Conclusion

Abstract

?he search to understand how Shakespeare’s creation of Lady Macbeth came to haunt America’s cultural memory and shape impressions of political wives began with the recent example of “Lady Macbeth Hillary Clinton,” then goes back in time to see how Shakespeare transformed the historical figure of Gruoch, Queen of Scotland, into Lady Macbeth, and how that character arrived in America. At both ends of the time spectrum, twentieth century and eleventh century, wars and assassinations predominated—clashes between rival cultures, political parties, and religions. How obvious—Macbet? is a war play— with domestic, civil, international, and intercultural conflicts all at play As the key players of Lady Macbeth have come into view, it can be seen that their prominence in the role coincided with America’s major wars; at the same time as the women serving as First Ladies in the White House, while not all specifically called a Lady Macbeth, nevertheless suffered a similar nomenclature and for the same reasons—public anxiety about the conduct of the war and pressures on the commander in chief coming from an influential wife. “Her Highness” and “Petticoat Government” for Abigail Adams, “Her Grace” and “Hellcat” Mary Todd Lincoln, “Mrs. President” Edith Wilson, “Empress” Eleanor Roosevelt, and “Lady Macbeth” Hillary Clinton, all reflect that anxiety. Tags less imperial and more animalistic, comparisons to feline animals, the First Ladies shared with actors portraying Lady Macbeth on the stage: “pantheress” and “tigress,” degenerating to the frequently used term—“monster.”