The Changing Attitudes of Lady Macbeth in William Shakespeare's Macbeth

Lady Macbeth famously calls upon the spirits to ”un-sex” her because she feels that she is limited by the gender roles of women. Lady Macbeth also shows her brave personality when she decides to put back the daggers that Macbeth accidentally brought, while Macbeth refuses because he is too afraid to look at Duncan’s dead body. Lady Macbeth proves that she is no less of a man than Macbeth by forcing Macbeth to commit the murder of dunacan. Lady Macbeth does this by constantly attacking his masculinity. With things heating up Lady Macbeth takes matters in her own

To succeed in ruling the throne, both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth plot to murder Duncan and in doing so they both switch gender roles. Macbeth tells Lady Macbeth about the Witches’ prophecy of him being king. Her reaction is different than you would expect. She puts him down by mocking his masculinity and by doing so, she states that in order for them to be successful, he needs to listen and follow what she is saying as she states, “Yet do I fear thy nature;/ It is too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness/To catch nearest way” (1.5.16-18). Shakespeare uses this rhetorical device to describe the personality of Macbeth in Lady Macbeth’s eyes. She uses the milk of human kindness to say that Macbeth cares. Due to Macbeth being kind and compassionate, Lady Macbeth does not think he will be able to go along with the prophecy the witches’ told him. Lady Macbeth speaks to Macbeth as if he is a coward and is not acting like a man. Men were typically in control over woman by having total control over the household. With Lady Macbeth

Lady Macbeth could be considered the opposite of a stereotype of a female from the Shakespearean era. A female from this era would not be nearly as gruesome and bloodthirsty as she, “Give me the daggers...If he do bleed, I’ll gild the faces of the grooms withal, For it must seem their guilt” (2.2.55-60). Lady Macbeth frames the men that watch over King Duncan’s castle, she is taking part in murder. Her actions involved in the murder show her masculinity. Lady Macbeth doesn’t feel guilty showing she is not weak whereas Macbeth has a guilty conscience showing he is more feminine because weakness is often associated with femininity. It is ironic that Macbeth’s character was introduced as a hero but in this scene is a weak character. This imbalance of masculinity and femininity creates disorder. The imbalance is also seen when Lady Macbeth is conversing with Macbeth about Duncan’s murder, “I have given suck, and know how tender ‘tis to love the babe that milks me; I would, while it was smiling in my face, have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums and dashed the brains out” (1.7.54-58) She is using maternal imagery as a comparison to Macbeth’s hesitation for killing King Duncan. The speech was cruel, she would dash a newborn’s brain out so she thinks Macbeth should be able to kill a man. Her masculinity is shown here because, the maternal image was flipped. The image was not associated with love

As a modern reader, it is easy to read Macbeth and see elements of feminism come into play. In today’s society where people have become increasingly aware of racial and gender disparities, these aspects of the play have become more clear to the audience. Throughout the play, Lady Macbeth shows valuable insight into gender stereotypes of the time period. After the discovery of Duncan’s death, Macduff addresses Lady Macbeth by saying “O gentle lady, / 'Tis not for you to hear what I can speak. / The repetition, in a woman’s ear / Would murder as it fell” (Macbeth 2.3.96-99). This supposed innocence contrasts with her true character because she was actually the one who encouraged the murder in the first place. This particular line is interesting in that one can see both the defiance and compliance with stereotypes. Lady Macbeth bends gender norms by showing

In the play Macbeth, gender roles seem to be more reversed, for ambition is deemed a masculine trait. The theme of gender roles and power is very evident and essential to Lady Macbeth’s character. She is responsible for breaking the gender roles in her moral society by manipulating her husband to do something that he is unsure of committing to. Lady Macbeth manipulates Macbeth by questioning his masculinity, she says, “Art thou afeared 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 coward in thine own esteem” (1.7.39-43).

Lady Macbeth indicates her desire to lose her feminine qualities and gain masculine ones when she proclaimed to the spirits to “unsex [her] here and fill [her]... full of direst cruelty” (1.5). Lady Macbeth practically begs these higher powers to take away her femininity and give her more masculine qualities so she may complete the cruelest and most of deeds. When Macbeth is weary of killing Duncan, Lady Macbeth persuades him by reminding him that since she has no issues in committing a crime like “dash[ing] the brains out” (1.7) of her own child, he shouldn’t have any qualms about killing a man he barely knows. While women of this time period are supposed to be reserved, Lady Macbeth seems to show little remorse for her cruel fantasies and actions that wreck havoc on her world, therefore showing how she doesn’t conform to the standards of

Everyone in the book sees Lady Macbeth as a strong, caring and loving women who obeys what Macbeth says. However that's only her appearance. In reality, she is the definition of what being a man was back in 1600, she is bloodthirsty, violent and masculine. Throughout the play, Lady Macbeth acts as if she is innocent and doesn’t know what's going on, an example of this is when she says “Woe, alas. What, in our house?”

