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. She was so powerful that she broke the stereotype of women being weak and obedient to men in the late 1500’s to the early 1600’s; women were belittled during this time frame and were servants to men.
Lady Macbeth conveys the opposite characteristics of femininity on more than one occasion. For example, Lady Macbeth was so eager for Macbeth to become the King of Scotland because she wanted to be Queen
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Which is an uber part in a woman’s life back in the late 1500’s to the early 1600’s. She expressed that she wanted her breast milk to be ridden and replaced with gall. Which is a vile body fluid that comes from the gallbladder and would not be pleasing for infants to drink. She also demands to “...unsex me here, and fill me, from the crown to toe, top full of direst cruelty!” In other words, she no longer wants to be a female, instead she wants to be perceived as a male in order to be more cruel, heartless, and corrupted. She does not want to have the emotions of a female, such as sensitivity, she wants to be as detached from her emotions as possible (Act I, Scene V). Lady Macbeth was already vicious and aggressive, therefore she really should not have felt the need to become a male in order to achieve these characteristics. Women in this century would have never thought to transform into a male and desperately wanted to have conceive
Firstly, Lady Macbeth is defiant to her role as a woman because she is able to take initiative, deceive others, and commit violent acts. To begin with, more than often times, husbands are controlling and lead their wives to complete certain tasks they have in hand; however through multiple occasions in Macbeth Lady Macbeth takes initiative over her husband:
Lady Macbeth rebelled against her gender norms because she was craving the power and was willing to do anything to get the power. Most women in that time period were very intimidated by power because they didn’t have very many rights. So the fact that she was so driven to be powerful says something about her character. Back then women didn’t expect power unless they were in the royal families so when Lady Macbeth heard from Macbeth that he was going to become king she was ready to go to extreme extents for that power and to be a royal family. She went to farther extents for power then most men do.
When one thinks of the words ‘womanhood’ or ‘femininity’, one thinks of gentle, pretty objects. Images that are usually associated with these words are dresses, makeup, housewives, cooking, cleaning, heels, painted nails, skinny, weak, jewelry, etc. Society deems these images as feminine. Although these are the typical stereotypes of being feminine or a woman, most women do not fit these stereotypes. In Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth, Lady Macbeth fits the stereotype and breaks the stereotype at different points in the play.
In the Shakespeare play, Macbeth, Lady Macbeth seems to fall into the numerous stereotypes for women. The only thing that Shakespeare did to draw Lady Macbeth away from the stereotype is her ability to control her marriage and her
Historically, gender stereotypes have run rampant within works of literature, a reflection of social stratification in the real world. This is true of William Shakespeare’s play “Macbeth”. In this piece of literature, women are supposed to be gentle, fair, and caring while men are meant to be strong, courageous, and macho. Though Shakespeare’s characters understand their archetypal, assigned gender roles, Shakespeare draws attention to instances his character’s challenge their designated characteristics. One character who often challenges her call to be society’s stereotypical woman is Lady Macbeth.
Women in Power: How Stereotypes are battled in Macbeth In Macbeth by William Shakespeare, gothic themes contribute to stereotypical masculinity but not stereotypical femininity in the given era. Macbeth is technically the one who kills King Duncan and fights in wars, but Lady Macbeth has a large part in the decision-making process. Her clever and devilish ways make it easy for her to manipulate her husband into doing these terrible things to make sure they secure a place on the throne. The witches are also a part of this and play an important role overall in combating femininity in Macbeth. The witches, or weird sisters as they are often referred to as, are extremely powerful, they have immense control, and they have the ability to prophesize
(I.v.36-37). Lady Macbeth feels that her dainty attributes hinder her ability of becoming a powerful ruler. She wants to betray the “Milk for gall” and take away the ladylike characteristics associated with her gender, and instead be filled with bitter evil (I.v.43). Women’s inability to rise to power shows the political dominance of men during this time period. Lady Macbeth’s longing for change and to have more wickedness displays that women were greatly disregarded and preferred to be divergent from the defining
It impresses on her an insanity that ultimately leads to her death. Femininity is not a physical characteristic, but is mental and emotional. In the article, A brief look at Feminism In Shakespeare's Macbeth, by Marison Davis, he explains that "Her weakness is a result of paricharial portrayal of her gender" (1). The Renaissance period believed women to be weak and it is the weakness that returned to kill her. Her fragility is the cause of her inability to complete the deed of killing the king.
She is a strong woman willing to go into battle, which was against the traditional gender roles for women of that time. In a similar way, nontraditional gender roles are used in Shakespeare ’s play Macbeth through the strength of his character Lady Macbeth. Her strength is first shown in her soliloquy after she reads Macbeth’s letter about the witches’ prophecy.
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 not the picture of a perfect woman. She is cunning, dissimulative and ambitious with a solid resolve. She seems to dismiss the stereotypical female qualities in favour of male qualities to better serve her and her ambition. She shows this desire when she calls out “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" (I.5.43-46).
Lady Macbeth defies the expectations of a women through her active and violent pursuit of power. The social construct of femininity in this time period viewed a woman’s role as the quiet, obedient servant, which distinctly contrasts Lady Macbeth’s vocal role as a leader in the plot to gain power. The orchestration and committing of murder casts Lady Macbeth in a masculine tone, because these actions portray a demanding character who takes what they want. These qualities are associated with masculinity because men are expected to lead and to be strong and powerful. For Lady Macbeth to be such an aggressive woman, the stereotype of fragile femininity is evidently challenged.
Generally, Macbeth is thought of as Shakespeare’s most feminist play. With a supposedly powerful female character and an inversion of gender roles, it is easy to see how this idea came into being. However, it is totally wrong. Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, is a play about an ambitious nobleman who would go to any measure to become king and retain that position after receiving a prophecy from three witches. At first, he is unwilling to resort to violence to become king but his wife, Lady Macbeth, manipulates him into doing so. Once the first murder is complete, he has found a thirst for killing and continues to kill various people until he is eventually killed and the rightful king takes his place. The claims of this being a feminist play stem from Lady Macbeth’s character and her relationship with Macbeth. Lady Macbeth is violent and evil, while Macbeth is originally too kind, showing a gender role reversal. Even so, there are many problematic aspects of Macbeth that completely negate the few progressive components in Shakespeare’s writing. Macbeth is a misogynist play because it promotes strict gender roles, gender non-conforming women are demonized and seen as responsible for men’s problems, and by the second half of the play, any innovative gender role reversals are themselves reversed.
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.
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)