“...She has light by her continually. 'Tis her command.” (Macbeth Act 5 Scene 1)

Unsex Me Here explores the nature of the relationship between Lady Macbeth and her husband from Shakespeare’s play Macbeth. Taking the lead from Lady Macbeth’s speeches from Act I, Scenes V & VII the work delves into and challenges the complex notions of desire, ambition and gender within this doomed relationship.

Lady Macbeth is considered as one of the most powerful and memorable of Shakespeare’s characters. However, she is also presented as a villain so filled with ambition and venom that she plunges into madness once her relationship falls apart. Why, in so many stories, are powerful women cast as unforgivable?  Why, today, is the thing we remember a female politician for her red high heeled shoes? In the light of current day events Unsex Me Here unravels the perceptions and judgements cast upon the character and re-contextualises them for our modern age - it does, after all, take two to tango and neither is blameless or pure.