Lady Macbeth

Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses misogyny and xenophobia, physical and sexual violence (including rape), suicide, and ableist language.

Roscille is the protagonist and the titular character of Lady Macbeth. The book uses third-person limited perspective to tell the story from her point of view, centering her experiences and only revealing the information available to her. The latter means that Roscille is not always a reliable source of information. She does not always get facts right, as when she assumes that Macbeth’s death in battle would free her. She also has various preconceptions, such as assuming that Macbeth’s brutishness indicates unintelligence. Her self-doubt and others’ manipulations also impact her perceptions: For example, at times she depicts herself as passive or helpless.

The limited perspective allows Ava Reid to drip-feed new plot details into the narrative, building the tension and stakes by highlighting that Roscille is surrounded by uncertainty and danger. This foregrounds Roscille’s constant struggle to assert Agency in a Violent World, a quest that is one of the book’s main conflicts.