Compare and Contrast: Macbeth and Lady Macbeth (Essay Example)

While during the entire play Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, were two very different people who can have many things in common in their personalities. The play Macbeth is about Macbeth, who once was a trusted man and ended up betraying the king, in order to take over the throne. Not long after taking the throne many people saw his true colors and wanted to know the truth of the king's death. But King Duncan's death had a mastermind behind it, which was Lady Macbeth, she played a major role in turning Macbeth into the way he is. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth were similar in the way they act at the beginning of the play and at the end. At the very beginning of it, Macbeth acted shy and scared just like how Lady Macbeth acted at the very end of the play, but they also had differences in the way as they acted at the end of the play.

Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have similarities in their personalities at the beginning of the play in relation to how they acted at the end of the play. For example at the very beginning of the text, Macbeth was scared to kill the King. “If it were done when ’tis done then ’twere well It was done quickly. If the assassination Could trammel up the consequence, and catch With his surcease success; that but this blow Might be the be-all and the end-all here,”(Act 1 Scene 7). During this part of the play, he was shown, emotions such as fear, and doubt, while trying to convince himself to kill King Duncan, while Lady Macbeth was encouraging him to do so. For the second example, “Out, damned spot! Out, I say!—One, two. Why, then, ’tis time to do ’t. Hell is murky!—Fie, my lord, fie! A soldier, and afeard? What need we fear, who knows it, when none can call our power to account?—Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him.”(Act 5 Scene 1). In this section of the play, Lady Macbeth is sleepwalking while trying to “wash” the blood off of her hands, because she is scared, and regrets the decisions she made. In conclusion, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have similar personalities at the beginning and toward the end.

While the two characters had things in common they also had many different personalities during the whole play. As the play progresses, Macbeth gets more and more ambitious, and on the other hand, Lady Macbeth does the opposite. “Time, thou anticipat’st my dread exploits. The flighty purpose never is o'ertook Unless the deed goes with it. From this moment The very firstlings of my heart shall be The firstlings of my hand. And even now, To crown my thoughts with acts, be it thought and done: The castle of Macduff I will surprise, Seize upon Fife, give to the' edge o' th' sword His wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls That trace him in his line. No boasting like a fool. This deed I’ll do before this purpose is cool. But no more sights!—Where are these gentlemen? Come, bring me where they are.``(Act 4 scene 1). During this part of the play, he states that he would do as he speaks and not think twice, which makes Macbeth become a lot more ambitious, confident, and crazy while comparing to the past he was shy and quiet to spark up for him-self. “The queen, my lord, is dead.”(Act 5, scene 5), compared to the two of them at the end of the play Lady Macbeth's lost her confidence and the guilt took the best of her which ended with her deciding to end her life, while Macbeth grew more ambitious.

Two very different characters with different personalities have many similar and different personalities at different times throughout the whole play. At the very beginning and the end of the play, the two characters show the emotions of fear for different reasons, while the play progresses they two split into very different ways, such as Macbeth becoming more aggressive with his thoughts and actions, while Lady Macbeth is suffering and covered with guilt. From the beginning to the end of the play the two characters have many similarities and differences in their personalities throughout the whole play.