Lady MacBeth
Gothic 15th Century Gown by Rhapsody
Evil by Increments

"... look like the innocent flower,
But be the serpent under't."

~ Lady MacBeth

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She plays the classic "Iron Butterfly", Lady MacBeth.  This role is a haunting echo of false steps.  Lady MacBeth is a woman with feelings and frailties yet she has quieted the inner buttresses of conscience to follow the lures of ambition.  How many steps does it take to go from budding pretension to cold blooded murder?  Fewer than one may think. 

 Step one, The Rationale

"... be what thou art promis'd.  
Yet do I fear they nature;
It is too full o' the milk of human kindness ...
Thou wouldst be great, 
Art not without ambition, but without the illness should attend it;
... 'Thus thou must do', if thou have it;
... chastise with the valour of my tongue
All that impedes thee from the golden round, (crown of Scotland)"

She hatches a plot to secure the throne of Scotland for her husband.  After all, if it is his destiny the fates won't mind her helping things along a little.

Step Two, Setting Your Sites

"Come,  you spirits
That tend on mortal thoughts! unsex me here,
And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full
Of the direst cruelty; make thick my blood..."

Next, she estimates what the scheme will cost in terms of her soul.

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Step Three, 'In For A Penny In For A Pound'

"Infirm of purpose!
Give me the daggers.  The sleeping and the dead
Are but as pictures; 'tis the eye of childhood
That fears a painted devil.
... My hands are of your colour (blood stained), but I shame to wear a heart so white.

When her husband falters in their murderous plot she is forced to step in and bloody her own hands.

Step Four, A Frozen Conscience Begins to Thaw

"Nought's had, all's spent
Where our desire is got without content:
'Tis safer to be that which we destroy
Than by destruction dwell in doubtful joy."

After the deed is done, she is soon faced with the reality of her evil ways when her frozen conscience begins it's inevitable thaw.

Step Five, The Comeuppance

"Out damned spot! out, I say!
... Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?
... Here's the smell of the blood still: all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. Oh!
... What's done cannot be undone."

Driven mad by the weight of her own guilt, sleep alludes her and insanity insures.

... Did I mention, that this is not a happy ending for this Shakespearian virago?

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 Lady MacBeth's gothic style 15th century costume includes;
Pelise Style Overdress
Kirtle Style Under dress
Padded Roll Headdress With Wimple Style Veil
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Thank You

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