For a relationship to survive, the two people in the relationship must maintain a balance, but if one person exerts more power over the other, the relationship will fail. In Shakespeare's Macbeth, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth's marriage suffers immensely when Lady Macbeth tips the balance by manipulating her husband into killing the King of Scotland. “Macbeth, usually dated 1606, is the story of a Scottish nobleman, related to King Duncan of Scotland, who attempted to assassinate the king to gain the crown for himself” (Gerwirtz 10). While Lady Macbeth's stronger initial influence pushes Macbeth to usurp the throne through regicide, the unconscious inversion of personality prevents the new king and queen from enjoying their illicit positions. Lady Macbeth's instinctive desires, or her id (in Freudian terms), constantly battle with Macbeth's conscience, or superego, but once Lady Macbeth's superego dominates her mind and his Macbeth drives him mad, the couple instigates their own tragic downfall. , the basic needs and initial desires of every human being originate in the id ("Freud's Concepts"). The id does not know right from wrong; it provides “all our aggressions and desires.” Also known as the “pleasure principle,” the id, if not contained, could lead to the destruction of others and possibly the destruction of oneself. Because of these destructive tendencies, theologians believe that the Devil possesses any person with a domineering ID (Guerin et. al. 157). In the first half of Shakespeare's Macbeth, Lady Macbeth represents a prominent ID. Although her conscience strengthens over the course of the play, a crucial difference between Lady Macbeth and her husband lies in her ability to suffocate her... middle of paper... A to Z. New York: Round Table, 1990 . Print."Freud's concept of personality". Creating the modern world. The Science Museum. Network. 20 April 2011. "From LESSON XXXI (1932) The anatomy of the mental personality." The anatomy of the mental personality. Network. May 15, 2011. .Gerwirtz, Arthur. Monarch Note: Macbeth by William Shakespeare. New York: Monarch, 1963. Print.Guerin, Wilfred L. et. al. A manual of critical approaches to literature. 5th ed. New York: Oxford UP, 1992. Print.Hazlitt, William. "Macbeth." Essays by William Hazlitt. New York: Sons of Charles Scribner, 1924. 146-59. Print.Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. New York: Washington Square, 1992. Print. The new Folger Shakespeare library.