Many would agree that Lady Macbeth from Shakespeare’s MacBeth is concistantly displayed as the most evil character in the play through her ambition, cruelty and manipulation. There are numerous quotes, statements and facts to support this. Some may argue that she is not truly evil and ignore her alarming and demanding ways. Whichever the case may be, Lady MacBeth still remains a criminal and criminals must be brought to justice.
Although a fictitious character, Lady MacBeth demonstrates her controlling evil habits in the very beginning. One of the first indications of the presence of evil lingering over Lady Macbeth is when she discovers the plan of the witches prophecy of Macbeth being King. She fears that her future king will be too kind and her ambition forces her to take matters into her own hands.”Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, And fill me, from the crown to the toe, top full of dirtiest cruelty.”
Ambition, in most times, is considered to be a positive attribute. In Lady Macbeth’s case it is anything but that. Her own ambition drove her to push Macbeth to commit murder and she did this with a guilt free conscience. Although Macbeth later develops his own sense of ambition, his original drive came from his Lady.
Lady Macbeth rarely shows sympathy throughout the course of the play. Her mind is more focused on the plan to get Macbeth to kill and become king to benefit her. This immense amount of cruelty shines through in Lady Macbeth’s every action.