A Message from the Managing Director - Kelly Blakley Graphic Media

A Message from the Managing Director
Managing Director
Artistic Director
Asst. Artistic Director
Director of Development
Director of Operations
Chairman
Vice Chair
Secretary
Treasurer
Past Chairman
Jeff Altamari
Karen Derr
David Douglas
Lonnie Jenkins
Mike Journeay
Barbara Kauffman
Alvin Major, Jr.
Marie Mansour
Bruce Austin
Bonnie Brooks
Christian Bruns
Penny Butler
Allen A. Cooper, Jr.
Liz Ghrist
Kimberly Gremillion
Paul Hope
Daniel Kornberg
Executive Staff
Board of Directors
John R. Jennings, Founder
Advisory Board
Bill Haase
William M. Weibel
Keith Chapman
Midge Claiborne
Sean Boyd
Bill Haase
Barbra Munisteri
Ellen Harrison
Richard Griffin
Michael J. Branda
Ron Martin
Marilyn Ross Miles
Art Pryde
Shirley Rose
Anne H. Sloan
Dr. Maria V. Thomas
Dr. Robert S. Toth
Linda Messner
Ward Pennebaker
Sally Reynolds
Helen Shafer
Jenni Rebecca Stephenson
Ruth Stewart
Bart Truxillo
Walter Weibel
Dr. David Ashley White
Looking forward, looking back.
January marks a transition for Opera in the Heights as a new slate of
officers takes the helm for our beloved organization. We reflect proudly
on our ever improving artistry. This year both Madama Butterfly and
our Donizetti evening boasted strong casts in excellent performances in
spite of rehearsal and venue dislocations caused by Hurricane Ike.
This success was due in no small measure to the leadership of Michael
J. Branda, who now occupies the position of Past Chair on our board.
He has led us through difficult times and demonstrated that
determination, perseverance, and imaginative solutions will make us a
stronger organization, confident of our ability to shine, even in the face of
great adversity. Thank you, Michael, and all of our board, staff, guild,
volunteers, and patrons for your support.
Looking forward, Macbeth and Falstaff demonstrate our confidence to
undertake two of Verdi’s most challenging operas. We expect our six
performances of each to run nearly at capacity. We’re overjoyed that
we’re back in Lambert Hall and encouraged at the recovery of Maestro
Weibel and Pasquina from their November accident.
I believe you’ll enjoy Macbeth. For me it has one of the most exciting
first acts in all of opera. I can’t imagine a better place to see it than right
here, in Lambert Hall. If you like Macbeth, please tell your friends that
they must come to see it. We’ll all be glad they did.
Thanks again to our loyal supporters who share the same passion I have
for opera and Opera in the Heights. Your passion and dedication are
our greatest reward. Thank you for joining us for the excitement and
drama of Macbeth.
Opera in the Heights is supported in part by a grant from
the City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance.
Bill Haase
Managing Director
Chairman, Board of Directors
16

2
Macbeth
An Opera in Four Acts
Music by Giuseppe Verdi
William Shakespeare’s Play adapted by Francesco Maria Piave
Lambert Hall, Houston, Texas
January 29, 30, 31, February 5, 6, 7, 2009
Opera in the Heights
Gratefully acknowledges the underwriter of Macbeth:
THE HUMPHREYS FOUNDATION
The Performance of Saturday, February 7, 2009
was adopted by / is sponsored by
Shelley Baker, Charles Chester, Eugene & Donna Inouye,
Pat & Gene Mire, and Bill Morrison & Sharon Davis
Artistic Director & Conductor
William M. Weibel
Cullen Conducting Chair
Stage Director
Leslie Swackhamer
The Cast
Emerald Both Casts Ruby
Jan 29, 31, Feb 6 Jan 30, Feb 5, 7
Macbeth Brian B. Carter Chad Karl*
Lady Macbeth Courtney Ames* Nicola Becht*
Banquo
Benjamin LeClair
Macduff
David Ekstrom
Malcolm
George Williams
Lady in Attendance
Rita Minter
Physician
Keir Murray
Murderer
Matt Maschek
Manservant
Hans Stockenberger
Chorus
Patricia Bernstein Michael Leone Rachael Ross
Traci Davis Matt Maschek Marcia Sadberry
Stephanie Dory Arthur Mitchell* Hans Stockenberger
Martha Elliott Michael Moses Tamara Tisdale
Felipe Gonzalez Jayna Parker Scott Travis
David Jones Taylor Rawley Jenny Van Alstyne
*Making their Opera in the Heights debut
Surtitles written by Scott Heumann
The surtitle translation used in this production of Macbeth is owned by the
Houston Grand Opera, Anthony Freud, General Director.
