Macbeth and Highly Regarded Masculinity

Lady Macbeth in William Shakespeare’s play ‘Macbeth’ is a character who suffers greatly in because of her human weakness, which is her vaulting ambition. This ambition is not for her, but for her husband. This woman, who seemed so in control at the beginning of the okay, only cared for her husband and his success, later becomes so consumed with guilt and remorse that it results in her tragic death. Through the discussion of characterisation and lkey scenes, I shall reveal that Lady Macbeth’s human flaw is  not only a major contributor to the ruthlessness of her husband but creates a huge influence in how the play unfolds.

In ‘Macbeth’, masculinity is presented as a driving force to Macbeth’s crimes, making it a vital theme. The essay’s focus is masculinity’s presentation through Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Primarily, Shakespeare portrays Macbeth as “valiant”: a prized, respected masculine quality in their society. However, this trait becomes warped along the play. Furthermore, Lady Macbeth yearns for masculinity but she fails to acquire it. Shakespeare thus displays masculinity in two different lights.

Macbeth uses his manhood to portray his solider like qualities, but Lady Macbeth’s masculinity manipulates Macbeth’s actions, however, in the end it is Macbeth who uses his masculinity to do heinous actions.

A prominent and permeating theme in Macbeth is the roles and characteristics of masculinity and femininity. Throughout the play Shakespeare presents the audience with strong and sometimes conflicting views of these gender roles. What exactly defines being a man or a woman? How does an individual’s grasp of these roles effect their actions? Shakespeare shows that a clear and accurate understanding of the concept of masculinity is of critical importance in the success of a ruler. In particular, he illustrates how Macbeth’s acceptance of a perverted, violent view of masculinity leads his kingdom into chaos and turmoil, and leads Macbeth to his inevitable demise. Moral order can only be restored

In Macbeth, the conflict between manhood and femininity is very apparent. The differences between Lady Macbeth and Macbeth are profound. Over the course of the play, Shakespeare skillfully changes the role of the two characters. Macbeth is frightened at the beginning and frightened at the end while Lady Macbeth is seeming confident and ends up frightened in the end. Lady Macbeth questions Macbeth’s manhood many time throughout the play, making the conflict between their two personalities very apparent.

In society the purpose of gender roles is to group people into two opposite categories, men and women. These categories however, encourage toxic masculinity and gender inequality. In movies or books characters tend to fall into one category, when in reality most people don’t fit into just one. Shakespeare explores the idea of conformity and categorization in Macbeth. In Macbeth, the characters conformity to gender roles are the root of all their problems.

In ‘Macbeth’, masculinity is presented as a driving force to Macbeth’s crimes, making it a vital theme. The essay’s focus is masculinity’s presentation through Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Primarily, Shakespeare portrays Macbeth as “valiant”: a prized masculine quality which was respected in their society. However, this trait becomes warped along the play. Furthermore, Lady Macbeth yearns for masculinity but she fails to acquire it. Shakespeare thus displays masculinity in two different lights.

In this day and age people define masculinity as a strong person with no fear and having all the power, destroying everyone who comes in the way of gaining power or taking their power away. In Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, the author develops the definition of being masculine as a strong person and also by manipulating others. To start with, in Macbeth, all the characters act masculine, but the strongest character that acts is Lady Macbeth because she is a person that manipulates her husband in many ways. Lady Macbeth embodies the ideals of masculinity because she manipulates her husband to kill the king , she is ambitious, and she thinks that she is a man.

Lady Macbeth is a complex and intriguing character in Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth. She is a difficult character to embody as her personality seems split between two sides, one that is pure evil, sly and conniving in contrast to her softer, vulnerable, weak and feminine side. In the play we see her in these two main ways. The reader may feel a certain animosity towards Lady Macbeth throughout the first few acts as her personality appears more and more distasteful, in spite of this towards the end she has a serious breakdown over the guilt that torments her, even in her sleep, regarding her hand in Duncan’s untimely death.

Throughout history, the role of women in society has changed drastically but pieces of literature from different times tend to shed some insight into the way that the majority women lived in that time. Shakespeare uses contrasting female characters in Macbeth to show the expectations for women in his time period.

Alternative characters in the play contrast Macbeth and Lady Macbeth's twisted perception of a man by allowing their emotions and not giving in to traditional gender roles. When taking a look at masculinity in Macbeth, MacDuff’s is an aforementioned character. Shakespeare gives MacDuff phrases, which contrast the misguided ways of Macbeth and his Lady, and also show that there is hope in masculinity. It is obvious that MacDuff is Shakespeare's ideological adaptation of a real man. MacDuff knows himself and he performs his duties, as he knows he must and settles his feelings with the stability a man needs. As he is told to take the news of their murders “like a man.” He retorts, “I shall do so, / But I must also feel it as a man” (4.3.

Manhood and its definition is a major theme in Shakespeare’s play Macbeth. On first appearance, Macbeth is characterized as a loyal and valiant thane in defense of the honor of Scotland and King Duncan. The brutality that he shows as a warrior on the battlefield is an acceptable and lauded trait. These attributes come into question as the witches introduce the prophecies tempting Macbeth’s vaulting ambition. After the regicide, Macbeth is damned and is no longer concerned with being honorable. He covets immediate gratification at all costs and by all means. However, this gratification is temporary due to that Macbeth later on, experiences guilt and regret which directs him towards his morbid fate and ultimate demise.

Macbeth is Shakespeare’s shortest play containing 28 scenes in total. Of these, Lady Macbeth appears in or is referred to in 11 scenes. In the last two scenes, she is briefly discussed by Macbeth and the doctor, and then she contributes nothing more than a cry off-stage, and in two other scenes, she has a total of seven lines. This means she is on stage for barely one-third of the play, yet she ranks as one of Shakespeare’s greatest female villains and one of the most notorious female villains in Western literature. In a well-structured essay, account for the power of Lady Macbeth as a character and as a villain.

Upon this realization, Lady Macbeth indicates a newfound desire to be rid of her feminine qualities, seeking instead to replace them with masculine counterparts. Crying out, Lady Macbeth declares, “Come, you spirits. That tend on mortal thought! Unsex me here, and fill me from the crown to the toe top full of direst cruelty” (1. 5. 38-41). Her abstinence towards the limitations of gender thus set her down the road to madness.

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.