Make no mistake: Lady Macbeth is fully suited to be a woman. Although she has the ambitions of a man, she has the character of a woman. Beauty, deceit, and manipulation are her weapons. She moves like a serpent, gracefully slithering from one dark corner of the castle to another. Even her words are laden with images of a bejeweled snake; she makes continuous references to tongues (1.5.30, 76), as she apparently views them as the heralds …showed first 75 words of 1636 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1636 total…the killing, and thus, advance her place in society. She is enticed by riches and status, but her ultimate thirst is for power, including total power over her own husband. It is the recognition of this desire and the will to go to every extreme to obtain it, including the conjuring of murderous spirits from the dark world, and the corruption of her valorous husband, that ultimately makes Lady Macbeth the wicked character she is.