Help with Macbeth!!?

Question

At the beginning of the play Macbeth writes to his wife as 'my dearest partner of greatness' Act 1, Scene 5. How does this relationship change during the play?

Answer 1

Is the questioner really looking for a change of relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth (who becomes increasingly ruthless and domineering as the play progresses) or for a description of how they move together from being partners of greatness to being partners in crime? That is how I would tackle this one!

Answer 2

Well you know that with that quotation you just wrote we can see that their inital relationship is really good and that they support each other. Lady Macbeth, a very ambitious, spoiled, manipulative, persuasive, woman is "pouring my thoughts in thine ear" to convince Macbeth of killing Duncan so he can become King (and she Queen). She uses him as a puppet, and pushes him to the limit where he kills Duncan. The in the scene of the banquet when Macbeth is very paranoid because he sees Banquo's ghost and is really going out of his mind, Lady Macbeth covers him so he doesn't make a fool of himself (and so she is not embarrased by him) so it could be seen as an act of loyalty becasue she protects her husband an shows their good relationship or the opposite. Going back to the pushing Macbeth thing, in a part of the book Macbeth says "blood will have blood" which shows that he is going to go on killing, that one death brought many more, and this is Lady Macbeth's fault because she pushed him to kill Duncan and Macbeth flew away carrying on killing, leaving her behind. During the play their relationship goes from being dominated by Lady Macbeth but she and her husband had a good relationship, but then Macbeth became independant and dind't need her anymore and she then is crazy (mentally ill) and Macbeth is now the head of their relationship. There is a change of who is the leader in their relationship and as the play goes by they lack of communication, change roles but their relationship is also affected by Lady's Macbeth madness. In conclusion their relationship deterioretes as the play goes by from good to nothing. Note that when Lady Macbeth later dies Macbeth isn't very bad or sad he just said some words and forgot about her and that shows this.
Hope i've been helpful and I know what I'm talking about because I studied the book a little while ago. Wish you luck!!

Answer 3

Macbaeth and Lady Macbeth become distant over the course of the play- they have a very loving relationship at the beginning, which this quote demonsrates, but by the end they seem about as friendly as a messy divorce.

Answer 4

ha I got an A on my essay on the relationship of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, I was so proud of myself lol
here's some guidelines, just bulk it up with quotes and some of your own personal thoughts:
-"dearest partner of greatness", macbeth and his wife depend on one another. this is particularly evident in the assassination of duncan when lady macbeth can't murder duncan because he reminds her off her father as he sleeps but it's up to lady macbeth to return the daggers when macbeth panics
-shift in power by the banquet scene, macbeth is dominant in the relationship. he becomes a keeper of dark secrets and no longer confides in lady macbeth
-lady macbeth doesn't allow macbeth to see the full extent of her misery and she quietly breaks down. she ends her life isolated and alone. macbeth appears indifferent to her death (quote with "out out brief candle...") relationship has completely broken down, macbeth also dies isolated and alone
basically "relationship steadily deteriorated following the assassination of duncan"...hope this helps

Answer 5

Ambition of Lady Macbeth is the main reason. She forces her husband to commit murder on the King's person in order to become King himself, so remorse for having done such an awful act because of his wife's demand makes for splitting their marriage, besides leading her to madness an leaving him in an unbearable situation.

Answer 6

there is a lot to be said in the relationship change between the two characters, you will have to look throughout the play for appropriate quotes and images to support your case. There are many differing views on L.Macbeth, was she an evil fiend or a caring wife, either side can be argued fairly.