In life, some people crave power above all else, whether it is wealth, control or rank in society. Once a taste of this power is been gained, it can be very hard not to let this new found power go to your head. The more power one gains, the more corrupt they become. The thirst for power ruins the lives of both an individual and those around him or her. It destroys their way of life and shapes what their priorities are, mutilating any hope of remaining a decent person to those around them. Lady Macbeth's thirst for power shatters and corrupts her life and the lives of those around her, especially her husband, Macbeth. Lady Macbeth's need for power results in the manipulation of her husband, Macbeth committing murders and her eventual insanity because of the guilt. .
The force which drives Lady Macbeth to do anything in this play is her thirst to achieve more power than the power she already has. Lady Macbeth will not stop for anything while on her quest, no matter whose lives she corrupts along the way. The one person she has the strongest influence on is her husband, Macbeth. Reluctantly, Macbeth wants to leave the whole situation with the witches" prophecies to chance, and he does not want to intervene to change the course of fate. Lady Macbeth disapproves of this style of thinking that Macbeth has developed. She intervenes to belittle him, and makes fun of him for the way that he is thinking and encourages him to take charge and make the prophecies reality. Macbeth does not like being ridiculed by his wife. She dictates a plan to him before he has a chance to disagree.
Your hand, your tongue: look like the innocent flower, but the serpent under it. He that's coming must be provided for: and you shall put this night's great business into my dispatch which shall to all our nights and days to come give solely sovereign sway and masterdom. (I.iv.72-77).
The way that Lady Macbeth presents the plan to her husband demonstrates the effect that her drive for power has on her.
