LADY MACBETH

This letter is the first part of the second act of the tragedy "Macbeth".
It is a letter sent from Macbeth to his Lady to inform her about a
meeting he had during the day with three witches. It is made up of
two parts: in the first part lady Macbeth reads her husband's letter
and in the second part she expresses her considerations. This is an
important passage because it introduces the Lady in the play. The two
parts allow a comparison between the two characters.

In the first part there are a lot of conditional forms which help the
reader understand that Macbeth is submitted to his wife. At line 10
there is a linguistic deviation to keep the reader's attention alert
on the fact the letter. This is an important thing because Macbeth
immediately decided to write to his lady. He always needs somebody
who supports him. The expression "my dearest partner of greatness"
implies that lady Macbeth is very important in her husband's life.
Macbeth believes in the supernatural because he says that the three
witches are "sisters" (line 8). he also respects the three
devilish creatures. Macbeth wants to follow the right way, but he
needs somebody's help to keep decisions. Macbeth is happy after the
prophecy because he would be "Thane of Cawdor" and "King of
Scotland". The intelligent reader can understand this from the
quick succession of verbs and the quick rhythm.

In the second part there is an opposite character: Lady Macbeth. Right
from the first lines, the reader understands that she has a strong
personality and she is depicted as an evil creature. In this part
there are a lot of imperative forms which give voice to the lady's
ambition. She immediately think that her husband has to kill the
king! So he can become the new king, as the prophecy told him. She
makes the reader understand that he need her support at line 17.
Macbeth is ambitious, but he is also incoherent: there is a
comparison at line 20/22 between honesty and ambition. He has not to
be honest if he wants to become King of Scotland. Alliterations
reinforce Macbeth' s personality. He is courageous only when someone
else tells him what to do. Lady Macbeth invites her husband to come
home as soon as possible because she wants to tell him about her
idea. She knows that he has a weak personality and he will do what
she says. The two characters have an opposite personality. Macbeth is
submitted to his wife and Lady Macbeth decides what to do. Lady
Macbeth recalls Eve in Genesi who tells Adam to eat the apple for
hidden. There are a lot of terms which recall medieval ballads.