Shakespeare Gender Roles In Macbeth

The role of a character is easily defined by their gender. Today, we see an imbalance between genders, which make people misunderstand each other. The imbalance between genders has been reduced compared to the Shakespearean times. Women were meant to stay home as housekeepers for the family, while men had to go out and work and run the family. The idea of women that ran families was not common in theses times, but this play was made in 1606, three years after the death of Queen Elizabeth I. She was the lone ruler of England and yet she was a woman. Shakespeare has an gender imbalance in his play, Macbeth, and he switches it around for most of the play. He uses genders to help develop characters throughout the play. Gender roles is a prominent theme in William Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth, as it gives the audience a misrepresentation of what men and women should be, and the gender inequity of Shakespearean time. Shakespeare uses masculinity as a goal for men to reach. Throughout the play, men’s actions are done to prove their “masculinity” . For instance, Macbeth is expected by

They do not last long, though. The initial role of women in this play, was to be in control. Later on, Shakespeare reveals that they are what his society expects them to be, dependant on men and overwhelmed with their own emotions. Men on the other hand, start off as the pawns of women, but later on assume their expected roles a males and assume responsibilities over their own actions. Gender inequity has been a long term problem in our history that needs to be fixed. Shakespeare has done a fantastic job on showing today’s audience how this imbalance looked like during his time and how back then, changing roles resulted in catastrophe. His theme of gender roles explains to us the flaws of the imbalance between genders and the misprinted pictures of what men and women should be, something we need to fix