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Lady Macbeth

Literary Character
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Shakespeare’s ambitious, manipulative queen who incites Macbeth to regicide, later undone by guilt; a study in psychological unraveling and power.

Detailed Definition
Lady Macbeth invokes dark spirits to “unsex” her, driving Macbeth to regicide, but later succumbs to guilt-induced madness. In poetry, she embodies ruthless ambition, the subversion of gender roles, and the haunting power of conscience.
Example
Example in poetry:
In Shakespeare’s "Macbeth," Lady Macbeth’s “unsex me” soliloquy explores ambition and gender; In W.H. Auden’s “The Sea and the Mirror,” Lady Macbeth embodies corrupted maternal power; In Sylvia Plath’s “Daddy,” Lady Macbeth’s guilt echoes in domestic horror; In modern feminist poetry, Lady Macbeth often reclaims agency beyond villainy; In Derek Walcott’s “Omeros,” Lady Macbeth appears in Caribbean political wives; In Tracy K. Smith’s “Watershed,” Lady Macbeth’s blood imagery informs systemic violence.
Additional Notes
Lady Macbeth, Shakespeare’s ambitious, guilt-ridden queen, embodies the subversion of gender roles, psychological unraveling, and the corrupting nature of power; poets reference her sleepwalking scene (“Out, damned spot!”) to explore conscience, complicity, and the haunting of past actions—her invocation of spirits to “unsex” her raises questions about femininity and agency.
Also Known As
Ambitious Queen Fiend-Like Queen Spouse of Blood
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