air by himself and in fact, he actually did the deed. Lady Macbeth was so selfish that she couldnt even do it herself in risk of being caught. In order to save her own face she connived her husband into doing the actual murder, when it was her original idea. She used many deceitful arguments such as in Act I, scene seven when she says, I would, while it was smiling in my face, have pluckd my nipple from his boneless gums, and dashd the brains out, had I sworn so as you have done this. Here Lady Macbeth argues that she would do basically anything for Macbeth if she had promised to do it. By saying this she intends to use guilt to con Macbeth into killing King Duncan for her. Although they may both be corrupt and deceitful, King Claudius seems to be less conscientious of his wrong doings than Lady Macbeth. Throughout the play King Claudius appears extremely happy, and shows hardly any signs of remorse. Lady Macbeth is far different from this. Although she conceals most of her problems throughout the play, in the end her conscience tears her apart. She becomes crazy and has fits of guilt such as in Act 5, scene one when she says, Heres the smell of the blood still: all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. Here she realizes that she will never be able to wash the guilt away. She cannot deal with the consequences of her actions as well as Claudius does.Although Claudius and Lady Macbeth are too self centered to realize that there evil doings affect others, they do in fact ruin the lives of numerous other characters in the plays. When Claudius murdered King Hamlet he had no idea that it would result in the death and destruction of so many others. Claudius most obviously affected Hamlet who started off as a happy prince and ended up destrought and to the point of lunacy before his death. After Hamlets father died he was never the same again. Hamlets relationship with all the people close to him such as, Ophelia and his ...
