Violence And Masculinity In Macbeth

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.

Even though Macbeth sees his best friend’s ghost, he tries to hold in the emotions he is feeling during that situation to prove Lady Macbeth that he is masculine. He is forced to act a different way with his wife and his peers, for he needs to maintain the image of him being masculine. Therefore, Macbeth and Canada have to act a different way around their peers for their actions reflects how masculine they are in society’s

Lady Macbeth calls to the spirit to rid her of her feminity and fill her like a man, one with deadly cruelty. This shows how the female qualities Lady Macbeth possessed kept her back by her delicacy to commit such churlish crimes. After Lady Macbeth was stripped, she was later able control Macbeth's actions and take the lead in Act 2, Scene 2. "Why worthy thane, you unbend your noble strength to think so brainsickly of things," She continues to call his actions weak so unlike

This affects her behavior drastically because she is driven by these evil spirits. She calls on the spirits that can thicken her blood and strength, and stop the reasoning. Lady Macbeth is relying on them to help her commit murder with her husband. In doing this, she feels she needs to remove all womanly softness and care. To do this, she feels the need to remove any motherly characteristics such as her womanly breasts that hold milk.

It is clear that men and women have two different cultures in Shakespeare’s time, and the relationship between the two was hierarchical. Throughout Shakespeare’s play, it is obvious that the feminine emotions are far less desirable than the masculine. When Lady Macbeth plots to kill Duncan in order for Macbeth to become king, she is aware that he must suppress his natural “love, compassion, pity, [and] remorse” in order to kill Duncan, and she will need to ignore the same emotions, “which she clearly thinks of as feminine” (180). Macbeth, of course, eventually gives in to the gender definitions of his wife and society and kills Duncan. “He is on his way literally and figuratively to becoming the kind of man his wife has urged” (183).

Through the course of ‘Macbeth’, masculinity is presented as a driving force to Macbeth’s crimes, making it a vital theme. In this essay, focus will be on masculinity’s presentation through Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. In the beginning, Shakespeare portrays Macbeth as “valiant”: a prized masculine quality and the key to respect in their society. However, this trait becomes warped along the play. Furthermore, Lady Macbeth has power comparable to man’s

Lady Macbeth is convinced to rid her self of anything feminine and be fierce like a man. While plotting against Duncan, Lady Macbeth

William Shakespeare portrayed the character Lady Macbeth to be extremely ruthless, malicious and manipulative. Thus, being the reason she could easily convince Macbeth to do her will, yet still put on such a convincing performance in front of those who knew nothing of her and her husband’s actions. Lady Macbeth shows her complexity constantly throughout the story when she shares her view-point on masculinity by demasculinizing her own husband, when she strategically plans the murder of the King Duncan, and finally when she finally goes crazy because of the guilt she possesses for not only her own actions but also turning her own husband into a

Under my battlements. 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. Make thick my blood. (I.v. 30-35) This is evidence towards Lady Macbeth wanting to have full masculine emotions.

Well Lady Macbeth, who is dead set on having absolute power, disagrees with that. She convinces Macbeth to kill, to cover up the murders, and tries to convince him that these murders will get them to the top. Lady Macbeth calls upon the witches and states, “unsex me here, and fill me from the crown to the toe top-full of direst cruelty” (Macbeth Act 1 Scene 5 lines 31 and 31). This shows that while in the pursuit of power, Lady Macbeth wanted it so much that she asked the witches to “unsex” her and make her more like man. But along with that you see the theme of gender roles are uncertain which ties into Lady Macbeth leading Macbeth in this pursuit of power, also giving him the ambition that she wants him to

In William Shakespeare’s tragedy, Macbeth, the protagonist desperately tries to live up to the image of a man that his society portrays. The search for his manhood leads him to violent acts that inevitably get him killed. In this tragedy, male and female roles are constantly discussed and defined. Both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth equate masculinity to violence and aggression. They both believe that in order to be a real man, then a man must perform violent acts when necessary.

Masculinity has been a heated debated topic over the past years. Not just america or europe, but our whole society. Men tend to think that entering manhood is a good thing, but most don’t know it can be just as detrimental to our society. Men have certain characteristic when it concerns to masculinity and when doing so it can have a range of effects. So, how do men identify themselves masculine and how do they define themselves that way?

“Come you spirits/ That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here/ And fill me from the crown to the toe topfull/ Of direst cruelty; make thick my blood,/ Stop up th’ access and passage to remorse.” (1.5.38-42). In William Shakespeare's play Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is asking the spirits to make her like a man, make her cruel, and not allow her to feel remorse so she can have the strength for King Duncan's murder. On many separate occasions that Lady Macbeth reveals the spirits inside her.

Furthermore, Lady Macbeth has a strong desire to neglect all of her femininity in order to gain strength and power. With these qualities she believes she will hold more power over Macbeth and his potential shot at becoming the king will be in her control. Once again, Lady Macbeth wants to rid all of her femininity, “I have given suck, and know how tender ‘tis that loves the babe that milks me: I would, while it was smiling in my face, have pluck’d my nimple from his bonless gums, and dash’d the brains out, had I so sworn as you have done to this” (1.7.30-32.) This quote shows Lady Macbeth’s ability to get rid of every ounce of femininity she posses. She is explaining how she had once loved a baby, but would kill him in a heartbeat for Macbeth and his potential success as king.

Paul Vu Dr. Elizabeth C. Ramírez THTR 475A.03 2 May 2017 Macbeth and Medea: Breaking Expectations Macbeth by William Shakespeare and Medea by Euripides are known for their powerful critiques on the social expectations of women. Women during the time of Elizabethan and Greek theatre were often stereotyped and considered the weaker sex. Men were depicted as strong individuals who supported and protected women. However, both Shakespeare and Euripides broke expectations by portraying strong and iconic female characters in their respective plays. The idea of a strong female character was often unheard of during the time of Elizabethan and Greek Theatre.