Gender Roles- an exploration of femininity and masculinity in Shakespeare’s Macbeth Written by William Shakespeare in the 17th century, Macbeth tells the tale of a power-hungry soldiers rise to the throne, while exploring various themes including concepts of masculinity and femininity, drawing a particular emphasis to the dichotomy between the two. In Macbeth, Shakespeare explores the bounds of these gender roles, and challenges their limits. By juxtaposing characters who step outside of the roles prescribed by their genders, such as Lady Macbeth, with characters who stay within their roles, such as Lady Macduff, Shakespeare conveys a disapproving message regarding individuals who defy their gender roles. Several unique female characters …show more content…
In 17th century England, witchcraft was a widespread belief, and these shared beliefs allowed Shakespeare to allude to things associated with witchcraft as they were widely known by his audience. Real “Witches” were typically elderly, or women considered outsiders, likely due to lack of children or husbands, which lent well to Shakespeare’s characterization of the witches in Macbeth, as they were given an immediate negative connotation based on the experience of his viewers. In his final interaction with the weird sisters, Macbeth refers to them with derogatory terms, such as “hags”, showing that their power over him has faltered as he has become a fearless and confident ruler. Secondly, Lady Macbeth provides a shock to the audience and challenges the masculinity of her husband. The first interaction depicted between the two is an argument in which Lady Macbeth encourages Macbeth to murder Duncan ensuing the news of his prophecies. In her introductory soliloquy, she states “Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be what thou art promised. Yet I do fear thy nature; It is too full o’ th’ …show more content…
He clearly does not have enough confidence in his own masculinity to not commit the murder and continue to feel secure in his marriage. Thus, Lady Macbeths dominance over him is clearly defined. Macbeths masculinity is also challenged by Macduff. Throughout the course of the play, Macduff emerges as a hero, and is eventually the one to kill Macbeth and restore Scotland’s monarchy from his short-lived tyranny. When Macbeth originally discovers Macduff’s suspicions towards him, he orders his entire family, including wife and children, to be murdered. Macduff’s absence has left his family defenseless and vulnerable to the dangers consuming Scotland under King Macbeth. In a speech of dramatic irony, Lady Macduff states, “Wisdom? To leave his wife and his babes, his mansion, and his titles in a place from whence himself does fly. He loves us not.” (Mac) She makes this remark shortly before her murder, essentially attacking Macduff’s masculinity as he appears to have abandoned his family out of fear, therefore not fulfilling his duties as a father and husband. Upon receiving this news, Malcolm encourages Macduff to “Dispute it
In Macbeth, gender roles are held in high regard by the characters and the society in which the characters live. The strict gender roles upheld by society influence the character’s actions throughout the play, becoming a driving factor for the plot of the play. Macbeth's insecurity in his masculinity drives him to be easily manipulated by Lady Macbeth, and her cruelty and ambition are compared to masculinity. Lady Macbeth's desire to escape from the confines of her femininity is driven by the rigidity of the gender roles of her time, which she felt limited her possibility for power. Overall, gender plays an essential role in Macbeth as the struggles the characters face with the constraints of the gender roles of the time guide many of the character's actions and decisions throughout the play.
He discloses to Malcolm that he can cry and sob like a young lady yet rather he wields his sword in the face of Macbeth and run his sword through him (Act IV Lines "246-248"). When you hear that your family is butchered you would separate and cry. It's alright to cry since it's what every single person do, everybody has feelings yet what you do with those feelings. Macduff comprehended what he needed to do which since crying and sobbing is weak which is the reason his meaning of being a man is more grounded than Macbeth's. Rather Macduff would rather face and murder Macbeth is in the face this is not quite the same as Macbeth's murder that was considered as masculine.
During Shakespeare's time, misogyny was a significant factor that impacted many, men and women were heavily influenced by the rules and guidelines on how they had to act, dress, talk and more. Women were judged by how pretty their hair was or how expensive their dress was. For men, it was about wealth, strength and honour. In Macbeth, we can clearly see the themes of masculinity and stereotypes portrayed throughout the play. In Act 1, scene 5, Lady Macbeth quotes “Come to my woman’s breasts, and take my milk for gall, you murd’ring ministers, wherever in your sightless substances.
In act I of the play, Macbeth, who is the main protagonist is chosen by the witches to become the king. “Your hand, your tongue: look like the innocent flower, But be the serpent under 't. He that 's coming Must be provided for: and you shall put This night 's great business into my dispatch;” (Act I. Scene v. Lines 67-69). In this piece of evidence, Lady Macbeth is convincing Macbeth to kill the King. Lady Macbeth is proving to Macbeth that she can be more of a man than he is which swaps gender roles a lot in the play. Another piece of evidence states, “thee, my dearest partner of greatness,
Macbeth's desire to "make assurance double sure" by having Macduff killed reveals his paranoia and his willingness to use violence to maintain his power. Macbeth believes that by eliminating all possible threats to his reign, he will be able to sleep peacefully and without fear. However, this ultimately leads to his downfall, as his violent actions bring about his own demise. Additionally, as declared in Document E, "I bear a charmed life, which must not yield to one of woman born. " This augments Macbeth's character flaw of overconfidence because despite the many warnings and signs that his reign is coming to an end, Macbeth remains overconfident and complacent.
