Preview

Macbeth: Gender and Power

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
326 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Macbeth: Gender and Power
Macbeth: Gender and Power Masculinity is a huge part of this play. Every character in this book has some characteristics of masculinity in them. Banquo, Duncan, Macbeth and even Lady Macbeth has some masculinity inside of her. Masculinity is also valued differently by each person.

In Macbeth, Lady Macbeth says to Macbeth, "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 43). Here, Lady Macbeth is referring to how Macbeth, when he first dared that they should kill King Duncan, was a man and now if he were to go through with the plan, he'd be even more of a man. Masculinity, to me, means to be faithful, trust-worthy, tough, and to stand up for what you believe in. Men are known for having power and responsibility, but that isn't always the case. A women; without her, man is nothing. Macbeth gets his power and encouragement from Lady Macbeth, who, although she questions his manliness in some instances, is somewhat of a man herself.

Masculinity has an effect on Lady Macbeth in this book. She is even quoted as saying, "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," (Shakespeare 38). There, she basically wants to be made less of a woman and more of a man and she wants to be filled with deadly cruelty so that she can easily kill King Duncan. Lady Macbeth would have simply killed Duncan if it weren't for him looking like her father. Power and responsibility isn't just in the hands of men; it is also with women, who are there to sustain their men in their positions and to honor their men. This book has opened my eyes for masculinity and power in this book and I have greatly enjoyed reading

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    Lady Macbeth’s view on manhood is significant. She equates manhood with ambitious, selfish, and often times cruel behavior. Macbeth, on the other hand, believes that manhood must have some code of honor. Because of this, Lady…

    • 937 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gender Roles In Macbeth

    • 1778 Words
    • 8 Pages

    These include different motifs, types of symbolism, classes, and gender roles. While they all play their own significant parts in the play, probably the most intriguing element is the utilization and distortion of gender roles and their impact on the final outcome of Macbeth. The influence of gender roles in Shakespeare’s life and writing could be attributed to the political conflict occurring in England during that time. A few different female monarchs of this time, most importantly Queen Elizabeth I, either had claims to or did ascend to the English throne. Females at the time were doubted as capable of being sole rulers, as their natures would cause them to be weak and vulnerable to failure. Despite this long-standing view Queen Elizabeth successfully reigned due to the idea of “the king’s two bodies” that disregards gender in the case of being a monarch. (Greenblatt 359-361, 392-393) Like many aspects of court life for play writers, the queen probably influenced the substance of Shakespeare’s writing to some degree. This play in particular contains some intriguing looks at gender roles and even more fascinating female…

    • 1778 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A well-known adventurist once said,"A man's pride can be his downfall." This exemplifies the eventual destruction of Macbeth's emotional and mental stability along with his reign as king due to his excess of pride. Throughout Shakespeare's Macbeth, masculinity and femininity are associated more with power and weakness, rather than gender. Masculinity is often paired with cruelty and murder while femininity usually renders weakness and occasionally logic. The idea that power rests in men, while women are inferior is common throughout Macbeth. Throughout the play, Macbeth shifts between femininity and masculinity, but in the end, it is a combination of power-craving, cruel masculinity and overbearing, weak femininity that destroys Macbeth.…

    • 790 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Masculinity In Macbeth

    • 613 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In Shakespeare's, Macbeth, (1606), and as in many of his tragic plays, gender roles have an important impact upon the courses of events. Besides the obvious difference of gender, these roles convey a unique and important processes throughout a short, tragic, and bloody play. Weather it's the ambition of a man, and the greed of a woman, their biggest fear of them all, would be fate and their chosen destiny.…

    • 613 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    No matter how many years have passed, whether is be decades or centuries, all women are the same: manipulative, deceptive, and emotional. In William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, there is no greater prime example other than Lady Macbeth herself on how women are the downfall of men. By probing into the small, but very important character’s mind, there will be an almost surreal realization of how much influence women actually have on men.…

    • 402 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Feminity and Lady Macbeth

    • 533 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Lady Macbeth, to some extent, can be considered an oxymoron, for within Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth, her femininity is portrayed as the antithesis of what being an ideal woman and wife is about. Instead of being a graceful, elegant female faithful to the wishes and commands of her husband, Lady Macbeth’s character contradicts that kind of feminine role. She represents a different side of the characteristics of femininity. As one the most complex characters in the play, she is portrayed as a dark, manipulative and cunning woman, able to cast a wicked and harrowing spell over Macbeth.…

    • 533 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Women in Macbeth are perceived as weak and in constant need of protection. Lady Macbeth is not as…

