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What is the relationship between Lady Macbeth and her husband and how well does she know him?
hostess but later scolds Macbeth for arousing suspicion in his seeing of Banquo’s apparition. Macbeth in Act I scene 7 swore to that “False face must hide what the false heart doth know.” But here, he cracks it and is not true to his word. Lady Macbeth is increasingly detached from her husband. He doesn’t confide in her anymore e.g. for Banquo’s murder. She loses her sanity, because she can no longer control Macbeth: “Shame itself! Why do you make such faces? When all’s done You look but on a stool.”
Lady Macbeth’s mental and physical condition deteriorate. Macbeth hardly notices. He is obsessed with his own plans. In the sleepwalking scene, Lady Macbeth spoke aloud her feelings of guilt: “What, will these hands ne’re be clean?” madly trying to clean the blood off her hand after recalling the murder of Duncan. In actual fact, Lady Macbeth’s madness shows that Macbeth didn’t know her as well as he thought- she wasn’t made of steel. She completely fell apart.
To conclude, Lady Macbeth and Macbeth enjoyed a close intimacy in the opening scenes. He looked to her for strength and motivation because both he and Lady Macbeth knew he didn’t have the required courage to kill Duncan. However the closeness and intimacy suddenly diminishes when he acts independently and Lady Macbeth loses control over him. In the end they were like strangers on the opposite side of the spectrum. Macbeth: maniacally and ruthlessly ambitious and Lady Macbeth: crazy with fear for the future of her husband. She knew the Macbeth in the opening scenes but she didn’t know the Macbeth at the end of the play.