Ken & Betty Adam
James Allen
Shelby L. Allen
Thomas Anderson
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Jacqueline M. Baldwin
Shelley Baker
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15

14
Opera in the Heights
2008-2009 Season Sponsors
Opera in the Heights wishes to thank all sponsors
whose contributions were received after the program went to print.
Foundation Grantors
DONORS PG 1
Albert & Ethel Herzstein Charitable Foundation
The Brown Foundation, Inc.
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*indicates in-kind contribution
Orchestra
Violin I Violin II Viola
McKenna Jordan, Kris Kelly David Bynog
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Johnny Chang
Jane Kimmes
Valentin Nicolaescu
Cello Bass Flute
H.P. Scott Card Greg Garcia Wendy Isaac Bergin
Patrick Moore
Piccolo Oboe I Oboe II
Kim Knudsen Grace Tice Julie Jacobs
Clarinet I Clarinet II Bassoon I
Laura Barbieri Maiko Sasaki James Roberson
Horn I Horn II Bassoon II
Robert Johnson Greg Davis Suzanne Jackson
Trumpet I Trumpet II Trombone I
George Chase Tom Tillotson Matt Dickson
Adopted by Rusty Hardin
Trombone II
Rick Spitz
Contractor
Julie Jacobs
Special Thanks
To those who are housing singers:
Betty Beem, Bill & Lucila Haase, Sue Owens, Maria & Chris Thomas.
Our volunteers to usher, operate the boutique, and prepare and
serve the intermission refreshments.
John Burghduff for programming and running the titles,
and his assistants, Nancy Markeloff and Howard Marmel.
Media Partner, KUHF, Houston Public Radio
Jerry Baiamonte & Sue Murphy at Service, Inc.
Maria Villa Thomas for arranging singer housing.
There will be two intermissions.
The performance will run approximately
two and hours and 45 minutes.
Please turn off all cell phones and pagers.
No photography or recording devices permitted.
3

Macbeth Synopsis
ACT I Scene 1. A Scottish wood
Returning from a victory, Macbeth is greeted by witches who hail him as Thane of Cawdor and future
king. They hail his companion Banquo as the ancestor of a line of kings. Macbeth broods over their
prophecy.
Scene 2. A hall in Macbeth's castle
Lady Macbeth reads a letter from Macbeth and eagerly awaits his return so that she can strengthen his
resolve to obtain the crown. She greets him with the news that King Duncan intends to pass the night at
the castle, and easily convinces him to murder the king. On his way to commit the murder, Macbeth has
a hallucination. Stricken with terror, he is unable to return the dagger he has brought with him. Lady
Macbeth returns it and tells him to wash his hands and assume an appearance of innocence. Macduff
and Banquo arrive and discover the murdered king. Macduff's announcement of the murder provokes
horror and cries to heaven for vengeance from all, including Macbeth and Lady Macbeth.
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4
ACT II Scene 1. A room in Macbeth's castle
Macbeth confesses to his wife that he is brooding over the witches' prophecy that Banquo's
descendants will be kings, and resolves to have him killed. Lady Macbeth exults that their claim to the
throne will soon be unchallenged, even if at the cost of more killing.
Scene 2. A park outside Macbeth's castle
Banquo's forebodings are fulfilled when he is set upon and killed, but his son Fleance escapes.
Scene 3. A hall in the castle
At a banquet one of the murderers reports that Banquo has been killed. Macbeth, about to take his seat,
is confronted by Banquo's ghost, which only he can see. The guests are puzzled by his horror, but he
recovers when the ghost vanishes. The ghost reappears and Macbeth's terror arouses the suspicions of
the guests. Macduff decides to flee and Macbeth resolves to visit the witches again.
ACT III. A dark cavern
The witches prepare a brew. Macbeth appears and demands to know his fate. They summon up spirits
which tell him first to beware of Macduff, but that he cannot be killed by anyone born of woman. He
decides to spare Macduff, but changes his mind knowing that he cannot be killed until Birnam Wood
comes to Dunsinane. When he asks if Banquo's children will be kings, he is shown a vision of eight
kings. Macbeth faints and the witches vanish. Lady Macbeth encourages him to kill Fleance and he tells
her that he will also have Macduff and his family put to death.
