gender in macbeth thesis

Role of Gender in Macbeth

• by Guiding Literature
• April 1, 2023 April 1, 2023

Gender plays a significant role in Shakespeare’s play “Macbeth.” The play presents a world where men and women are expected to behave in certain ways based on their gender, and characters who defy these gender roles often face consequences.

At the beginning of the play, Lady Macbeth is presented as a powerful and manipulative figure who is able to control her husband and influence his actions. She encourages Macbeth to pursue his ambitions and become king, and she is willing to use any means necessary to achieve this goal. However, as the play progresses, Lady Macbeth becomes increasingly consumed by guilt and eventually descends into madness. This suggests that while Lady Macbeth is able to wield power and influence, ultimately she is unable to escape the gender expectations of her time and is punished for her defiance.

Macbeth, on the other hand, is presented as a traditionally masculine figure. He is ambitious, brave, and willing to use violence to achieve his goals. However, as he becomes more ruthless and paranoid, he also becomes increasingly isolated and ultimately meets a tragic end. This suggests that while Macbeth is able to embody traditional masculine traits, he too is ultimately limited by his gender and is unable to achieve true success or happiness.

The play also presents a contrast between the masculine and feminine ideals of the time. The witches, who are traditionally seen as a feminine and subversive force, represent chaos and disorder. They are able to manipulate Macbeth and spur him towards violence, suggesting that they have a power that is beyond traditional masculine authority. However, the witches are ultimately punished for their defiance, suggesting that they too are limited by their gender and are unable to escape the consequences of their actions.

The portrayal of gender in “Macbeth” is also evident in the way that the female characters are treated by the male characters. Lady Macbeth is often belittled and dismissed by the male characters in the play, who see her as an overly ambitious and unnatural figure. Lady Macduff, another female character, is also presented as powerless and vulnerable, ultimately meeting a tragic end at the hands of Macbeth’s henchmen. This suggests that in the world of the play, women are viewed as inferior to men and are often victimized by their actions.

In conclusion, gender plays a significant role in Shakespeare’s “Macbeth.” The play presents a world where men and women are expected to behave in certain ways based on their gender, and characters who defy these gender roles often face consequences. Lady Macbeth is a powerful and manipulative figure who ultimately meets a tragic end, while Macbeth embodies traditional masculine traits but is ultimately limited by his gender. The play also presents a contrast between the masculine and feminine ideals of the time, and portrays female characters as often victimized by the actions of the male characters.

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Gender Roles in Shakespeare's Macbeth

The delineation of gender roles in Shakespeare's Macbeth yields an array of critiques wrought with contention, most notable in the characterization of Lady Macbeth. While many critics argue that Lady Macbeth's quests for power are irrevocably masculinized, Stephanie Chamberlain claims in Fantasizing Infanticide: Lady Macbeth and the Murdering Mother in Early Modern England that this power is "conditioned on maternity." She argues that Lady Macbeth uses descriptions of infanticide and nursing to undermine the patrilineal order, "momentarily empowering the achievement of an illegitimate political goal." Though perhaps not adhering to traditional gender roles in her attempts to incite Duncan's murder, Chamberlain ultimately maintains that the dominant source of Lady Macbeth's power is poignantly female. While this criticism is certainly valid, the elemental aspects of the play can better be explained by viewing Lady Macbeth's momentary ascension to power as the product of a masculine invocation. In this analytical framework, her use of violent, unnatural images such as infanticide represent, not an attempt to gain power through a "maternal agency,"3 or a traditionally female channel, but a rejection of this channel altogether. Instead, Lady Macbeth attempts to gain power by invoking masculine violence and cold, male indifference. This notion is supported by and explains the unnatural tone that punctuates scenes involving Lady Macbeth and other female characters that threaten what a patrilineal society would deem the "natural gender order." This association between women with male qualities, or women trying to gain power and status through masculine channels (instead of patrilineage) and the "unnatural" provides a basis for Shakespeare to deliver consequences in congruence with the early modern English social context during which the play was written. A violation of the "natural" order, the consequence for Lady Macbeth's invocation of the masculine to access what was traditionally only available to women through their status as mothers, is madness. For the witches, it is alienation.

