In our society, as a rule, the head of the family is the man. However, in Shakespeare's Macbeth, Lady Macbeth appears to be the neck that turns the head. William Shakespeare is one of the greatest writers in history, but he was not recognized until the nineteenth century. He wrote many plays, sonnets, plays and narrative works. It was in the 16th century that he wrote the tragedy of Macbeth. Lady Macbeth, wife of the protagonist Macbeth, is one of Shakespeare's most famous and evil female characters. At the beginning of the play, Lady Macbeth is ruthless, ambitious, cruel, and manipulative; however, by the end of the show she becomes insane and helpless. The transformation of these characteristics makes Lady Macbeth a very dynamic character. In Lady Macbeth's mind, ambition is represented as the dominant motive, an intense and overwhelming passion, which is gratified at the expense of every just and generous principle, and every feminine feeling. (Moulton 516). Lady Macbeth learns, via letter, of the prophecy made by her husband to the Three Witches. She believes this knowledge to be true. One day Macbeth will become king of Scotland, but she fears that he is too kind and compassionate to kill King Duncan. Then, he makes this famous speech to the gods: “Come, you spirits who tend to mortal thoughts, strip me here and fill me, from head to toe, with the most atrocious cruelty! Make my blood thick, close the access and passage to remorse; let no scrupulous visitation of Nature shake my evil purpose, nor keep the peace between the effect and it! Come to my woman's breasts, and take my milk like gall, you murderous ministers, everywhere in your blind substances await Nature's evil! Come, thick night, and note… the middle of the paper… The change in her character from the beginning to the end of the play shows that Lady Macbeth was a dynamic character. There might even be a moral to this play. Too much ambition can lead to ultimate death. Works Cited ""The Art of Cruelty"" The New York Times Book Review, July 31, 2011. Web. November 27, 2011. Bloom, Harold. Macbeth. Philadelphia: Chelsea House, 2005. Print.Kemp, Theresa D. Women in the Age of Shakespeare. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood, 2009. Print.Mackay, Frank F. The Art of Acting. New York: F. F. Mackay, 1913. Print.Moulton, Charles Wells. Moulton's Library of Literary Criticism by English and American Authors in the Early Twentieth Century: Volume 1. New York: Frederick Ungar, 1966. Print.Shakespeare, William and Kenneth Muir. The Arden edition of William Shakespeare's works: Macbeth. London, 1951. Print.