Macbeth+Project+-+Sydney+J+-+analytical+paragraph

Lady Macbeth's intense amount of ambition fuels her transformation out of womanhood, and into masculinity. Equipped with this ambition, Lady Macbeth disguises herself to "look like the innocent flower, But be the serpent under't." (1.5.62-63) This meaning she seems like a normal feminine wife, but on the inside her ambition is giving her evil and masculine qualities. She gains the ambition abruptly because she is given a potential prediction; she immediately thinks Macbeth isn't a real man because he can't "look like the time." (1.5.61) She expects him to be even more set on the idea since he is actually a man; she wants him to look innocent, and how people expect him to look. Macbeth only seems feminine to her because she has developed an abnormal amount of masculinity. Because she's a woman living through social norms of the 11th century, she thinks men act even harder on rising ambition since they supposedly have more masculinity than women would ever have. Men in the 11th century are known to be tough, and when riled up with ambition to act harshly. Lady Macbeth takes this knowledge and bases her decisions around her believing that her "mortal thoughts" (1.5.38) are completely normal.