    • 1452 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    It is important to understand the role that gender plays in today's society, as compared with the gender roles portrayed in Shakespeare's Macbeth. Masculinity is a strong symbol used within gender throughout the play, and is a parallel with icons today.…

    • 644 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gender Roles in Macbeth

    • 732 Words
    • 3 Pages

    According to gender theory, society assigns certain roles for men and women. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, these gender roles play an important part in violence. Both Lady Macbeth and Macbeth appeal to the role of “manhood” as violent and aggressive in order to accomplish the murders of King Duncan and Banquo. Women are portrayed as initiators of crimes and are viewed as devious.So, throughout the play, gender roles provide a means for murders and viciousness.…

    • 732 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gender Roles In Macbeth

    • 429 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are striving towards masculinity. The importance of masculinity to the both of them is an issue of power. Lady Macbeth aspires to be a man so that she can show supremacy and be more of a ruler. Macbeth has a mental struggle with his masculinity, mostly because Lady Macbeth convinces him of it. Because Lady Macbeth cannot really become a man, she has to work vicariously through Macbeth, making him become king. To control Macbeth, she must use his aim to become more masculine, to drive his killing of Duncan. In Act I, Scene I, on line 51, Macbeth affirms, "I dare do all that may become a man. Who dares [do] more is none."� Macbeth is replying to Lady Macbeth when she asks if he is afraid to do the task of killing Duncan. It is important to see how Lady Macbeth uses her husbands strive for masculinity to achieve her virile nature.…

    • 429 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    At the beginning of the play Lady Macbeth is a strong, powerful and manipulative person and she is more controlling than her husband Macbeth. Generally in the eleventh century, males are more domineering and powerful over females but that was not the case in Macbeth. Lady Macbeth seems to have more power than Macbeth as she successfully changes Macbeths mind to kill king Duncan through her manipulation 'Look like th' innocent flower but be the serpent under it'. Lady Macbeth is very unnatural as she want to be filled with cruelty to go through with the deed.'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'. Lady Macbeth receives a letter from Macbeth where he states he is having thoughts of killing Duncan but he does not say that he will.…

    • 832 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Women play a huge role in society. Even through these roles have changed over time, history is full of strong women. Lady Macbeth can be described as one of these strong women, who in fact played a very different role to other women of her time. She was determined, obsessed and ambitious. Lady Macbeth had qualities contradictory to the norms of women in the Elizabeth Era. She was dominant, manipulative and had total equality. Qualities that were completely opposite to women of her time.…

    • 468 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Women in Shakespeare

    • 1027 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Shakespeare has used the female characters in the play Macbeth to challenge the role Elizabethan women play in society. Women during the Elizabethan era were required to look after the household, the kids, simply be feminine and look good. Lady Macbeth is an important character who most strongly challenges this typical role. She does much more than look after the household; she presents herself more as a man than a female saying, “unsex me here”. Here she portrays the desire to be more than just the ‘woman’ in the house by removing here feminine qualities. This is also evident in the quote She further challenges the typical role by showing disregard for her children if she had any, “would, while it was smiling in my face, Have pluck'd my nipple from the boneless gums,…

    • 1027 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    While Shakespeare is obviously one of the most well known and influential writers ever, I've always had an issue with his play Macbeth. When I first read it in seventh grade, I decided that maybe I didn't like it because I simply didn't get it, being a seventh grader; however, after recently rereading it in an attempt to change my mind and see a new side to the book, I found my opinion unchanged. While clearly famous for its portrayal of the consequences of unchecked ambition and its commentary on the human experience, Macbeth fails to properly address women. Unless the lack of developed female characters in the play is meant to be a sly comment on the dismissal of women in society, Macbeth has failed at conveying the complex expectations and pressures that are so prevalent in Lady Macbeth’s life.…

    • 492 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lady Macbeth want to be strong, independent, more ruthless, and more ambitious than her husband. She want to achieve power by acceptance of traditionally masculine qualities. She seems fully aware of this and knows that she will have to push Macbeth into committing murder. At one point, she wishes that she were not a woman so that she could do it herself. The relationship between gender and power is key to Lady Macbeth’s character. She is a masculine soul inhabiting a female body, which seems to link masculinity to ambition and violence. According to Caroline Cakebread “… femininity is not an attribute to be equated with power and , in the murder of Duncan, feminine attributes lead to virtual erasure in terms of power politics. “ . Lady Macbeth is a crafty woman, power is for her manipulation to further her supposedly male ambitions. She manipulates her husband with remarkable effectiveness, overriding all his objections. Her remarkable strength of will persists through…

    • 546 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays