As a married couple, they are splitting away from each other: they are trying to turn their triangle of dependence into a open square of independence.The split between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth becomes apparent with the assassination of king Duncan. By the end of their arguing in the beginning of Act II, the two had not come to a final decision as to whether to kill the king or not (I, v, 72). Without the consent of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth tries to kill Duncan but fails, because she lacks strength and covers her ineptitude with the lame excuse that he "resembled my father as he slept" (II, ii, 12-3). Lady Macbeth lacks strength, because she only has conscience strength formed by extreme self denial. Unlike Lady Macbeth, Macbeth is almost strong enough to complete the task without Lady Macbeth. "He is driven to the murder of Duncan partly by the constant goading of Lady Macbeth and partly by his own will to be in control of Scotland:" he feels power is strength (Watkins 29). His strength comes from multiple places. It comes from his strength as a warrior, from the witches' revelations, and from self denial of his dependence on the first two (I, iii, 49-50). Macbeth is still not completely independent from his wife in that he is unable to complete the task and "carry them [the daggers], and smear the sleepy grooms with blood" (II, ii, 48-56). The scene is painful in the way it separates husband and wife. Crime had at first brought them closely and eagerly together, but now they discover how the execution of the crime separates them...In fact, after the murder they can only speak in short sentences, not communicating or even answering questions. (Jorgensen 67)Although he blames his rage on the grooms for killing Duncan, he was actually mad at himself for committing the murder. Not until he kills the grooms with his regret does Macbeth become totally independent from the thanes and slide from the bundle of limbs (II, iii, 108-19). The action o...
