However, embracing this new role only increases his problems. While Macbeth’s doubts about killing his King foreshadow the error of his path he eventually begins to embody his cruel and violent view of masculinity. ![]() 38-41).īy emasculating her husband in this way she is able to manipulate him into killing Duncan as a way to prove his manhood. Art thou afeard to be the same in thine own act and valour as thou art in desire? ” (1. Lady Macbeth even goes so far as to compare his willingness to kill Duncan with his ability to perform sexually. Ironically, at this point she as the “feminine” character seems to be more in touch with her ambition than he is. In this passage she plays on his masculine sense of ambition. “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” (1. When he expresses his doubts about killing Duncan, Lady Macbeth is able to convince him by challenging his manhood. Macbeth’s primary sin is his inability to successfully come to terms with his masculinity. Perhaps this is reference to femininity as the origin of sin. Including the three witches and the goddess Hecate all the figures in the play who manipulate Macbeth are female. Macbeth is inspired to murder by his wife in the same way Eve convinced Adam to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. The guilt over being a party to murder drives Lady Macbeth to madness and eventually suicide.įurthermore, the use of Lady Macbeth in this way may be a reference to the Book of Genesis and the story of Adam and Eve. The play goes on to demonstrate that women are also equally susceptible to the consequences of such behavior. By presenting us with a Lady Macbeth that clashes so strikingly with the popularly accepted view of ideal femininity, Shakespeare shows the audience that women are capable of being just as cruel and vicious as men even if society wants to define them differently. This type of language directly referencing the gendered female body would be necessary because the player Lady Macbeth would be a man. ![]() She further emphasizes the point by saying, “Come to my woman’s breasts, and take my milk for gall” (1. She quite literally asks that she lose her femininity and have it replaced by a masculinity she defines as being full of cruelty. She says, “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” (1. Indeed, it is Lady Macbeth who most directly introduces and inspires the cruel and violent view of masculinity later adopted by Macbeth. At times she seems even more “masculine” than her husband. As the most prominent female character in the play Lady Macbeth might be expected to be representative of the ideal 11th century woman, but this is not the case. Moral order can only be restored when the kingdom is lead by a wiser king with a better understanding of what it is to be a man. In particular, he illustrates how Macbeth’s acceptance of a perverted, violent view of masculinity leads his kingdom into chaos and turmoil, and leads Macbeth to his inevitable demise. What exactly defines being a man or a woman? How does an individual’s grasp of these roles effect their actions? Shakespeare shows that a clear and accurate understanding of the concept of masculinity is of critical importance in the success of a ruler. Throughout the play Shakespeare presents the audience with strong and sometimes conflicting views of these gender roles.
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