Beatrice Molinaro 4^A 4/10/2012 1st English Class Test

The letter from the play ''Macbeth'' by William Shakespeare for study purposes can be divided in two parts: up to line 14 there is the letter that Macbeth wrote to his wife to tell her about the prophecies that he had receired , then her reflections about her husband's behaviour and his ambition about the future follow.
The passage is very important because it introduces Lady Macbeth in the play, giving the reader the main features of two chracters' personalities, making a comparison between them.
Through the letter William Shakespeare presents some of Macbeth's characteristics to the reader.
The letter itself shows Macbeth's submission to his wife: he wrote to her immediately.
The letter displays hi insecurity, his need to find someone who supports him constantly.
This is expressed by the expression '' dearest partner of greatness'' (line 11) that highlights Lady Macbeth's importance in his life.
Macbeth believes in the supernatural and gives great power to what the witches tell him. He defines witches' prophecies as '' the perfectest report '' (line 2), that is he consideres their words more important than human knowledge. This is a typical medieval characteristic.
In addition, he never refers to them with the word ''witches'' but he uses ''weird sisters'' (line 8).
His ambition and desires of power are represented in the witches' words, and his attitude comes again to surface between lines 12 and 14. Here he imagines his future as a king and with his wife as a queen.
In the second part, right from the start the reader can understand that Lady Macbeth is a determined woman, she already knows what they have to do. They have to kill King Duncan.
Lady Macbeth is a planner, she isn't insicure like her husband.
In line 16 she compares her husband to a baby ('' it's too full o' the milk of human kindness''), he is too kind, a good values becomes a weakness. He isn't so courageous to catch the nearest way, that is to kill the king so she adds that Macbeth does something only if someone tells him to do something and so she promises that she will push him to kill King Duncan thanks to her rethoric.
This reminds to the fairies of the ballads that invite man to do something wrong.
At the end of the letter she justifies her actions saying that all that they will do is already predicted
('' which fate and metaphysical aid'') by the witches : he will become the new king.