Explore how Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth's power to persuade Macbeth

In Shakespeare's Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is a master at psychological manipulation as she attempts to emotionally blackmail Macbeth. She combines this with denouncing her femininity to ensure her husband acts 'like a man'. Thereby, ensuring Macbeth's morals transform into 'vaulting ambition'. One of Lady Macbeth's initial tactics involves undermining Macbeth's emotional integrity, challenging his masculinity to manipulate his actions. She uses the metaphor of a hangover to ddescribe his change of heart 'Was hope drunk? Wherein you dressed yourself?'. This implies that his ambition was merely a temporary drunken whim rather than a noble goal. Moreover, she intertwines his political courage with his romantic devotion, stating, 'from this time...such I account thy love', thereby framing the murder as a test of his love for her. By making the murder a test for his affections, she leaves Macbeth in a position where refusing is seen as a betrayal of their marriage. A striking example of her manipulation occurs when she subverts traditional notions of masculinity, weaponizing her words to challenge Macbeth's courage. In the Jacobean era, manhood was tied to valour and action such as on the battlefield. She exploits this concept by labelling Macbeth as a coward: 'When you durst do it, then you were a man'. She is suggesting he is afraid to be the man that acted in 'valour'. By using this moral conscience, she implies that his weakness is feminine and this forces him to murder Duncan in order to prove his virility. To underscore her ruthless ambition, she employs shocking and unnatural imagery related to motherhood, illustrating her rejection of traditional femininity. She claims that she would have 'plucked her nipple from the boneless gums' of her baby and 'dashed the brains out' had she had the opportunity to gain Kingship. This shocking rejection of motherhood which is the prominent role for women in the patriarchal world of Jacobean era, actually overwhelms Macbeth. Her terrifying level of commitment persuades Macbeth as he seems pathetic in comparison. Ultimately, Lady Macbeth's persuasive tactics serve as a catalyst for the tragedy, as she not only manipulates Macbeth's emotions but also fundamentally questions the integrity of their marriage. Combined with the destruction of his manhood, she successfully replaces his 'milk o' the human kindness'. Her persuasion is so successful that Macbeth commits regicide and he is inspired by the lengths she would go to in order to secure the 'golden round'. So, although Macbeth is the one that wields the dagger, Lady Macbeth is the one that sharpens the blade and directs the blow.

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