"Lady Macbeth is often regarded as the epitome of evil. Do you have any sympathy for her, or do you regard her as an inhuman figure?-.
We are introduced to Lady Macbeth with her reading a letter sent by her husband, telling her of the witches' prophecies. It is the first time the audience sees Lady Macbeth and it is important as it gives us our first impressions of her. Reading aloud allows the audience to see her true character straight away revealing her cruel and cold nature. She is determined to persuade Macbeth to act on the supernatural prophecies knowing his nature "Is too full o'th'milk of human kindness- and any sympathy the audience may have is directed towards Macbeth rather than his wife. She, too, is intensely ambitious, and cannot bear to even mention the kingship directly only saying "Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be What thou art promis'd-.
There are immediate connections to evil when Lady Macbeth says "The Raven himself is hoarse That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan- This bird imagery symbolises an omen and we see that Lady Macbeth feels no remorse or guilt about her thoughts on killing Duncan. The audience is aware of her sense of sole responsibility and control by the words "Under my battlements- which show that she is now supremely firm in her purpose. Her speech continues and she seems to evoke evil by reiterating the word "Come- which is addressed to darker powers. .
At this stage in the play, the audience feels somewhat intimidated and frightened of Lady Macbeth's domineering presence. Lady Macbeth calls upon evil to serve her with murderous thoughts and thus take away her femininity and all weakness. The fact that she wants the evil spirits to replace the milk in her breasts, symbolising health and goodness with gall, illustrates her bitterness and deep desires to become masculine. Lady Macbeth no longer wants feelings of humanity that may disturb her intentions and stop her from carrying them out.
