Lady Macbeth Now & Then

D. "My hands are of your color, but I shame To wear a heart so white." (2.2.82-83)

In context, Macbeth had already "done the deed", which was killing Duncan with daggers. Later, he begins to tell her how he was hearing a voice saying, "Sleep no more!...Macbeth shall sleep no more." However, she sees that he had brought the bloody daggers along with him when he returns to Lady Macbeth and she freaks out explaining to him that he'd needed to leave them there so that it would be left as pure evidence. Hence, after calling him a coward and taking the daggers from Macbeth, she says that she'll return them to the house and reaffirm the plan to make paint blood on the servant's faces. Then, Macbeth starts to hear knocking noises and is starting to feel panic as well as fear. This is where Lady Macbeth enters and says, “"My hands are of your color, but I shame To wear a heart so white."

Seeing how Macbeth is reacting to this murder act, Lady Macbeth reassures him that he cannot start to become feeble about what he’s done. He’s reminded to be manly about this situation and to "watch this filthy witness from your hand" as if doing so would truly wash the 'filthiness' from his hands. It is evident that her bold characterization stands out in her lines when she says, “but I shame To wear a heart so white”. The color of Macbeth’s hands that she’s referring to is red because of the blood and so is hers. Yet, she ridicules what seems like Macbeth’s sudden paranoia of everything around him, starting with some simple knocking at the door. She feels that she needs to be so powerful and in control of everything because if can’t, then someone needs to be. She wants Macbeth to want the throne as much as she wants it, and she truly wants it. However, she, as well as Macbeth certainly do not want to leave any white spots that’ll prove them guilty, hence she needs to be extra careful and be very competent of doing things in the correct way without mistakes

"The Thane of Fife had a wife. Where is she now?" (5.1.44-45) A gentlewoman and doctor curiously watch and note Lady Macbeth’s actions as she sleepwalks and sleep talks. Lady Macbeth repeatedly washes her hands. This is the action of when she was washing her hands after her and Macbeth had “done the deed”. Later, the doctor concludes, “she needs spiritual aid rather than a physician.”

Lady Macbeth is feeling very frantic. She seems to be as paranoid as Macbeth was after he’d killed Duncan and loathed what he’d done. She’s obviously gone mad as this is evident when the gentlewoman and doctor see her constantly washing her hands in thin air and speaking to herself what she would never tell them in person. She says, “The Thane of Fife had a wife. Where is she now?” She is referring to all of their evil deeds and because the security that she needs to feel is so great, her feelings of fear had transcended all her confidence. There is contrast in her characterization as she used to be the one to push Macbeth into this situation (Adam & Eve?). In conclusion, I feel that this idea of how sometimes our fears get the best of us comes into play with this sharp contrast in Lady Macbeth’s characterization from confident to fearful.