Read the excerpt from act 1, scene 5 of The Tragedy of Macbeth. Lady Macbeth has just finished reading Macbeth’s letter about the witches’ prophecies.
Lady Macbeth. Glamis thou art, and Cawdor; and shalt be
What thou art promis’d. Yet do I fear thy nature;
It is too full o’ the milk of human kindness
To catch the nearest way; thou wouldst be great,
Art not without ambition, but without
The illness should attend it; what thou wouldst highly,
That [wouldst] thou holily; wouldst not play false,
And yet wouldst wrongly win; thou’dst have, great Glamis,
That which cries, "Thus thou must do, if thou have it”;
And that which rather thou dost fear to do
Than wishest should be undone.
How does Lady Macbeth’s reaction to Macbeth’s letter develop the universal theme "the quest for power”?
through her acceptance of Macbeth’s desire to be king
through her characterization of Macbeth as too kind
through her fear that Macbeth will gain power without her
through her listing of the dishonest acts Macbeth commits