Throughout Macbeth, strong gender norms are explored through the bending of stereotypical, patriarchal roles, and the idea of a gender’s nature. Lady Macbeth challenges the idea of a submissive woman and is seen manipulating Macbeth, using his fear of appearing feminine. Macbeth’s masculine anxiety pushes him to do whatever it takes to gain power, which eventually results in his loss of mental stability and his life. The Violence of the story stems from the relationship between violence and masculinity. Shakespeare is able to explore gender roles through the play by blurring the patriarchal roles and examining the consequences of gender anxiety on maternity, power, and cultural gender norms of the time; demonstrating the downfalls of strict gender roles and how it relates to the masculine violence of the monarchy

Shakespeare’s Macbeth presents women wickedly especially Lady Macbeth (the main female protagonist). Throughout the play she is described very dominant. Women in Tudor times were soft and kind but Shakespeare dislocates it with Lady Macbeth. Moreover, women in Tudor times would stop a man from committing sin but Lady Macbeth goes ahead and encourages her husband into doing this (Macbeth). Lady Macbeth is portrayed as ambitious as she says ‘unsex me here’ which is very strong and powerful phrase and means she wants all her femininity weaknesses to be gone so she could be more like a man so she could do what Macbeth is hesitating to do (kill King Duncan) which shows she is ready to do anything to make her ambition true seem as Macbeth 's manhood is lost. She is completely different from women in society at the time therefore gives me a negative impression also her appearance is not prominent as Shakespeare focuses more on her traits. Moreover, the phase un- is used a few times in the play as they try to take back what they had done realising their mistake but unfortunately for them its too late to stop them from manifesting in death.

At the beginning of the tragedy she believes herself being her husband's partner and intends to help him attain the crown. She is a supportive wife for her husband, though he would "wrongly" win. Inspired by the sense of power as a source of Macbeth's strength, she prays to be "unsexed"(3.40) and seems to challenge the witches exclusive right to be the "instruments of darkness"(3.124). But while the witches speak in double meanings playing a waiting game where the victim traps himself, Lady Macbeth sacrifices to hold what is dear for her: her role as a wife - "unsex me here" and as a mother - "Come to my woman`s breasts,/ And take my milk for gall"(3.47-48) (Dash). "In these plays, the perception of the masculine consciousness is that to be feminine is to be powerless, especially in the relation to a controlling or powerful woman".

How does Shakespeare convey the difference between the characters Lady Macbeth and Macbeth's change of mindset throughout the play? Who would have thought ‘brave’ Macbeth, described by others ‘like Valour’s minion’ accompanied by his ‘dearest love’ Lady Macbeth, his selfish, heartless wife. Would end up as an inhumane, brutal murderer with a remorseful carcass of a wife? Shakespeare describes the contrast between the characters Lady MacBeth and MacBeth’s mentality through a gradual diversity lead by their consciences. I am going to analyse the difference between the deterioration of mindset in the characters Lady MacBeth and MacBeth by showing how Shakespeare introduces the character MacBeth as a heroic and loyal warrior; on the contrary,

How does the mastermind and accomplice of a murder cope with the crime they helped commit? What happens if their partner in crime goes rogue? In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is introduced as a power-obsessed individual who bullies her husband into killing their king and exits as a woman whose guilt has consumed her to the point where she cannot continue. The source of her cruelty can be attributed to the demons she invited to rid her of feminine qualities in preparation for the murder. The behavior of this woman can be compared to the actions of another famous queen: Queen Elizabeth I. In a play centered on a man whose morality is deteriorating, the sanity and will to live of a woman diminishes. The transformation

“Maternal power in Macbeth,” Janet Adelman writes, “is not embodied in the figure of a particular mother (as it is in Coriolanus); it is instead diffused throughout the play” (Adelman 131). This “maternal malevolence”(131) is introduced with the witches, but quickly spreads to Lady Macbeth. After she learns of his encounter with the witches and his plot to usurp the

In perhaps the most pivotal scene in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Lady Macbeth’s motives are truly revealed in her manipulation of Macbeth to show how humans have a desire for power and once they get a taste of it, they will go through any lengths to have it, no matter the effect on others. Her lust for power is showcased through how she persuades Macbeth by insulting his masculinity and using emotive language to counter his logical reasoning. This section of the play illustrates the tipping point of each character’s morality with Macbeth having second thoughts about the planned murder and Lady Macbeth diving straight in.

Lady Macbeth’s burning ambition to be queen drives her to the point of insanity. She stops at nothing to gain power and uses Macbeth as the enforcer for her plans. This power is clearly illustrated as her husband follows her command to kill the king of Scotland, she constantly taunts Macbeth bringing him even further under her control. She is quite the opposite of how we generally assume feminine characters to act, and even begs the gods to remove her femininity at one point, “...Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here...Come to my woman’s breasts, and take my milk for gall, you murd’ring ministers...” (Shakespeare 12). As Lady Macbeth expresses her desire to become unsexed, we see the link that clearly exists between masculinity and murder. She believes that since she is a woman she cannot be capable of committing such evil deeds, and her reference to her breasts which is generally linked to the idea of nurture, is called upon in reference to her desire to do quite the opposite. Lady Macbeth presents a very strong character throughout the play, and through her actions a very clear picture of a manipulative wife is painted. Though Macbeth is the one to carry out many of the deviant plans, Lady Macbeth’s role is clearly portrayed as the evil mastermind behind the murders.