Theme of Love in Macbeth Essay Example

“We do not see people as they are, but as they appear to us. And these appearances are usually misleading.”-Robert Greene. In the tragedy Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are an ambitious couple, stopping at nothing to obtain the crown. Their partnership is yet another that falls under the witch’s ‘Fair is foul and foul is fair’ category, representing the thought that things are not always as they seem. Lady Macbeth and Macbeth’s relationship, though manipulative and selfish at times, harbourded love and loyalty until the very end. 

In any relationship behavior has significance. Whether it shows love, adoration, or another emotion entirely. This significance is reflected in Macbeth’s choice to write to his wife about his recent news, “This have I thought good to deliver thee / , my dearest  partner of greatness, that thou might’st / not lose the dues of rejoicing by being ignorant of what / greatness is promised thee. Lay it to thy heart, and farewell.``(1.5.10-14). Before any complexities of their violent ventures, Macbeth chooses to share his prophecy with Lady Macbeth. He is open to keeping his wife in the know because he knows her well enough to predict her happiness to the otherwise odd news. Furthermore, Macbeth trusts Lady Macbeth fully with the role he’s proposed for her to fulfill: his motivation and equal partner. This seemingly trivial choice depicts the strong connection between the two. Other characters weigh in as well, for instance King Duncan, who comments on Macbeth’s love for his wife, “And his great love, sharp as his spur, hath helped him / To his home before us” (1.6.28-30). Duncan’s words, also said before the couple’s behavior becomes deceitful, provide an outside opinion on their relationship. Even the king, a man with limited time to observe the two, can clearly see the love Macbeth and Lady Macbeth share. Later on in the play, however, this love becomes more difficult to catch sight of.

While the majority of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s relationship includes insults encouraging Macbeth to disregard his morals and simply ‘be a man’, there are some kinder sentiments. Take Lady Macbeth’s change of heart, for instance, “Nought's had, all's spent, / Where our desire is got without content: /  'Tis safer to be that which we destroy / Than by destruction dwell in doubtful joy.”(3.2.6-9. Hidden under her cruel words lives her commitment to Macbeth; Note the use of ‘we’ and ‘our’ signifying Lady Macbeth feels they are still dependent on one another despite the recent events. Even after learning the degree of their wrongdoing and, for the first time, feeling remorse, she continues to view her and Macbeth as a team. This devotion carries on until Lady Macbeth’s untimely death in act five. 

Due to her nightmares and prolonged feelings of remorse, Lady Macbeth takes her own life. This leaves Macbeth incredibly distraught, contemplating what the meaning of life is,   “She should have died hereafter; / There would have been a time for such a word. / Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow…Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player / That struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more. It is a tale / Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, / Signifying nothing. “(5.5.19-30) Macbeth wishes for Lady Macbeth to have lived longer; that her time has been too short. His love for Lady Macbeth is plainly demonstrated, and expected to be sympathized with by the reader. All doubts of Macbeth’s love for his wife fade away after this reaction is revealed.

Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have been through an egregious amount of remorse and sorrow; pain that has only brought them closer together. The legitimacy of their love has long been debated, but though the couple’s actions their love can be plainly seen. Moreover, while destructive behavior such as manipulation and deception occurred in their relationship, their love was, to say the least, persistent.