ACT IV Scene 1. Near the Scottish border
The refugees who have fled Macbeth's tyranny lament the unhappy state of their homeland and Macduff
bewails the death of his family. Malcolm orders the soldiers to take branches from Birnam Wood as
camouflage and exhorts them to follow him to free Scotland.
Scene 2. A room in Macbeth's castle
Lady Macbeth walks in her sleep, reliving the murders and trying to wash the blood from her hands.
Scene 3. A hall in Macbeth's castle
Macbeth takes comfort from the prophecies.The news of his wife's death confirms his feelings about the
futility of existence. When he learns that Birnam Wood is moving towards his castle, he realises the
witches have deceived him. The battle rages. Macbeth learns that Macduff was not born naturally and is
killed by him. Macduff hails Malcolm as king and the people join in thanksgiving.
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13

THE ARTS
ENRICH OUR LIVES.
Macbeth
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Of all the great composers who have adapted
Shakespeare's plays to music, perhaps none
was so successful as Giuseppe Verdi, who
adapted three of Shakespeare’s plays for the
operatic stage. In his capable hands, Othello,
Macbeth, and The Merry Wives of Windsor
received a new breath of life.
By setting not only Shakespeare's words to
music, but complete stories, Verdi gave
audiences a new way to experience and
appreciate these classic tales. In celebration of
the linked careers of these two legends, and
of Shakespeare's 445th birthday on April 23,
Opera in the Heights presents two of the
monumental works adapted by Verdi.
soprano, a rare opera in which the tenor is
really an afterthought. The great tenor aria is
given to Macduff and it doesn't come until the
last act. But Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are
roles full of perverse charisma and high
dramatic possibilities.
Three attributes, bravery, ambition, and selfdoubt,
struggle for mastery of Macbeth
throughout the play. Shakespeare uses
Macbeth to show the terrible effects that
ambition and guilt can have on a man who
lacks strength of character. We may classify
Macbeth as irrevocably evil, but his weak
character separates him from Shakespeare’s
great villains.
12
In its original moment - the play was probably
first performed in 1606 - Verdi shifted the
focus of the whole drama to Lady Macbeth
and created an opera that centers on the
demonic intensity of her desire for power and
her erotic domination of her husband. Verdi
has almost no interest in the religious
dimension of the story: Lady Macbeth's
astonishing aria, upon receiving her husband's
letter "Vieni! T'affretta!" conveys a sexualized
delirium that fills the stage, taking the place of
both the divine and the demonic. The deep
fantasy of power is hers, in Verdi's vision, not
her husband's, and one of the opera's greatest
moments comes with lines that were taken
from Macbeth—"Light thickens, and the crow/
Makes wing to th' rooky wood"—and given to
her: "La luce langue."
Verdi's Macbeth is generally considered the
operatic equivalent of a B-movie. It is fun, and
flawed, and full of premonitions of the great
works of his middle career, which would begin
only a few years later with masterpieces such
as Luisa Miller and Rigoletto. Verdi accused
himself of an essentially schoolboy vision
when he wrote to his librettist, "If we can't
make something great out of it, let us at least
try and do something out of the ordinary.
Macbeth is focused on its leading baritone and
Lady Macbeth is one of Shakespeare’s most
famous and frightening female characters.
When we first see her, she is already plotting
Duncan’s murder, and she is stronger, more
ruthless, and more ambitious than her
husband. She seems fully aware of this and
knows that she will have to push Macbeth into
committing murder. At one point, she wishes
that she were not a woman so that she could
do it herself. This theme of the relationship
between gender and power is key to Lady
Macbeth’s character: her husband implies that
she is a masculine soul inhabiting a female
body. She manipulates her husband with
remarkable effectiveness, overriding all his
objections: when he hesitates to murder, she
repeatedly questions his manhood until he
feels that he must commit murder to prove
himself.
Lady Macbeth’s remarkable strength of will
persists through the murder of the king. It is
she who steadies her husband’s nerves immediately
after the crime has been perpetrated.
Afterward, however, she begins a slow slide
into madness—just as ambition affects her
more strongly than Macbeth before the crime,
so does guilt plague her more strongly afterward.
