Gender Roles In Lady Macbeth

The traditional gender role for men and women is a strict set of expectations one must face and either choose to follow or defy it. In the Shakespearian era women portray as the weaker sex because they display as needing protection as the more fragile, innocent, and dependent sex, whereas men have authority as strong, capable, and honourable beings. However, the traditional gender roles play in reversal in Macbeth by William Shakespeare by having Lady Macbeth, the Three Witches (weird sisters), and Macbeth defy the gender roles that allow women and men to portray in a unique way in society. First, Lady Macbeth is defiant to her role as a woman because she is able to take initiative, deceive others, and commit violent acts. Secondly, the three Witches are in fact sisters which avid them to follow their role as women, however they defy their roles because they manipulate others, have the capability to make independent decisions, and kill without hesitation. Finally, Macbeth defies his roles as a man in the Shakespearian era because he acts cowardly, isn’t able to carry out duties himself, and is disloyal to his companions.

Then slowly Macbeth looses his masculine qualities. The witches have a part in him loosing his masculinity. The traditional role of men usually take charge, and wears the pants, but its already clear the Lady Macbeth wears the pants. “ Lady Macbeth appears to be the more freighting figure” (Maternal Power par 1). The role of Macbeth is a friendly person, who is dictated by his wife; She controls his every thought. Its as if he doesn’t make a move without her knowing. She clearly over powers him in every way. The weird sisters also play apart in the gender roles. “ The disruption of gender roles occur in the weird sisters the trio perceived as violating nature and dispute the designation, as sister the gender roles, the characters is also ambiguous” (play with gender role par 3).

Lady Macbeth is without a doubt to blame for Macbeth’s commitment to carry out the murder of King Duncan. Due to her newfound traits of masculinity, those being: her ambition, her controlling nature, and her outright rejection of feminine traits, especially ones that are considered vulnerable or emotional, she becomes thoroughly persistent with Macbeth about redeeming his manhood by killing the king and claiming the throne. She wholeheartedly believes that Macbeth will not stick to the plan if she does not push him to do so. By diminishing her femininity and all of her womanly traits, she becomes more masculine than that of Macbeth, the celebrated war hero. Following the changes in her persona, Lady Macbeth begins to manipulate and control Macbeth and his decisions to follow through with their original plan.

The play Macbeth, written by Shakespeare, describes Macbeth’s rise to power and the obstacles he faces on his journey. The witches prophesied his rise of power that will lead to him becoming King. He must make many drastic decisions that will lead to becoming king and powerful. Males often strive to obtain supremacy and glory. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, male roles are strictly defined as cruel and violent; however, not all men follow these standards. Male gender roles and the stereotypes they reinforce, may or may not define the way a male acts in society.

Throughout the years, the typical stereotypes of womanhood and femininity have significantly innovated for the better. The infamous Shakespeare play, The Tragedy of Macbeth, viewed women much differently than what the era itself did. This showed greatly through the character, Lady Macbeth, who completely destroyed those stereotypes. She was not only independent, but she also portrayed the utmost amount of confidence. Lady Macbeth was in complete control of her relationship with Macbeth and was highly respected by others around her.

William Shakespeare’s, Macbeth, displays what a man is willing to do to obtain the highest level of power. When Macbeth is first introduced, he is viewed as a man with great gallant and heroism - as he is able to prove his loyalties to the King of Scotland, Duncan. However, Macbeths masculinity begins to come into question, when he lets the three witches’ prophecies guide his decisions on his journey of becoming king. Shakespeare approaches manhood and womanhood ambiguously. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are the center of attraction when it comes to gender roles.

A typical stereotype placed on women is how they are to act and what they are supposed to do for their family. A women is said to be accommodating and emotional. Lady Macbeth falls into this stereotype completely. In the story, Lady Macbeth shows her accomodation by helping Macbeth achieve his goal of being royal. She would like to be royal as well, but since it is her husband's original thought, she latches on to it and makes it happen.

Lady Macbeth is one of the strongest women in all of Shakespeare's plays and is a focus of exploration of gender roles with her traditionally masculine personality. In her relationship with her husband, Macbeth, she often seems to take the more masculine role for power and success. Lady Macbeth says “Come you spirits/ That tend on mortal thoughts unsex me here” (1.5.47-48) This is Lady Macbeth saying to not identify her by her gender and be given no sex.

Ever since Lady Macbeth’s debut in 1606, she has been one of Shakespeare’s most iconic female characters. The willing accomplice, the ruthless mastermind – indeed, her standard depiction as a conniving woman grasping for power in a man’s world has endured throughout the years. But who is to say that a depiction is immune to change? Most will generally see the Scotswoman as a typical one-dimensional villain, but in actuality, she was a strong woman able to overcome the limitations of her gender in order to become queen.

Role (name and brief description) The role I am assuming is that of a “Witch”. In Shakespeare’s well-known play “Macbeth”, this character uses charms, spells, and prophecies to reveal the truth to Macbeth and Banquo and later confirm the downfall and tragic destiny of the tyrannical Macbeth. Audience/Context The context of the monologue is a female scientist preparing for her speech at an exhibition and discussing her findings from her experiment.

The Elizabethan society depicts women as charming, delicate, and heart of sympathy and nurture. Lady Macbeth does not fulfill the expectations and therefore Lady Macbeth is seen as a corrupt woman. She is selfish, ambitious, and over control. She does not show the feminism a woman should have, but instead, she guides the murder plan and makes Macbeth

The prominent characters which illustrate gender roles are Lady Macbeth and Macbeth. The continuing roles of gender are demonstrated by Shakespeare in the portrayal of Lady Macbeth in the play. The representation of women in Macbeth provides stark contrast to contemporary western values of gender equality. This is elucidated in Lady Macbeth’s ‘unsex me’ speech, in which she urges the evil spirits to give her more masculine qualities, in order to facilitate the murder of Duncan. “That no compunctious visiting s of nature shake my fell purpose nor keep peace between Th’effect and it.

In Macbeth, one of the most tragic and well known plays, William Shakespeare changes women’s part in society. During this time period, women are known to be both mentally and physically weaker than men. Women are called to be only housewives. Shakespeare reflected the image of women in society by giving the men bigger leads in his plays. Only in a few of Shakespeare's plays did he give women strong leading roles. Macbeth is one of the few plays where women play a more powerful role than the men. In Macbeth, he gives the women unusual traits like manipulation and betrayal. In William Shakespeare's play Macbeth, women like Lady Macbeth , the trio witches, and Lady Macduff portray non-feminine traits.

With social and cultural stereotypes in this era, men were viewed as more powerful while women were portrayed as weak. William Shakespeare tries to interpret the roles between genders by having characters of the opposite sex. In the play Macbeth, William Shakespeare uses rhetorical devices to demonstrate Macbeth’s and Lady Macbeth’s switch in traditional gender roles, which arise from the consequences for each character’s actions and speech.

The women in Macbeth, namely Lady Macbeth, contradict these expectations through their commanding, and ambitious tones. During that second half of act one Lady Macbeth is portrayed as the ruling figure in the house. Instead of being a grateful and fulfilling housewife she instead pushes and commands Macbeth to commit assassination. She berates him when he falters and asked if he would rather, “live like a coward in thine own esteem.” (Shakespeare)