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Lady Macbeth

The Tragedy of Macbeth · 59 speeches across 9 scenes

Macbeth's ambitious, ruthless wife who drives him to murder Duncan. She embodies guilt and madness.

Who they are

Lady Macbeth is Macbeth's partner in crime and the catalyst for his ascent to the throne. She initially displays iron will and manipulative power, taunting Macbeth's manhood to spur him to kill Duncan. Her arc traces a collapse from controlling instigator to sleepwalking victim of guilt, ending in suicide. Her key relationships are with Macbeth (toxic co-dependence) and the supernatural (she invokes spirits to 'unsex' her).

Playing them

Start with fierce, unyielding energy—steely vocal quality and a commanding physicality. The sleepwalking scene demands dissociative, trance-like movement and broken rhythm. Avoid pure villainy; seek the vulnerability beneath her armor. Traditionally played with a cold, calculating edge, but recent interpretations highlight her desperation.

Appearance

Often costumed in dark, regal attire—sometimes blood-splattered after Duncan's murder. Her hands are a focal point: stained in Act 2, frantically washed in Act 5.

Where they appear

Play Lady Macbeth

Take the part and Yorick reads every other role aloud, following you line by line as you speak.

Rehearse Macbeth on your phone: App Store · Google Play

Shakespeare the way it was meant to be had — out loud

These plays were written to be performed, not silently read. Yorick is a rehearsal app that lets you perform them: you take a part in any of Shakespeare’s 38 plays, and Yorick reads every other role aloud, listens while you speak your lines, keeps your place, and prompts you the moment you dry.

It is built for the person who has to be off book by tech week — school and college productions, community theatre, festivals, drama students and classical auditions — and for anyone who wants to hear a scene rather than skim it. Alongside the performance you get a plain-English translation of every speech, scene context, performance notes, and the ability to ask about any line and get an answer that already knows the play, the scene and who is speaking.

The text is the public-domain Cambridge/Globe edition. Translations and notes are AI-generated rehearsal aids for actors and students, not a scholarly apparatus. Yorick runs in a browser with nothing to install, and on iPhone and Android.