By the close of the play, she has been
(Continued on page 9)
5

ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES
Behind the Scenes
NICHOLAS BAKAYSA
Set Designer
Adopted by Shirley & Don Rose
Set Designer, Don Pasquale,
Madama Butterfly, Tosca, etc.
An architect with Hellmuth, Obata
+ Kassabaum, Inc. (HOK) Achitects
and an accomplished painter.
DENA SCHEH
Costumer
Costumed for Don Pasquale,
Madama Butterfly, Tosca and
Adriana Lecouvreur.
Has designed costumes for numerous
opera and theater companies.
KEITH CHAPMAN
Assistant Artistic Director
Adopted by Ginger Maughs
With Oh! Since 1999. Very
recently, accompanied on piano
Ebony Opera’s Porgy and Bess.
Rehearsal pianist and coach,
Music Catalog Librarian of
Fondren Library at Rice University.
LESLIE SWACKHAMER
Stage Director
Don Giovanni, Director, 2007
Madame Butterfly, Madison Opera
Lady, Stages Repertory Theatre
Fefu and Her Friends, UT-Austin
CALVIN FULLER
Chorus Master
With Oh! Since 2004. Organist
& choirmaster at St.
James Episcopal Church,
adjunct professor at TSU,
Ebony Opera chorus master.
KATHERINE JACKSON
Set Construction & Painting,
Props Master
Adopted by Diane & Richard
Broderick
An accomplished painter whose
artistry has been seen for two
seasons at Oh! as well as on the
stages of Bobbindoctrin Puppet
Theatre & Infernal Bridegroom
Productions.
KEVIN TAYLOR
Lighting Designer
Don Pasquale, Madama Butterfly, Lighting Designer
WILLIAM M. WEIBEL
Artistic Director, Conductor,
Stage Director
With Oh! since 1999. A Fulbright
Scholar and former
Metropolitan Opera conductor
with a world of opera experience.
Join these Star
Patrons in their
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Erwin Brown
Charles Chester
Christa M. Cooper
Beth Cunningham
Dr. Kenneth Gould
Colette Mayers
Pat & Gene Mire
Simon Moss
Susie & Jim Pokorski
Ann H. Purcell
Diane Roberts
Reeta Wadzeck
JORDYN LORENZ
Stage Manager
Stage Manager, Don Pasquale,
Madama Butterfly, Tosca.
An actress, writer, and producer,
Jordyn has stage managed and
acted in plays at the Ensemble
Theatre & others.
6
11

10
Verdi closes his first act with the entire chorus
and all principals on stage after the slaying of
Duncan.
He slays Banquo in his Act II by conspirators
and closes it by combining Shakespeare’s
Act III, scene 4 into his finales for “the banquet
scene”. The banquet is simultaneously
the high point of Macbeth’s reign and the
beginning of his downfall. Macbeth’s bizarre
behavior puzzles and disturbs his subjects,
confirming their impression that he is mentally
troubled. Lady Macbeth here appears surefooted
and stronger than her husband, but
even her attempts to explain away her husband’s
“hallucination” are ineffective when
paired with the evidence of his behavior.
Verdi, of course, in writing opera, introduces
operatic techniques and numbers such as the
“Brindisi” of Lady Macbeth to interrupt the
action, and the great chorus, “Patria
opressa”. It is unclear whether Banquo’s
ghost really sits in Macbeth’s chair or whether
the spirit’s presence is only a hallucination
inspired by guilt. Macbeth is thick with supernatural
events and characters, so there is no
reason to discount the possibility that a ghost
actually stalks the halls. Some of the apparitions
that appear in the play, such as the
floating dagger in Act II, scene 1, and the
unwashable blood that Lady Macbeth perceives
on her hands in Act IV, appear to be
more psychological than supernatural in origin,
but even this is uncertain.
These recurring apparitions or hallucinations
reflect the sense of metaphysical dread that
consumes the royal couple as they feel the
fateful force of their deeds coming back to
haunt them. Given the role that Banquo’s
character plays in Macbeth, it is appropriate
that he and not Duncan should haunt Macbeth.
Like Macbeth, Banquo heard the
witches’ prophecies and entertained ambitions.
Nevertheless, unlike Macbeth, Banquo
took no criminal action. His actions stand as a
rebuke to Macbeth’s behavior and represent
a path not taken, one in which ambition need
not beget bloodshed.
