At the beginning of the play, Macbeth is a good man, a nobleman, and a respected warrior. Lady Macbeth, on the other hand, is ruthless and ambitious. When Macbeth reveals the witches' prophesies to his wife, it is Lady Macbeth who wants to take things into their own hands to make them come true. She is excited that it has been foretold that her husband will be King, and wants it to happen right away. She plots to kill Duncan, the present King, so that Macbeth will ascend to the throne immediately, and is afraid only that Macbeth is too soft, "too full o' the milk of human kindness" (I,v,17) to take the direct route to fulfill their ambitions. She scorns her husband for not having the ruthlessness to kill Duncan so his own quick accession to the throne will be assured.
Macbeth is essentially goaded by his wife into killing Duncan, but once he has embarked on the road of immorality and murder, he continues with a vengeance, even though he is at times wracked by guilt. Lady Macbeth, on the other hand, is tormented by remorse to the point that her sanity is threatened and eventually lost. As Macbeth arranges to have Duncan, Banquo, Fleance, Duncan's attendants, and Macduff's family murdered, Lady Macbeth descends into madness, sleepwalking in the night and envisioning blood on her hands. While Macbeth, driven now by ambition, arises to forcefully secures the throne, Lady Macbeth loses touch with reality and sinks to the point to where she finally kills herself.
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