in her strong character when she tells Macbeth in Scene ii of Act II that she would have murdered Duncan herself if he had not resembled her father as he slept. Her boldness is still evident, though, when she calms Macbeth after the murder and believes "a little water clears us of this deed." Unlike the roles of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, their relationship remains unchanged from Act I to II. Their relationship is still very close as seen through Duncan's murder - a product of teamwork.At the end of Act III, both the roles and the relationship of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have reached the final stage of their change. Now that Duncan is dead and Macbeth is hopelessly headed toward a life of immorality, Lady Macbeth fades into the background. Macbeth takes it upon himself in Act III to plot Banquo's murder without consulting his wife because he wants to protect her from the corruption that he has involved himself with. His role is now completely changed and there is no turning back for him. As Macbeth goes off on his own course during this time, Lady Macbeth's guilt is overwhelming and, cut off from him, she descends into madness. Her guilt emerges in Act III, Scene ii when she says she would rather be dead, and it grows from then on until her death. Lady Macbeth's character change is also evident in Act III, Scene ii when she backs out of Macbeth's mysterious murder plan and tells him, "You must leave this." The relationship between the couple is being torn apart by this time in Macbeth. They are headed in separate directions - Macbeth towards a life of evil and Lady Macbeth towards insanity and grief.As Shakespeare developed the characters of Macbeth and his wife, their changing roles ironically ended up resembling the other one's role. At the beginning of the tragedy, Macbeth was the hesitant character with a strong conscience, while Lady Macbeth was powerful and firm. However, by the time these two characters were complet...
