In “Macbeth: The Prisoner of Gender,” Robert Kimbrough explores the topic of manliness in Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth. Kimbrough begins by examining how masculinity and femininity came about in the first place, stating that the origin can best come from the “Judeo-Christian version of God the Creator” (179). The differences between males and females created a hierarchy in Shakespeare’s time, where males were on the top and females were on the bottom. Kimbrough states that the differences betweens the two genders are “matters of the mind,” and believes “Shakespeare sensed that so long as one remains exclusively female or exclusively male, that person will be ... denied human growth" (179). These “matters of the mind” are what Shakespeare tackles
Shakespeare engineered a most impressionable character in Macbeth who easily succumbs to the extensive magnitude of opposing constraints. This character is Macbeth, who is the protagonist in the play and husband to a conniving wife, who in the end is the sole cause for Macbeth 's undoing. Conflicting forces in the play compel internal conflicts within Macbeth to thrive on his contentment and sanity as he his torn asunder between devotion, aspiration, morality and his very own being. He has developed a great sense of loyalty from being a brave soldier; however, his ambition soon challenges this allegiance. As his sincerity begins to deteriorate, his own sanity starts to disintegrate until the point where he cannot differentiate between reality
Lady Macbeth’s strong character portrayed in Act I Scene V creates suspicion of dark events later in the play. In the play, Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Lady Macbeth reveals her true character in her speech and foreshadows King Duncan’s death. Throughout her speech, Lady Macbeth reveals her lust for power and desire to kill Duncan to become queen. Although Lady Macbeth’s character is recently introduced into the play, she reveals her true self as a sadistic and covetous person which foreshadows the murder of King Duncan and Macbeth’s prophesied future.
She is malicious not only in words but also in her intent. Her sole object is to obtain power and wealth, with its attendant treasures. Lady Macbeth lacks humanity and regrets that she was not born as a man. She understands that power and violence are synonymous with manhood and bravery. Additionally, Lady Macbeth interests’ and ambition, override her love for even her husband, Macbeth. “Come, you spirits, That tend on mortal thoughts,/unsex me here, And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full/ Of dire cruelty” (1.5.41-44). Lady Macbeth is the personification of male dominance, ruthlessness and violence. She hopes that she could take control of all action. She yearns to be a man and her implication is that she is more masculine than Macbeth. Her drive and violent nature is more akin to men and their masculinity. It makes her more ferocious than her masculine counterpart and hence her dominance over Macbeth. As well as she invokes the spirits to deprive her of feminism and make her as volatile as men, so that she can fulfill her dream of being the queen. Lady Macbeth is a bold and ambitious woman. She has implicit faith in herself. She wants to remove every obstacle in her pursuit of becoming the queen. Her ambition is not only for herself but also for Macbeth. Nevertheless, with all her fervor, she wants him to be as strong as her. “Make thick my blood./Stop up the access and passage to remorse,/That no compunctious visitings of nature/Shake my fell purpose/Come to my woman’s breasts,/And take my milk for gall” (1.5.44-49). Lady Macbeth never wavers in her goal. Like men, she has the trait to be gruesome and diabolical in nature. She has determined for herself the course to be pursued and nothing can hinder her. She does not need the prophecy of the witches to urge her. She is aware of her strength and she is resolute in her aim. Knowing Macbeth’s weakness,
Shakespeare's tragedy, Macbeth, analyzes the tragic downfall of a man who pursued his prophecy given to him by three witches, and suffered the downfall because of it. Told his power was inevitable, Macbeth explores the idea of murdering the King to achieve his goal of becoming King himself. Macbeth continually faces this, contemplating the moral issue of committing murder to in turn, fulfill his powerful destiny. While facing this internal conflict, Lady Macbeth developes an influence over Macbeth as well. Driven by her own desire to be Queen, Lady Macbeth persuades Macbeth to commit the murder, by challenging his manhood and often reminding him that it is, in fact, his destiny. We see the two counter each other’s claims throughout this as
In the beginning Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Lady Macbeth was a ruthless and masculine woman. She showed the audience that, mentally and emotionally, she was stronger than Macbeth. Although as the story started to continue the audience began to see that she was becoming mentally insane. Throughout the story there was also evidence of shakespeare showing the more masculinity you had the more cuel you became. Through Lady Macbeth’s change from ruthless and masculin to insane, Shakespeare illustrates the impact of murder.
