Lady Macbeth Is Evil

Despite being portrayed as evil in William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is not as villainous as one might believe. She is only human and is easily tempted. There are other far worse antagonists in the play that bring more evil to those around them. Some of these include the Weird Sisters and Macbeth. Despite this, Lady Macbeth still has some evil tendencies.

The first people to have a malicious agenda in the play are the Weird Sisters. They appear before Macbeth and Banquo and bring them news of good fortune and high ranks, “All hail, Macbeth! Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor, King of Scotland!” The Weird Sisters also tell Banquo that he will be “less than Macbeth and more” and that he will “bear kings.” This enlightenment was intended to ignite Macbeth’s ambition. Macbeth would later go on and kill King Duncan and Banquo. When Macbeth goes to the Sisters for more advice, the Weird Sisters use equivocation to get a different message across, “None of woman born shall harm thee.” This gives Macbeth the impression that he in invincible and that he can do whatever he likes.  The Weird Sisters don’t just only cause mischief to Macbeth but to many people, “Where have you been? Killing swine.” Therefore, the Weird Sisters can be seen as the villains because they sparked the ambition within Macbeth and encouraged him to continue on the path.

Macbeth is the main villain in the eponymous play. He was opposed to killing King Duncan in the beginning, “He has been nothing by good to me.” When he kills the king, he is ashamed of what he has done, “To know my deed, durst know myself.” After this, though, Macbeth begins a transformation from a noble solider to an evil tyrant. He plots to kill Banquo and Fleance because he believes that they are a threat to him, “There is none whose being I fear but him.” He is also jealous his crown will be taken by “unlinear hands.” Macbeth also sets his sights on the Thane of Fife. Macbeth is told by the Weird Sisters to “beware...