Macbeth

Act 1, Scene 5. Letter

The text is divided into two parts. The first one consists in Macbeth's letter, the second one in Lady Macbeth's thoughts.

 The letter is exploited by W. Shakespeare in order to create the contest  in which Lady Macbeth can express her opinions and ambitions, so that the reader can understand Lady Macbeth's and Macbeth's personality. The letter tells Lady Macbeth the encounter his husband with the witches, but the reader already knows it. The key part of the letter is the final one where results the great importance Lady Macbeth has in Macbeth's life ("my dearest partner of greatness"). The medieval tradition is absent,  the woman is as important as the man and Macbeth seems to be more interested in pleasing her wife by becoming king rather than having a personal satisfaction. In the last two phrases the reader may even catch a hint of servile disposition (by the repetition of the word "greatness"  as well as the use of the words "rejoicing" and "promised", Macbeth seems to want excuse his letter and pleasure Lady Macbeth with great promises). But there is something more even on the grammatical level: the subject is "you" and there the possessive is "your", this underlines the secondary position of Macbeth.  Thus Lady Macbeth's character seems to have a central position in the tragedy and she actually will be necessary to help Macbeth to reach the power.

In the second part of the text, Lady Macbeth analyses Macbeth's personality. It emerges his ambition and his honesty, two aspects that are considered contrasting by Lady Macbeth. She thinks Macbeth is not cruel enough to reach the power, even if he desires it. This inner clash is perfectly conveyed by the structure of the text: each phrase is followed by another one that crosses it, it is a kind of antithesis that creates a balanced situation on which Lady Macbeth becomes apparent by the end of the text. The medieval conception of woman is regained at the end: the actions that Lady Macbeth is going to do remind the reader of Eve , the temptress who makes Adam do what she wants. She can even be considered as the snake that drove Adam and Eve to the Great Error when Lady Macbeth says "Hie thee hither that I may pour my spirits in thine ear" (it reminds the reader of a tempter hiss). The last phrase foreshadows the end of the tragedy. Lady Macbeth uses the words "fate" and "metaphysical" on which her belief in greatness is based on, but the words belong to an area that does not concern human nature and so are not under control of human being:  her foresights can be both true or false.

Macbeth's Letter Scheme

SRijavec - GRomano

The text is made up of:

·         -The letter:

o   It is exploited by W. Shakespeare to let Lady Macbeth express her thoughts

o   The first part tells what happened to Macbeth (the reader already knows it)

o   The second part gives great importance to Lady Macbeth:

§  Lady  Macbeth is called "my dearest partner in greatness"

§  She is the subject of phrases (it focuses the attention of the reader on Lady Macbeth)

§  There are great promises about her future greatness (Macbeth seems to be subdued to Lady Macbeth)

·         -Lady Macbeth's thoughts:

o   Lady Macbeth thinks about Macbeth's personality:

§  -She thinks Macbeth is ambitious and honest (two aspects considered clashing to reach power)

§  Lady Macbeth words sound as the words of a temptress ("I may pour my spirits in thine ear")

§  The verbal mood used is the conditional (it underlines the doubtfulness of Lady Macbeth's thoughts)

§  The last phrase has a key position (the words "fate" and "metaphysical" underline that the foresights of Lady Macbeth may be false, since these words do not concern human nature and are not under control of human being. So the reader can imagine hence what the end of the tragedy will be like