Examining Gender Roles In Lady Macbeth By William Shakespeare

During the period where Shakespeare wrote Macbeth, women were uneducated, forced to act submissively and never expressed their opinions. Shakespeare turned all that around when he used female characters that have powerful roles to turn around from the norm and go against expectations in his time. The witches and Lady Macbeth are examples of female characters that have power in the story. In this quote, it explains how from the point of Macbeth’s confrontation with the witches, tells her his prophesize on how he will become the future king of Scotland. Through, that moment it shows Lady Macbeth’s ability to read as a female character which in her time was abnormal due to a majority of females in 1600 not having the ability to read. Through,

Eklavya Sehrawat ENG3UO Ms. Cheney April 27 2015 Exploring Gender Roles In Shakespeare’s Macbeth Although at the time of Shakespeare women were portrayed as lesser beings, Shakespeare still manages to portray them as strong and independent women. Throughout history stereotypes have not only decided the fate of men and women, but they have also decided how they act. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth gender roles are constantly challenged and reversed to give the reader a different perspective of the 17th century.

Finally, Lady Macbeth conceals her malevolent character through the stereotype that women are harmless compared to men. By, “look[ing] like the innocent flower,/ but be[ing] the serpent under’it” (Mac.1.6.65-66), Lady Macbeth utilizes Macbeth to fulfill her plan in killing Duncan. By saying, “When you durst do it, then you were a man”(1.7.49), she is using Macbeth’s lack of masculinity to her advantage. Being a woman restrains Lady Macbeth from accomplishing matters on her own to the point where she says, “unsex me here” (1.5.41). This is the peak of her turpitude as she is willing to become a man for the sole reason of murder. After hearing Macduff describe Duncan’s dead body, however, Lady Macbeth is overwhelmed with guilt which causes her

The Elizabethan era was a patriarchal society, males were perceived as dominant, filled with strength and bravery while women were the inferior sex, having a motherly, nurturing and timid nature. William Shakespeare constantly defies these expectations in the tragedy of Macbeth, through the dominance and manipulation of the witches and Lady Macbeth and the weaker sides of Macbeth and Macduff, despite their noble status that ensures their bravery and strength.

In Act One, Scene Seven, Lady Macbeth attacks Macbeth’s pride in order to manipulate his decision. Macbeth doubts the choice to kill the King, but Lady Macbeth wants the power and the title for Macbeth and herself. She asks Macbeth, “Art thou afeard to be the same in thine own act and valor as thou art in desire? Wouldst thou have that which thou esteem’st the ornament of life and live a coward in thine own esteem,” (1.7). Lady Macbeth questions Macbeth’s manliness, by asking if he is a coward or a noble king. No man wants to be called a coward by his female companion, or anyone else. In doing this, she mocks his fear of committing regicide, by calling his masculinity into question. Consequently, this affect’s Macbeth’s decision to kill King Duncan. Macbeth believes that men should be violent, cruel, brave, and unremorseful. This viewpoint has been instilled in him by people surrounding him such as his wife. His pride and masculinity were superior to any future punishment for this action. His myopic view prevents him from truly seeing the consequences to come of his decisions. The egotism of some men seems to take over their perspective of right and wrong. Males today do not want to be inferior to women, because they would seem weak.

In the old Shakespeare play Macbeth, women wear the pants, while the men wear the dresses, this is the theme throughout the play. It focuses on the marriage of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth takes the lead role, while she convinces her husband to kill Duncan. Shakespeare play concerning gender roles, shows the untraditional marriage in Scotland; what one sees is not what one gets. It also show how one starts is not how they end. The story of Macbeth shows power and betrayal. It shows power because it shows how one can take charge and get it done. It shows betrayal because he kill Duncan just to get the crown.

