The Powerful Macbeth
Depending on the personalities in the relationship, either the man or the woman could be the one with more influence and power. This is no different in the Shakespeare play, Macbeth. Most people might think that Lady Macbeth is more powerful than Macbeth, but as the play goes on, this is proved false. At the very beginning of the play, Lady Macbeth convinces Macbeth to be more ruthless and be without guilt, but she has too much guilt towards the end of the play to maintain the same amount of sameness and ruthlessness. Macbeth has more power than Lady Macbeth because he is the one who killed King Duncan, he can keep his secrets from others, and he doesn’t kill himself.
Murder isn’t an easy thing to convince anyone to do. Even though it might have taken some convincing, Macbeth was the one who killed Duncan, unlike Lady Macbeth who only persuaded Macbeth to do it. Lady Macbeth seemed like she was so ruthless and could do anything because she told Macbeth to “look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under't” (I.v.420-421). This might seem like she is more in charge and has more power, but later on, she told Macbeth “had he not resembled my father as he slept, I had done’t” (II.ii.661-662). Lady Macbeth was all for Macbeth killing Duncan, which made her seem pretty ruthless, but she couldn’t even do it herself. If she didn’t have a heart, she would have been able to kill King Duncan. Because she wouldn’t be able to kill someone who looks like her father, she has at least some good morals. On the other hand, Macbeth started out with some feelings but those quickly go away. This is shown when he killed both King Duncan and one of his friends, Banquo. Macbeth might feel bad about the murder at the beginning, but once he got everything he wanted, he didn’t even have regrets anymore. Macbeth had so many fewer good morals than Lady Macbeth that he could even kill the king, unlike her.
A major part of power is being able to keep secrets...