Of Flowers and Serpents - Version 2

Written Explanation

I have decided to write a short narrative about Lady Macbeth's death. I wanted to explore the idea that Lady Macbeth's death was not a suicide, but a dispossession gone wrong. In act 5, scene 5, the doctor states: "...more she needs the divine than a physician" which gave me the idea that this character thought she was possessed. This piece is for those who wondered how Lady Macbeth died and a little about her background. I want the audience to put themselves in Lady Macbeth's shoes in an attempt to understand her thought process when she made the lie altering decision of making a deal with the witches.

I have used Shakespeare's metaphor "... look like th' innocent flower, but be the serpent under't...' and moulded it to fit my short story. I interpreted the "flower" to be Lady Macbeth's perfect, unfaltering mask, and the serpent to be her guilt, rage, darkness, and 'evilness'. In my piece, Lady Macbeth uses the metaphors: "I look the innocent flower, I am the  serpent under it , striking those that disturb my rest" and "I looked the innocent flower, then the petals wilted and fell while my serpent slumbered under it". Lady Macbeth "striking those that disturb [her] rest' refers to her lashing out physically or verbally at those that see her see beneath her facade into her true darkness. The petals wilting and falling (second metaphor) refers to her mask being shattered and revealing her true self. The serpent slumbering represents her emotions and darkness, her last line of defence, failing to protect her and reassemble her mask.

I have decided to use rhyme and near rhyme to separate the two different states Lady Macbeth is in. I did this to help the reader understand the Lady Macbeth in the first part of the narrative isn't the same as her soul in the second part.