As any reader of Macbeth will know, many people die because one mans ambition gets out of hand. This ambition was fueled by the gender roles that each gender is supposed to live their lives by. Women are meant to be good house wives; nurturing and caring for the family. Men are supposed to be dominant and strong; protecting the family. Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, and young Siward all conformed to their gender roles and it led to their untimely deaths.

account thy love. Art thou afraid to be the same in thine own act and

The main character in the play, Macbeth, portrays femininity and feminine characteristics a lot more than would be expected from a man. First, Macbeth displays his manipulative nature when he convinces the murderers he had hired to murder Banquo. When Macbeth is faced with the murderers he hired, he tells them, “Now if you have a station in the file, not in the worst rank of manhood, say it, and I will put that business in your bosoms” (3.1.110-112). In saying this, Macbeth challenges the men's masculinity. He does this to convince the murderers that if they were manly enough, they would kill Banquo. Macbeth manages to convince the men to kill Banquo through the analogy of breeds of dogs. He challenges the men to prove themselves as a stronger breed of man, just as there are stronger breeds of dogs. In doing this, Macbeth goes against the gender norms that are otherwise in place in our society. Instead of displaying typical male characteristics such as bravery and valiance, he uses

In Shakespearian times the woman had no powerful roles, they did not write or act in plays. The roles were strictly played by men. This was true, however, in Macbeth written by William Shakespeare he portrays that both the men and the women in the play craved powerful roles, and desire ambition. Additionally, he shows how the roles of gender are flipped between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, and displays that Lady Macbeth wants control over Macbeth. In the play Lady Macbeth stands in for Macbeth’s manliness throughout the text, and she is the brain of all his decisions. Although “A Strange Infirmary” authored by Jenijoy La belle asserts that the actions of a women in that time period were not looked at as manly actions, and women were incapable

The play Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, explores an abundant of encounters to the rigid gender representation demonstrated in the play. The play revolves around the questioning of femininity and masculinity, allowing us to explore how certain characters equivocate the definition of gender to please their favour and how each gender identities are created for persuasion of the natural order that corresponds to the traditional order - Lady Macbeth and Macbeth exploit and redefine gender ideology, an unbalance is created when Lady Macbeth is displayed as the dominant character of the relationship, during the Jacobean era it is believed that it is proper to remain in your respected gender role and not to over rule your husband

In the the play Macbeth written by Shakespeare, gender roles make a significant impact on all the events that occur throughout the play. However, gender roles in this story are different from what is prevalent in others. The gender roles in the play contradict what is common for the time setting. Ironically, the female characters possess masculine traits and vise versa for the male characters. These ironic characteristics cause many of the events in Macbeth, to spiral out of control.

At the very beginning of the play, Lady Macbeth is provoked by the letter she receives by Macbeth and starts plotting the murder of Duncan. She also wishes she were a man such that she could commit the murder all by herself saying so in Act 1 Scene 5, “Come, you spirits That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full Of direst cruelty” (Macbeth 1.5.36-52). She appeals to these spirits to remove all aspects of her femininity and seeks to gain power through the prophecy of the witches. Her fear about the ability of her husband to commit the murder is subdued in her designated gender. Lady Macbeth manages her feminine power through her sensuality and pretended weakness through her fainting streak at the notice of Duncan’s death. Manipulation, usually through sexuality is often depicted as the source of women’s power still Lady Macbeth uses this power of hers to commit murder, a masculine demonstration of power. Lady Macbeth in her soliloquy about the planning of Duncan’s death refers to her husband as an individual who plays honestly and does not engage in wrongdoing.

The gender roles in William Shakespeare’s, The Tragedy of Macbeth are made clear from the very first act. Masculinity is associated with strength, bravery, ruthlessness and apathy while femininity is usually coupled with docility, fragility and reliance. Gender, and the behavior expected from each, is a constant motif that reappears throughout the play. The instances that appear in the play reveal that the characters are expected to act according to their gender and limit their emotions and the way they conduct themselves. In The Tragedy of Macbeth, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth both behave contrary to how their gender would dictate. Lady Macbeth is shown taking the dominant role while planning the regicide of the Scottish king, Duncan, which is unusual for a woman and more expected from her husband, Macbeth. Gender and the actions assigned to it play an important part in the story seeing as Macbeth and Lady Macbeth act in ways stereotypical of their opposite genders; Lady Macbeth comes off as cold-blooded, confident and ambitious while Macbeth is apprehensive and weak-willed and in the end, the role-reversal between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth only harms them later on.

2.0. THE RENAISSANCE PERIOD The Renaissance is a period from 14th to 17th century. It was the bridge between the Middle Ages and modern history. It started as a cultural movement in Italy and later spread to the rest of Europe.