acbeth thinks that being gentle is a weakness. When she says Macbeth is “too full o’ the milk of human kindness,” she means that he is too gentle and weak to murder Duncan (Scott 37). For example, in Act II, Scene 2, Lines 57-74, Macbeth has trouble dealing with the guilt of committing such a crime. He immediately wishes Duncan were alive again. He is also paranoid that someone will discover he has committed the murder. He is afraid that his guilt will be a stain on him, like the blood ( 2. 2. 50-60). Although the blood may be washed away, his sins will not. Macbeth becomes irrational in this scene. He is busy worrying about his guilty conscience when there are things to be done. Lady Macbeth on the other hand, is calm and rational. She tells Macbeth to wash his hands and change his clothes so people will not discover his crime. Her character is shown in Act I, Scene 5, Lines 38-54. This is just after Lady Macbeth gets the letter, and just before Duncan arrives to the castle. When she says, “unsex me here,” Lady Macbeth is asking to be more masculine (Scott 237). She wants to be stronger and more cruel so that she can murder Duncan herself. She is strong-willed because it takes courage to think of killing someone. In Act I, Scene 5, Lines 60-73, Lady Macbeth’s characteristics are revealed again. This is when Macbeth arrives home from battle. Lady Macbeth is instructing Macbeth on how to act. She knows he is not a good actor, and she wants no one to get suspicious of their plans. She says, “put this night’s great business into my dispatch and leave all the rest to me” ( 1. 5. 65-70 ). She is indicating that she is taking control. In addition to being in control, Lady Macbeth persuades Macbeth to achieve his goal of being king. He want more than anything to be king, but is unsure whether he can go through with the murder. Macbeth changes his mind several times,...