In Holinshed’s Chronicles, the history that
served as the source for Shakespeare’s Macbeth,
Banquo was Macbeth’s accomplice in
Duncan’s murder. Shakespeare most likely
changed Banquo’s role from villain to moral
pillar because Shakespeare’s patron, King
James I of England, was believed to be Banquo’s
descendent.
Verdi extracts the famous “sleepwalking
scene” from Shakespeare’s Act V, scene 1.
Macbeth ceased to be a sympathetic hero
once he made the decision to kill Duncan, but
by the end of the play he has become so
morally repulsive that his death comes as a
powerful relief. Ambition and bloodlust must
be checked by virtue for order and form to be
restored to the “sound and fury” of human
existence. Only with Malcolm’s victory and
assumption of the crown can Scotland, and
the play itself, be saved from the chaos engendered
by Macbeth.
Verdi dedicated this opera written in 1847 to
his beloved father-in-law, Antonio Barezzi. He
called Macbeth one of the greatest creations
of man. He revised it for 1865 performances
in Paris. It is odd to note that the first performances
in Florence were rather successful, but
the revised versions for Paris were not. It had
to wait until well into the twentieth century to
take its rightful place in the repertoire.
JACQUELINE HAMILTON
International Art Consultant
International Association of Professional Art Advisors
P.O. Box 1483 Jacqueline Hamilton ad Tel: 713-974-3011
Houston, TX 77251-1483 Fax: 713-974-3009
Email: jhamiltonart@sprintmail.com
www.jacquelinehamilton.com
ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES
On Stage
COURTNEY AMES*
Lady Macbeth
Cherry Hill, NJ
Hansel and Gretel, Nevada Opera
Halka, Sarasota Opera
The Magic Flute, Des Moines Metro
Opera
NICOLA BECHT*
Lady Macbeth
Bayreuth, Germany
Don Giovanni, New European
Festival, Stuttgart
Die Fledermaus, Opera Fürth
Wiener Blut, Sommeroperette
Coburg & Junges Theater/Austria
BRIAN B. CARTER
Macbeth
Palo Alto, CA
Rigoletto, Rigoletto, Sept. 2006
Rigoletto, Sarasota Opera
Turandot, Opera North
Gianni Schicchi, Opera Illinois
DAVID EKSTROM
Macduff
Texarkana, TX
Pollione, Norma, Jan 2006
Fidelio, Empire Opera
I Puritani, Bel Canto at Caramoor
JACQUELINE HAMILTON
CHAD International KARL* Art Consultant HANS
International Macbeth Association of Professional Art Advisors STOCKENBERGER
P.O. Box 1483
Mayville, NY
Manservant Tel: 713-974-3011
Houston, TX 77251-1483
Houston, TX
Madama Butterfly, I Pagliacci,
Fax: 713-974-3009
Opera Email: Company jhamiltonart@sprintmail.com
of the
Highlands
www.jacquelinehamilton.com
La Bohème, Jacksonville Lyric
Opera, Grandview Opera
BENJAMIN LECLAIR
Banquo
Royal, IA
Oroveso, Norma, Jan 2006
Figaro, Marriage of Figaro, 2007
Cosi fan tutte, Albert Herring,
Merola Opera Program
Boris Godunov, Northwestern Univ.
MATT MASCHEK
Murderer
Houston, TX
Oh! Chorus: Don Pasquale,
Madama Butterfly
National Assn. of Teachers of Singing
competition finalist, Houston
chapter, 2008.
RITA MINTER
Lady in Attendance
College Station, TX
Oh! Chorus: Don Pasquale,
Madama Butterfly, Tosca, Adriana
Lecouvreur, etc.
Rita is preparing a new concert
program & honing her skills.
KEIR MURRAY
Physician
Houston, Texas
Yamadori, Commisario,
Madama Butterfly, 2008
Angelotti, Tosca, 2008
Quinault, Adriana Lecouvreur,
2008
Oh! Chorus: Madama Butterfly,
Don Pasquale.
Hans has been active in music
since childhood: singing,
playing & composing.
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GEORGE WILLIAMS
Malcolm
Tomball, Texas
Normanno, Notary, Don
Pasquale, 2008
Goro, Madama Butterfly, 2008
Spoletta, Tosca, 2008
Poisson, Adriana Lecouvreur,
2008
reduced to sleepwalking through the castle,
desperately trying to wash away an invisible
bloodstain.
