Macbeth: to What Extent Is Lady Macbeth a "Fiend-Like Queen"?

To what extent is Lady Macbeth a “fiend-like queen”?

Macbeth (written by William Shakespeare in the early 1600s) is a tragedy about a Scottish general, who receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that he shall be royalty. In order to acquire this, spurred by selfishness and greed, he and his wife slaughter the king. Macbeth’s tyrannical reign is filled with guilt and paranoia, and this murder soon enough turns into a bloodbath of homicides, to uphold power of the throne and protect himself and his wife from suspicions. Macbeth helplessly holds on to the witch’s sayings and shows of apparitions as a shred of hope, since he is told that ‘no man born of a woman can harm you.’ A long story cut short; he finds out that his foe, Macduff, was born an unnatural birth – he is a Caesarean, and Macbeth is defeated by him. Throughout the play, Shakespeare makes evident the demeaning consequences of ambition, in addition to dealing with the connection among brutality and manliness, domination and kingship, treachery and guilt, and disturbance of the ordinary.

In Act 1 Scene 5, we are introduced to Lady Macbeth, where she receives a letter from her husband, Macbeth, in which he informs her of the three witches’ prophecies. This news reveals Lady Macbeth’s true nature to the audience. She instantaneously begins scheming a plot to upgrade her position of importance. During her scheming, we also see her true feelings and attitude towards Macbeth. Although she might love him, she gives the notion of having a lack of respect for him, when she says she has a ‘fear’ of his nature which is ‘too full o’ the milk of human kindness.’ The noun ‘fear’ may imply that Lady Macbeth is protective of her husband and concerned for his nature, as he may lose his own good health by committing regicide. However it seems more likely that ‘fear’ proposes Lady Macbeth is fretful that her milky husband lacks the guts to get the Scottish crown. The words ‘milk’ and ‘human’ evoke loving...