The two are unhappy for different reasons. Lady Macbeth
thought that Duncan's murder would be the means to secure all that the couple wanted.
She had no idea how much the guilt of such a deed would affect her husband and
ultimately her. She thought a "little water [would] cleanse us of this deed" and that
would be the end of it. Yet we see in Act 3 that Lady Macbeth is anything but happy.
In fact she wishes that she were Duncan: "Tis safer to be what we destroy/ Than by
destruction dwell in doubtful joy." She has all but lost her husband. They are no
longer close. And, I think she wanted Duncan killed so that Macbeth could fulfill his
ambition to be king. She wanted to help her husband achieve his ambition. But instead
of making him happy, being king has made Macbeth miserable and therefore Lady Macbeth as
well.
Lady Macbeth is unhappy because she feels alienated
from her husband; Macbeth is miserable because of his guilt. After killing Duncan, he
is immediately and deeply remorseful. He wishes he could take back the deed. But in Act
2 he sees no way out of this path that he has taken. He thinks that since he has lost
his soul in killing Duncan, that more killing is necessary to ensure that he has not
lost his soul in vain. So he decides to have Banquo and his son killed, since according
to the witches, Banquo's sons will be kings.
But even the
murder of Banquo does not make Macbeth feel "safe." He realizes that there are many,
including the powerful Macduff, who do not like him and are plotting against him, and he
cannot turn back now:
I am in
blood
Stepped in so far that, should I wade no
more,
Returning were as tedious as go
o'er.
Murdering seems to be
Macbeth's solution to problems, yet the murders prey on his conscience so much that by
Act 5, he feels that his life is nothing "but a walking shadow."
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