”‘
Shakespeare’s insights into people are part of what makes these plays timeless. Four hundred years old and they still play to packed houses of people who love to see the stories re-told. His characters have almost become archetypes themselves.
Rhonda/remlane
March 21, 2008
In the beginning, Lady Macbeth encourages the murder. Her conscious grows and her husband’s lessens. In addition to Shakespeare’s amazing insights, I love the passages of great poetry. Not to mention, bitter humor.
kathleenrowland
March 21, 2008
Well, I can tell you something of the little bit we know about the real Lady MacBeth – and in my opinion, Shakespeare may have played a little fast and loose with the actual history (to the extent we know about it) but I feel he pretty much nailed the characterizations.
The real Lady MacBeth was the granddaughter of the late deposed king of Scotland, who was murdered by MacBeth’s own grandfather. The real Duncan, by the way, was MacBeth’s cousin. Anyway, Gruoch ingen Bodhe was very likely to have been brought up to understand that her own royal prerogatives had been stolen from her – and the opportunity to regain her place through her husband would have been powerful. Not something one leaves to the chance of prophecy. If she had been forced by circumstances to grow up in relative poverty – especially if raised by a bitter father – she would have been even more driven, perhaps, to control events rather than sit back and wait for fate to make good. Shakespeare would have known all this, and there is evidence that he used many of the secondary histories available during his time (John Fordun, etc.) to draw his characters and events for “MacBeth.”
Lady M’B also had “given suck,” by the way – she did have a child with her first husband, though none who lived to grace history with MacBeth. MacBeth murdered her first husband and chances are pretty good he took her as a war prize, which makes their relationship even more interesting. MacBeth adopted her son when he married her, and Lulach did succeed MacBeth briefly before Malcolm III killed him, too.
If you’re interested in the real MacBeth, or Lady M’B, I highly recommend Nick Aitcheson’s “MacBeth: the Myth and the Man.”
Sheryl Clay
May 4, 2008
Wow, thanks, Sheryl. I was hoping you’d give us the biographical info on her. Finding out the real story behind the story is interesting. Thanks for stopping by.
Rhonda/remlane
June 20, 2008