Visions and hallucinations recur throughout the
play and serve as reminders of Macbeth and
Lady Macbeth’s joint culpability for the growing
body count. Macbeth is a famously violent play.
Interestingly, most of the killings take place
offstage, but throughout the play, the characters
provide the audience with gory descriptions
of the carnage, from the opening scene
where the captain describes Macbeth and
Banquo wading in blood on the battlefield, to
the endless references to the bloodstained
hands of Macbeth and his wife. The action is
bookended by a pair of bloody battles: in the
first, Macbeth defeats the invaders; in the second,
he is slain and beheaded by Macduff. In
between is a series of murders: Duncan, Duncan’s
chamberlains, Banquo, Lady Macduff,
and Macduff’s son all come to bloody ends. By
the end of the action, blood seems to be everywhere.
Once Macbeth and Lady Macbeth embark
upon their murderous journey, blood comes to
symbolize their guilt, and they begin to feel that
their crimes have stained them in a way that
cannot be washed clean, ( a line Verdi quotes
directly from the play in the duet with Lady
Macbeth in Act 1).
they vanish into thin air.
Verdi now skips to Act I, scene 5 of the play.
Verdi leaves this scene almost intact from the
Shakespeare play. In Inverness, Macbeth’s
castle, Lady Macbeth reads to herself a letter
she has received from Macbeth. The letter
announces Macbeth’s promotion to the
thaneship of Cawdor and details his meeting
with the witches. Lady Macbeth murmurs that
she knows Macbeth is ambitious, but fears he
is too full of “th’ milk of human kindness” to
take the steps necessary to make himself king
(I.V.15). She resolves to convince her husband
to do whatever is required to seize the crown.
A messenger enters and informs Lady
Macbeth that the king rides toward the castle,
and that Macbeth is on his way as well. As she
awaits her husband’s arrival, she delivers a
famous speech in which she begs, “you spirits /
that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, /
and fill me from the crown to the toe top-full / of
direst cruelty” (I.V.38–41). She resolves to put
her natural femininity aside so that she can do
the bloody deeds necessary to seize the
crown. Macbeth enters, and in one of Verdi’s
greatest duets he and his wife discuss the
king’s forthcoming visit. Macbeth tells his wife
that Duncan plans to depart the next day, but
Lady Macbeth declares that the king will never
see tomorrow. She tells her husband to have
patience and to leave the plan to her.
8
Shakespeare keeps the witches
well outside the limits of human
comprehension. They embody
an unreasoning and instinctive
evil. In the opera Verdi briefly
introduces the witches but
instead of just three he uses the
entire women’s chorus. As
quickly as they arrive, they
disappear. He then eliminates
Act I, scene 2 (At a military camp near his
palace at Forres) and skips immediately to Act
I, scene 3 making it part of his scene 1. The
witches hail Macbeth as Thane of Glamis (his
original title) and as Thane of Cawdor.
Macbeth is baffled by this second title, as he
has not yet heard of King Duncan’s decision.
The witches also declare that Macbeth will be
king one day. Stunned and intrigued, Macbeth
presses the witches for more information, but
they have turned their attention to Banquo,
speaking in yet more riddles. They call Banquo
“lesser than Macbeth, and greater”, and “not so
happy, yet much happier”, then they tell him
that he will never be king but that his children
will sit upon the throne (I.III.63–65). Macbeth
implores the witches to explain what they
meant by calling him Thane of Cawdor, but
In condensing the play for the
opera, Verdi has Macbeth slay
Duncan immediately upon his
arrival at the castle as he goes
to bed. He eliminates
Macbeth’s long soliloquy in
which he muses on Duncan’s
many good qualities, reflects
that Duncan has been kind to
him, and thinks that perhaps he
ought not to kill his king. These scenes are
dominated by Lady Macbeth, who is probably
the most memorable character in the play. In
her soliloquy, she spurns her feminine
characteristics, crying out “unsex me here” and
wishing that the milk in her breasts would be
exchanged for “gall” so that she could murder
Duncan herself. These remarks manifest Lady
Macbeth’s belief that manhood is defined by
murder. Throughout the play, whenever
Macbeth shows signs of faltering, Lady
Macbeth implies that he is less than a man. As
her husband wavers, Lady Macbeth blows his
hesitant thoughts away. She spurs Macbeth to
treason by disregarding his rational, moral
arguments and challenging his manhood.
Basically, she dares him to commit the murder,
using words that taunt rather than persuade.
9