crime by playing the part of his ‘dearest chuck’’ This interpretation of her is appealing to some extent as Lady Macbeth’s ‘ambition’ and ‘burn[ing] desire’ to be ‘crowned ’is whispered into Macbeth’s character, as she manipulates and contorts Macbeth’s desires in order to fulfill her own goals. This is translated through the forceful imagery and imperatives within the line ‘pour my spirits in thine ear’, which reflects her power , and links her to supernatural force, and allows her to persuade Macbeth. Lady Macbeth’s manipulative and seductive nature is cleverly exposed through her language, and also through her presence within their relationship as his supporter and encourager into immoral acts. Her feminine side is rarely revealed within the play, yet it appears as she comforts her husband following his first murder, as she encourages him to ‘consider it not so deeply’, to not think of the deeds he commited, and, ‘to wash [such] filthy witness from [his] hands.’ By helping her husband cope with this evil act, that she originally encouraged him to do, it clearly shows the strength of Lady Macbeth’s manipulation and power over her husband, and certainly shapes her as seductive and manipulative, but not a harlot. ‘Macbeth’ is a play centered around female manipulation, as done by the witches and Lady Macbeth in order to fuel Macbeth’s hamartia. Therefore it is necessary for Shakespeare to place the lead female as ‘seductive’ in order to progress the play; despite the fact that this role does not adhere to Coleridge’s classification of women in gothic literature. However, it can be argued that if Lady Macbeth played the role of the ‘shameless harlot’, this may still have encouraged Macbeth to murder his comrades, yet this plot may not have been as entertaining for the original Jacobean audience due to the removal of the witches as a plot device, a supernatural force which many people in Shakespeare’s England had ‘anxiety about’ as the ‘belief in magic and the supernatural [was] not limited.’ Thereby showing the importance of Shakespeare opposing gothic literature stereotypes.
Alternatively, it can be argued that Lady Macbeth is not ‘seductive’ as she possess a lack of femininity, and is instead, a male figure. Her drive to be masculine is insinuated throughout the pla