Lady Macbeth, Gower Memorial, Stratford-upon-Avon

I went for another 'scoot' round Stratford this morning. It was bright and sunny when I arrived, but within an hour it had started to cloud over again.

This is the statue of Lady Macbeth, part of the Gower Memorial on the river front. Here she is seen sleep walking and rubbing her hands trying to remove a bloodstain she sees upon them.

Lady Macbeth is one of Shakespeare’s most famous and frightening female characters. She is stronger, more ruthless, and more ambitious than her husband and she has to push Macbeth into killing Duncan in order to become King. She manipulates Macbeth 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 Duncan. Afterwards, however, she begins a slow slide into madness as guilt overcomes her. She is reduced to sleepwalking through the castle, desperately trying to wash away an invisible bloodstain. Eventually she is unable to cope with her guilt and she kills herself.