PMW 2/3: Lady Macbeth

Q: What are the defining attributes of Lady Macbeth's character? What character alignment would you give Lady Macbeth?

     I think that Lady Macbeth is not a force to be reckoned with. If she wants something done, then she'll get it done, no matter what the cost. One of her main goals so far in the text is that she wants Duncan dead so Macbeth can become king. No matter what her husband Macbeth says, she wants her goal accomplished. In act one scene seven of Macbeth, Macbeth is starting to not feel so sure on killing Duncan. Since Lady Macbeth wants it done, she starts to try and talk him back into it. "When you durst do it, then you were a man; / And to be more than what you were, you would be so much more the man" (56-58). This quote shows Lady Macbeth's attribute of persuasion and how she uses it on her husband to complete her goal. In summary, I think some of Lady Macbeth's defining characteristics are her persuasion and her drive to get things done.
     On the character alignment scale, I would put Lady Macbeth at chaotic neutral. Someone who is chaotic neutral have basically no respect for laws and they are mainly focused on their own desires and interests. Also, "they are prepared to commit acts that are immoral or outright criminal" (character alignment packet). Like I stated earlier, Lady Macbeth is driving towards a specific desire of wanting her husband to be king. She is willing to commit an immoral act to do so as well, also characterizing her as chaotic neutral. In the text, she says to herself, "come you spirits / That tend on my mortal thoughts, unsex me here, / And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full / Of direst cruelty" (1.5.47-50). This quote shows her willing to change her mindset to do something evil to accomplish her desire of Macbeth being king.