Lady Macbeth is one of the most complex characters in Shakespeare's play "Macbeth". She is portrayed as a powerful and ambitious woman who plays an important role in driving her husband Macbeth to his own quest for power. Lady Macbeth is determined to become queen and uses manipulative tactics to commit murder. Lady Macbeth's desire to become "unsexed" is an example of how she defies the gender roles of her society. By asking the spirits to remove her feminine features, Lady Macbeth rejects the traditional expectations of women in her society, which were to be passive, nurturing, and maternal.
Hence, the supernatural causes each character’s true nature to become evident. Furthermore, with the witches’ prophecies as a weapon and as a form of justification for their evil actions, Lady Macbeth pushes Macbeth about his manliness and accuses him of not being man enough. Moreover, we can depict how Lady Macbeth renounces her womanhood to kill Duncan when she
In his play, Macbeth, Shakespeare uses the ambitious construct of Lady Macbeth to portray his critical perception of the patriarchal Jacobean society. Consequently, Macbeth’s death is not displayed onstage reflecting gender inequality and the dangerous repercussions of disallowing women to obtain power. The persecution of Lady Macbeth fuels her desire to garner power, ultimately resulting in her manipulating and emasculating her husband to commit regicide. Sexism and the marginalisation of women causes Macbeth to call upon evil spirits to ‘Unsex me here’. ‘Unsex’ implies that Macbeth is aware of the societal disadvantage of being a woman and desires to be stripped of her feminine characteristics allowing her to become more powerful.
It’s no surprise, that Shakespeare’s Macbeth was clearly constructed as a rebellion against femininity roles of the time. During the Elizabethan era, women were raised to believe they were inferior to men since men obtained desired masculine qualities such as strength, and loyalty, whereas women were viewed as figures of hospitality (1; 6; 28-31). Obviously, not being tempted by the luxury of subservient women, William Shakespeare rebuked this twisted belief, applying that women deserve more respect than their kitchen tables.
Lady Macduff wonders why Macduff, her husband has left her without a reason. She knows she has not done any “harm”, but unlike traditional women of the time, she can not assume that. She probably has some idea that there have been many killings after Duncan died. Rather than presume that nothing will happen to her, she acknowledges that she can not “put up that womanly defense.”
When Macduff is aware of what Macbeth did, Macduff goes and finds Macbeth and a battle between them commences. Macduff once again proves to be the true hero of
The women in Macbeth are presented by Shakespeare to be powerful and ambitious which was unlike the typical views during Jacobean times. The playwright portrays Lady Macbeth and the witches to be highly influential to male characters in the play, which again contrasts the contemporary views to that time. Their ambition and power are demonstrated through the perversion of nature. This highlights the evil and immoral side, they possess. Shakespeare, however, presented Lady Macbeth and the witches to be manipulative and cunning, rather than violent like Macbeth was during the play.
“Lady Macbeth has a high rank in their relationship.” (Sorge 4). Without this high rank they would not have been able to pursue the mission of having Macbeth become king. In this situation, it benefited The Macbeth’s to have Lady Macbeth take on the masculine role for them to receive their accomplishment. If Macbeth had to take own his masculine role being the actual man and all, they had the chance for their whole plan to be compromised because that’s not what he had in
In “Macbeth: The Prisoner of Gender,” Robert Kimbrough explores the topic of manliness in Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth. Kimbrough begins by examining how masculinity and femininity came about in the first place, stating that the origin can best come from the “Judeo-Christian version of God the Creator” (179). The differences between males and females created a hierarchy in Shakespeare’s time, where males were on the top and females were on the bottom. Kimbrough states that the differences betweens the two genders are “matters of the mind,” and believes “Shakespeare sensed that so long as one remains exclusively female or exclusively male, that person will be ... denied human growth" (179). These “matters of the mind” are what Shakespeare tackles
Lady Macbeth almost becomes almost a supernatural force in the play, which ties her to another major theme, the witches who control Macbeth through their enticing prophecies. This would have been of interest to a superstitious Jacobean audience, whose king had written a book on witches entitled Daemonologie. Lady Macbeth first appears in Act 1 Scene 5 of the play, where she receives a letter from her husband, Macbeth, telling her of the witches' prophecies that Macbeth will become king. She immediately becomes captivated by the idea of her husband becoming King and determines to convince him to murder King Duncan: “Hie thee hither, that I may my spirits in thine ear.” She immediately starts to sound like the witches, wanting to cast a spell over Macbeth as