Who suffered more Lady Macbeth or Macbeth?

Answer 1

Lady Macbeth, as she was driven to madness and committed suicide

Macbeth did not suffer as much as he was not driven to suicide

^^^^this is just an opinion^^^^^

This question seems to be the root of much debate. I think you should personally explore each character; put yourself in their shoes, so to speak. If you were that character, would the suffering be immense or conquerable?

Perhaps the question you should ask is who more easily succumbed to the pull of evil? (This question is a hard one as well!)

Hope this helps!

Answer 2

During the beginning of the play, Lady Macbeth is more evil than her husband convincing him to go through with the murder of the king so he can fufill the witches prophecies. As the play continues it seems that Macbeth is more evil because you see Lady Macbeth starting to feel guilty for all these crimes they commited for example her sleepwalking, and washing her hands of imagenary blood. Whereas Macbeth does not seem to care.

Hope that helped!

Answer 3

Though this is largely an 'opinion' response, I believe Lady Macbeth to be the "scarier" of the pair - though Macbeth accedes to go through with the witches plan, largly he is pressured into it by his wife. It is she that has the knife edge ambition that urges "Look like the innocent flower but be the serpent under't"

Macbeth desires power after what might be called the fashion of men at the time, but Lady Macbeth is the one with the plan and ruthlessness to see it done.

Answer 4

If you choose Macbeth, it is because Macbeth was the one to actually stab Duncan and kill him. The responsibility for our own actions lies with us--we cannot blame others for our own choices. (Although the whole law of Negligence is based on denying this) Had it been left up to Lady Macbeth, she would not have actually committed the crime; she says "had he not resembled my father as he slept I had done't". Lady Macbeth talks a fine line of gab, but when push comes to shove, she would find some reason for not murdering someone, even something as lame as a resemblance between Duncan and her father. If you choose Lady Macbeth, you will point out that Macbeth, left to his own devices, would not have committed the murder. He announces, "We shall proceed no further in this business", which was the decision he formed rationally in his soliloquy. Without the pressure Lady M places on him, no murder would have taken place. She, and not he, is the sine qua non of the crime. Indeed, you can trace her determination to kill Duncan from the moment she gets Macbeth's letter, while at the same time Macbeth is more inclined to leave things to fate. The bottom line here is that blame is an easy thing to spread around; it is always possible to find arguments in favour of blaming someone or other. People have spent millennia perfecting their ability to blame others for their own faults; it is so much easier than actually doing something about them.

Answer 5

It depends what kind of power you are asking about. In a general sense, he is the one with the power, as he has the physical strength and the noble background to give him influence. But in a very specific way Lady Macbeth is more powerful, because she knows how to pull his strings and make him her puppet.

Answer 6

It is mostly lady Macbeth, because she manipulates Macbeth into performing 'deeds' that he doesnt want to do, and she also says if he doesnt kill king duncan he isn't a man

Answer 7

Both Lady Macbeth and Macbeth suffer terribly because of the effects of guilt on their lives.

Macduff also suffers terribly when he learns of the death of his wife and children.