In the popular play Macbeth, Shakespeare compares the gender stereotypes portrayed to those different pre-existing ideas from other generations such as the 1900’s, the 50’s, and even today 's society. Macbeth has plenty of examples of the exaggeration of gender roles that clearly differentiate male and female by construing their proper roles as polar opposite or complementary. Examples proving that there are gender stereotypes in Macbeth pertain to characters such as Lady Macbeth, The Witches, and Macbeth himself. In Macbeth, the many different stereotypes of gender roles from throughout the century to today’s society have been displayed in many aspects of the play. With examples of the exaggeration of gender constructs pertaining to the male
Imagine the President of the United States admitting to having mental instability. This scenario may rattle some, but it clearly plays out in William Shakespeare’s tragedy, Macbeth. The play’s title character uses violence to maintain power but gradually plummets into mental illness. Before Macbeth and his wife, Lady Macbeth, conspire to murder his cousin Duncan, the King of Scotland, in order to attain authority, Macbeth foreshadows the possible repercussions; afterward, he experiences an immediate sense of remorse. The subsequent murder of a friend displays his progressive unsteadiness, but the massacre of an entire family demonstrates his transformation from instability to deviance. Lady Macbeth tries to mask her guilt by covering up for her husband, but eventually comes to grips with her own instability. In Macbeth, Shakespeare asserts that power drives the title character and his wife to insanity, particularly after their conspiracy to kill Duncan.
“Looks like the innocent flower but be the serpent under it”(Shakespeare 1.7) this truly defines Lady Macbeth and describes her being someone that acts one way in certain situations and then in a contrary manner in others and also shows her manipulative personality and exploits her victims. Lady Macbeth is sharp at convincing and uses people for her need which she does throughout the play. In the play, The Tragedy of Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Lady Macbeth is ultimately responsible for Macbeth’s undoing because her ambition supported his greed and provoked his downfall.
Lady Macbeth persuades and manipulates Macbeth by pointing out his insecurities successfully and pressuring him into murdering the king. Along with this, Lady Macbeth also questions Macbeth’s manhood and masculinity when he does not want to carry out the plan when she says “When you durst do it, then you were a man;//And to be more than what you were, you would//Be so much more the man” (Shakespeare 1.7.49-51). By saying these things, Lady Macbeth persuades her husband to believe that murdering the king will be his redemption from being a
In Macbeth, Lady Macbeth Manipulative and ambitious but later you see the caring side of her. Lady Macbeth does not try and make her husband the monster he becomes but after she convinces Macbeth to kill King Duncan you see the manipulative side of her. Lady Macbeth degrades Macbeth and says things like, "When durst do it, then you were a man; / Andto be much more than what you were, you would / Be so much more the man" to manipulate him into doing her dirty work. Although Macbeth gives multiple reasons why he does not want to kill the king, Lady Macbeth finds ways to convince him still. This shows the ambitious side of Lady Macbeth. Throughout Macbeth, Lady Macbeth convinces Macbeth to do awful
William Shakespeare sagaciously utilizes the potent role of a remarkable female character throughout this novel. Shakespeare displays an assertive women, Lady Macbeth, to not only play as a role of influence; however, as an exceptional antagonist. Throughout Shakespeare’s novel, Macbeth, Lady Macbeth constantly reveals traits of vileness and dominance which allow her to be so conspicuous as a character. Lady Macbeth makes her lack of humanity perceivable to the audience; as well, her manipulativeness is what makes her notable. Lady Macbeth is regarded as such an outstanding character due to the way she challenges the role of the traditional women of the Elizabethan era. William Shakespeare undoubtedly exhibits the influence an individual
In the Tragedy of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth exhibits a greater capacity for evil than Macbeth. For example when Lady Macbeth is speaking to Macbeth after he starts to reconsider the plan, she says, “Art thou afeard/To be the same thine own act and valor/As thou art in desire” (I,vii,39-41). In this scene Lady Macbeth tries to manipulate her husband to kill Duncan by calling him a coward. As a man, Macbeth takes her comments very harshly and gets manipulated to continue the assasination plot. This scene shows that Lady Macbeth has a greater capacity for evil because she will do whatever it takes to gain power; even if it is to plot the murder of her king while he is sleeping in her home. In addition when Lady Macbeth is yelling at Macbeth saying,
Manipulation is a recurring theme in Macbeth because whenever Macbeth shows signs of weakness, Lady Macbeth undermines his manhood. Lady Macbeth’s actions portray her as strong and evil rather than nurturing and good. Lady Macbeth’s character exemplifies the complete opposite of social expectations during the Elizabethan era. By being able to manipulate her husband, Lady Macbeth is also seen as being a stronger character than Macbeth. Conclusively, Lady Macbeth’s actions portray Shakespeare’s exploration of gender roles, and his evaluation of
In The Tragedy of Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Lady Macbeth is revealed to be a unique individual who experiences different changes in her personality as the story progresses. In her first appearance in the play, she is introduced as a strong, forceful person determined to get what she wants. She refuses to allow anything to get in the way of what she desires. Her personality begins to change as her husband’s guilt for killing Duncan causes him to perform more and more brutal acts. Lady Macbeth’s behavior changes throughout the play from her early determination and forcefulness to her behavior during the banquet scene and finally to her behavior in her final