Meaning of Lady Macbeth | Babel Free

Definitions

A determined but ruthless or unscrupulous woman.

Examples

“True it is, that the ambitious women of these civilized times do not murder sleeping kings: but are there, therefore, no Lady Macbeths in the world? no women who, under the influence of a diseased or excited appetite for power or distinction, would sacrifice the happiness of a daughter, the fortunes of a husband, the principles of a son, and peril their own souls?”

“Fear of blood has become the incubus of modern men who are pursued like so many women, little nineteenth century Lady Macbeths, by the spectre of death ... the principle of right to life is utterly without justification.”

“With the cuts in government expenditure, heads of research councils rage round their castles like demented Lady Macbeths looking for blood with which to stain their hands as evidence of their administrative worthiness, apparently oblivious of the fact that what they cut today can never be recreated as the costs of new building and recruitment escalate with the size of their administrations.”

“The silent men, women, and children streaming down the center of Manhattan instead carried signs reading: “Mother, Do Lynchers Go to Heaven?”; “Pray for the Lady Macbeths of East St. Louis”; “Mr. President, Why Not Make America Safe for Democracy?”; and “Give Us a Chance to Live.””

“The president’s wife, Turai [Yar’Adua], acquired the image of a Lady Macbeth hungry for power and determined to loot the country’s coffers while she still had the chance.”

“As we did with Medea and the “Modern Medeas,” we were able to see multiple instances in which real life female politicians were described as “Lady Macbeths.” Given that Lady Macbeth herself clearly views the monstrous acts she is going to commit as more male than female, it seemed strange to the class that those who call scheming politicians Lady Macbeths associated that scheming, plotting cruelty with the worst traits of women. […] On the day we were studying this text in class, Hillary Clinton had just made headlines, and we were able to see and then analyze how the term “Lady Macbeth” was used to describe her in multiple articles published mere hours before class had started.”

CEFR level