Related Papers

Saman A Mohammed

William Shakespeare‟s Macbeth was most likely written in 1606, three years into the reign of James I, James VI of Scotland since 1567 before he achieved the English throne in 1603. Macbeth is Shakespeare‟s shortest tragedy yet it is one of his most influential and emotionally intense plays. Macbeth portrays “the paralyzing, almost complete destruction of human spirit” (Shanley 307). Like most of Shakespeare‟s plays, Macbeth deals with the question of kingship and portrays the “problems of legitimacy and succession” surrounding serious political power that belonged to the monarch, the court and the royal councils (Hadfield 27). Numerous historical and literary studies have been conducted about various topics in Macbeth such as human desire, cruelty, and guilt. Gender role and its relation with power also have a great significance to the interpretation of the play. Shakespeare substantially emphasizes the male-female relationship and gender dynamic and does not seem to treat gender simply as binary example of male/female. Shakespeare shows the relationship between gender and power which can be related to the patriarchal discourse of early modern England. He portrays women as major determinants in men‟s actions but “their function varies throughout the canon” and also in distinct categories of either “good or evil, victims or monsters” (Berggren 18, 11). Men are portrayed as strong willed and courageous, but female character like Lady Macbeth is also given a ruthless, power-hungry personality, which is typically, in the period, more associated with masculinity. Lady Macbeth, one of the main characters in Macbeth, is deeply ambitious and her role is essentially important to further understanding Shakespeare‟s presentation of female characters. In this paper, I will provide a brief context of Macbeth in terms of contemporary issues about sovereignty. I will closely examine the role of women in Macbeth, precisely Lady Macbeth, in Macbeth‟s downfall, particularly focusing on how and why Lady Macbeth is an unsettling and disruptive force to the order of the sovereignty. The paper will cover the contemporary issue of witchcraft, to suggest that Lady Macbeth‟s gender can be associated with supernatural subversion, as well as sexual temptation and the period‟s perspective about it. The paper discusses masculinity in relation to Lady Macbeth and the relationship between the plays actions and the natural order to suggest that natural order better reveals Lady Macbeth‟s disruption as well as the notion of monster in Macbeth. This essay will end by discussing the significance of the events that happen to both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth after the murder act and a conclusion.

Alec Leibsohn

Mohammad Jashim Uddin

Feminism is the most common term nowadays as since the 19th century women have been struggling for their rights and for banishing the patriarchal dominance. Women are more united and aware to establish the equity and equality in society, but men in the name of social and religious behaviour always try to enchain women and use how they wish. For these, they change their strategies frequently. As feminism is a discourse and academic discipline, people have attempted to know why and how men have started dominating women. Consequently, reading Shakespeare is important as he creates a lot of women characters in his tragedies. And a deep reading of Shakespeare's Macbeth from a feminist perspective shows how technically Shakespeare introduces Lady Macbeth as a criminal and the so-called fourth witch. Even nowhere does Shakespeare mention what Lady Macbeth's real identity is. That's why, the paper aims at reading the text from a feminist perspective to search the treatment of Shakespeare towards Macbeth and Lady Macbeth and to know why Lady Macbeth's identity is ignored here. To fulfil these, the paper briefly describes the nature of patriarchy and feminism, then the textual analysis critically with these features. Finally, it shows its findings and proves that Shakespeare is not also free from patriarchal tendency.

Vaughn Feuer

Sophia-Maria Nicolopoulos

The aim of the paper is to address instances of violence in William Shakespeare's masterpiece Macbeth (1606) and in Rupert Goold's 2010 TV adaptation, starring Sir Patrick Stewart and Kate Fleetwood. Set in an unidentified Soviet regime, the director ingeniously represents on and offstage violence by placing emphasis on gruesome details and raw animalistic instincts. Firstly, I will shortly elaborate on the nature of violence in Elizabethan drama and then, I will extensively discuss specific instances of violence in Shakespeare's tragedy by referring to scholarly works on the topic. Finally, based on the key terms of film analysis, I will provide my own interpretation of Goold's TV film.

Ramona Rizescu

Journal of Educational and Social Research

Amir Hossain , Arburim ISENI

In this paper, our purpose is to depict the feminist message as articulated in Shakespeare’s Macbeth and Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler by portraying Lady Macbeth and Hedda Gabler who are representatives of Elizabethan England and the 19th century Scandinavian Bourgeois society and culture respectively. Through these female protagonists, both dramatists wanted to expose their contemporary situation of the female community. Both Hedda and Lady Macbeth have raised a fiery voice or initiated a dreadful revolution against the patriarchal rule, power, and domination with a view to attaining self-pelf, self-power, and self-domination. In these two plays, both Shakespeare and Ibsen have prioritized the female identity, revolt, and dominance more than the male order and custom. This paper also aims to discuss the character of Lady Macbeth as the matriarchal influence upon the patriarchy, the ambitious crime, woman’s idea upon masculinity, Lady Macbeth’s effort to repudiate womanhood, her femininity versus her unnatural resolve, her fear and remorse, her sleep-walking; Hedda is also viewed as a maladjusted, neurotic, unfulfilled, unnatural woman, full of nervous energy and longings-gliding to irresistible selfdestruction. Here, I have tried to highlight the critical judgments of several critics based on the character-analysis of the two powerful female protagonists. Considering the femme fatale characters of Shakespeare and Ibsen, the most renowned and powerful playwrights writing in English and Norwegian language respectively, especially the powerful and domineering female protagonists cum heroines, Lady Macbeth and Hedda Gabler, this paper proposes to draw attention to the play-texts of both dramatists as the embodiment of the 21st century radical feminism as well. Keywords: "Lady Macbeth", "Hedda Gabler", Shakespeare, Ibsen, and Post-Feminism

Macbeth: New Critical Essays

Julie Barmazel Stiebritz

Published at the conference proceedings of The Kristeva 2017, University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

Amir M Andwari

shalzio machrus

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Gender and Manliness in Macbeth

• Atteq ur Rahman

Macbeth has remained one of the most fascinating works produced by Shakespeare which is why commentators have analyzed it from multiple dimensions. This paper analyzes the gender roles that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, and Macduff and Lady Macduff perform during the action of the play. It traces how the concept of manhood in the sixteenth century hierarchy of gender roles is challenged and defended by the mentioned couples respectively. Both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth display a deviation from the gender roles already established in the then society. They defy the stereotypical gender roles between a dominant husband and a submissive wife which were quite common in medieval times. In contrast, Lady Macduff and Macduff reflect the established equation of gender roles as per the norms of the society they lived in. In the course of the play, the notion of manliness has been challenged, and reshaped throughout the action of the play; however, in the first part, it is mainly reduced to inhumaneness of character and blind aggression. The aggressive and inhuman ideals of masculinity are countered in the second half of the play with the focus shifting to Lord and Lady Macduff.  The playwright shifts the audience’s attention to these two characters at a point when Lord and Lady Macbeth appear to fail in their “perverted” way of life. However, at the end of the play, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s faulty sense of gender expectations stops them from differentiating between manliness and monstrosity, which ultimately transforms them from becoming a worthy gentleman and honorable lady.

Adelman, Janet. "Born of Woman: Fantasies of Maternal Power in Macbeth." In Shakespearean Tragedy and Gender, ed. Garner, Shirley Nelson, and Madelon Sprengnether. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1996. pp.105-134. Print.

Berger, Harry, Jr. “Texts against Performance in Shakespeare.” In The Forms of Power and the Power of Forms. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt. Genre15: 49-79. 1982. Print.

Bever, Edward. "Witchcraft, Female Aggression, and Power in the Early Modern Community." Journal of Social History. 2002. pp. 955-988.

Burnett, Mark Thornton. “The fiend-like Queen”: Rewriting Lady Macbeth.” Parergon 11.1: 1-19. Print.

Davis, Michael. “Courage and Impotence in Shakespeare’s Macbeth.” Sarah Lawrence Essays 4 (February) 7-29. 1979. Print.

Fawkner, Harald William. Deconstructing Macbeth: The Hyperontological View. Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press, 1990. Print.

French, Marilyn. Shakespeare’s Division of Experience. New York: Ballentine Books. 1983. Print.

Jean E. Howard. 2nd ed. New York: W.W. Norton, 2008. 2579-2632. Print.

Kahn, Coppelia. Man’s Estate: Masculine Identity in Shakespeare. Berkeley: University of California Press. 1981. Print.

Kimbrough, Robert. “Macbeth as Prisoner of Gender.” Shakespeare Studies 16: pp. 175-90.1983. Print.

Klein, Joan Larsen. "Lady Macbeth: Infirm of Purpose." In The Woman's Part: Feminist Criticism of Shakespeare, ed. Lenz, Carolyn Ruth Swift, Gayle Greene, and Carol Thomas Neely. Urbana: University of Illinois, 1980. pp. 240-255. Print.

Ramsey, Jarold. “The Perversion of Manliness in Macbeth.” Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900, Vol. 13, No. 2, Elizabethan and Jacobean Drama (Spring, 1973), pp. 285-300

Shakespeare, William. "The Tragedy of Macbeth." The Norton Shakespeare, Based on the Oxford Edition. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt, Walter Cohen, Katharine Eisaman Maus

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Home — Essay Samples — Literature — Macbeth — The Gender Role In Macbeth

The Gender Role in Macbeth

• Categories: Gender Roles Macbeth

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Published: Apr 29, 2022

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Macbeth Essays

There are loads of ways you can approach writing an essay, but the two i favour are detailed below., the key thing to remember is that an essay should focus on the three aos:, ao1: plot and character development; ao2: language and technique; ao3: context, strategy 1 : extract / rest of play, the first strategy basically splits the essay into 3 paragraphs., the first paragraph focuses on the extract, the second focuses on the rest of the play, the third focuses on context. essentially, it's one ao per paragraph, for a really neatly organised essay., strategy 2 : a structured essay with an argument, this strategy allows you to get a much higher marks as it's structured to form an argument about the whole text. although you might think that's harder - and it's probably going to score more highly - i'd argue that it's actually easier to master. mainly because you do most of the work before the day of the exam., to see some examples of these, click on the links below:, lady macbeth as a powerful woman, macbeth as a heroic character, the key to this style is remembering this: you're going to get a question about a theme, and the extract will definitely relate to the theme., the strategy here is planning out your essays before the exam, knowing that the extract will fit into them somehow., below are some structured essays i've put together., macbeth and gender.

• Macbeth Essays

Reversal of gender roles in Macbeth Essay

Generally, William Shakespeare’s plays are renowned for emotional appeal, humor, tragic elements and philosophical quality. Within this scenario, the play Macbeth is well-known for tragic elements originated from ambitiousness and greed. The play is in the form of a typical Shakespearean tragedy, based on the brutal slaughter of King Duncan and its consequences. In this play, Lady Macbeth is Macbeth’s partner and afterward the queen of Scotland. Her credulous character resulted in the King’s murder, her husband’s follies, and her suicide in the end. One can see that Lady Macbeth is feminine in outlook but masculine in character. Thesis statement: The gender role of Lady Macbeth is reversed because of her masculine character and conscious denial of femininity (special reference to the conceptions of gender in the early modern period and the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare).

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Gender role of Lady Macbeth

The gender role of Lady Macbeth in the play is totally against the traditional conceptions on femininity and motherhood. For instance, femininity is generally regarded as tender natured and motherly affection. In the play, Lady Macbeth does not possess the qualities of femininity. She totally denies her gender role as a woman. Besides, Shakespeare did give equal focus to Macbeth and Lady Macbeth because he was aware of the fact that Macbeth does not possess masculine qualities. So, there must a powerful character (say, Lady Macbeth) to compensate the loss of masculinity in Macbeth.

In the play, Lady Macbeth is portrayed as an immoral character, without any moral consideration. She cunningly manipulates her husband to fulfill her selfish motive. She was aware of her husband’s strengths and weaknesses. But the element of ambitiousness was inherent in Macbeth; his wife ignited the same and corrupted him totally. Her ultimate aim was to become the queen of Scotland. So, she made use of her husband as an instrument/ medium to attain her aim. In addition, Macbeth’s masculine failure is exploited by his wife. Macbeth loved his wife so dearly but she made use of the same to influence him in a negative way. One can identify that the first half of the play is under Lady Macbeth’s control. So, Lady Macbeth’s gender role is totally against her femininity and she made use of the same to manipulate her husband and to fulfill her selfish motives.

Development of male character in Lady Macbeth

First of all, Lady Macbeth was ambitious like her husband. Her desire to be the queen of Scotland resulted in her ultimate doom. Lady Macbeth requests the spirits to unsex her because her femininity is the most important hindrance which hinders her from cruel deeds (Shakespeare, 38). In the initial stages, Lady Macbeth was not so ambitious. When she came to realize that Macbeth’s company with the witches and their prophecies about the future king of Scotland, she began to dream about the scope of usurping the kingdom from King Duncan. Alexander Leggatt states that Macbeth’s company with the supernatural elements, i.e. the witches is symbolic of Lady Macbeth’s failure in regaining her womanly characteristics, and her social and domestic roles (Leggatt 69). Then she began to motivate her husband to murder King Duncan. In the initial stages, Macbeth hesitated to do so. But Lady Macbeth was so cunning and pointed out the scope of prophesy by the witches. At last, Macbeth agreed to follow his wife’s instructions. Lady Macbeth insists her husband to kill the king by pointing out to do it without fear and to leave the rest to her (Shakespeare, 39). They invited the king to visit their palace. During the king’s visit, Lady Macbeth told her husband that it is the best possible chance to kill the king and to usurp his kingdom. But she further added that she will not kill the king because his face resembles her father. Lady Macbeth says her husband that she is unable to commit the murder because the king looks like her father (Shakespeare, 44). Later, Macbeth murdered the king and became the king of Scotland. From this moment, Lady Macbeth’s influence upon her husband was lost forever. One can easily identify that the first half of the play portrays the development of male character in Lady Macbeth, but the following parts portray her fall and doom.

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From a different angle of view, Lady Macbeth’s attempt or the development of male character is closely related to the indecisiveness of Macbeth’s character. If he is possible to take apt decisions at critical stages in life, his wife may not overcome him. But Lady Macbeth plots against the king and insists her husband to murder the king. She considers that king Duncan is the one and only obstacle between the husband and the throne of Scotland. So, it is her responsibility to help her husband to usurp the throne by any means. Lady Macbeth says that she is cruel enough to kill her own baby without any guilty consciousness (Shakespeare, 41). The first two acts of the play portrays Lady Macbeth as the most powerful character in the play with will power and dedication to attain her ultimate aim by any means. Lady Macbeth’s development of male character reveals that the way made use to attain aim is not important. But this proves to be false in the end. Christoph Clausen states that Lady Macbeth’s sleep-walk or somnambulism symbolizes her mental instability originating from her guilty consciousness (Clausen 134). So, one can easily identify the development of male character in Lady Macbeth was accidental, due to the inability of Macbeth to take decisions at critical situations. Both of them were ambitious, but Macbeth hesitated to be cruel, Lady Macbeth did not consider her deed as cruel or unlawful. Besides, the development of male character in Lady Macbeth affected her future life with nightmares, somnambulism and suicide in the end.

Conceptions of gender in the Early Modern period

The Early Modern conception of gender is connected to the family structure. For instance, duty towards one’s family was considered as most important. The family as a social institution was considered as an innovative means of production. Individual freedom of women was limited to an extent. The families were based on patriarchy and this limited the scope of gender equality. Besides, children were considered as economic liability. During this period, independent houses were rare due to the shortage of money. There basic problems limited the scope of women in the family. The importance given to patriarchal form of family structure provided immense power to the elder male members of the family. To escape from the worldly problems, people considered viewing a play as an easy way.

The Renaissance stage at the time of early modern period was totally different from the modern. For instance, the audience considered viewing a play as a temporary escape from the reality or the real world with full of problems. So, the theatre was considered as a world which was shared by the actors and the audience. The interaction between the actors and the audience was natural. The stage conventions to incorporate smooth interaction helped the audience. On the other side, the actors tried hard to create a make-belief world to entertain the audience.

Lady Macbeth’s challenge towards Early Modern conceptions of gender

The women in the Early Modern period were considered as inferior to men. The concept of gender equality was totally denied because of the patriarchal social structure. Lady Macbeth’s challenge was mainly towards male domination. For instance, she made use of her husband to assassinate King Duncan, the image of male domination. Lady Macbeth’s deeds can be considered as the challenge towards the Early Modern conceptions of gender because she was not under the control of her husband. At the same time, she used to deny his authority in domestic matters.

As pointed out, she was aware of her influence upon her husband. She very well knew that her husband is so weak to take decisions at critical stages in life. Her greed and ambitiousness was above her love and affection towards her husband. Her emotional outburst can be considered as the challenge towards male oriented social structure prevailed in the early modern period. Her cunningness, masculinity, and emotional detachment can be considered as the challenge towards Early Modern conceptions of gender.

Lady Macbeth and female villainy

Lady Macbeth consciously denies her femininity because she was aware of the fact that her femininity or womanhood is the most important obstacle which hinders her from acquiring masculine characteristics. So, she decided to ignore her feminine characteristics. Female villainy was rare at the time of Shakespeare. One can easily identify that Shakespeare’s tragedies were experimental. For instance, Shakespeare made use of different characteristics of human mind and behavior to unearth the scope of tragedy. So as to inculcate a different mode of villainy, Shakespeare made use of the character Lady Macbeth as the female villain. The character of Lady Macbeth as a female character with less femininity is helpful to consider her as equally important to other characters like Macbeth. So, Shakespeare proved that villainy is not limited to the sphere of male characters but it extends to female characters in the play.

Summing, Lady Macbeth’s gender role is reversed because of the inborn element of villainy and conscious denial of femininity and womanhood. At the same time, the conceptions of gender in the Early Modern period were totally against gender equality or individual freedom of women. The development of male character in Lady Macbeth initially helped her to be the queen of Scotland but ultimately affected her life. But Lady Macbeth tries to deny this discrimination and marginalization by manipulating the male authority, i.e. her husband. Lady Macbeth’s conscious denial of femininity helped her to acquire masculine characteristics and to attain her aim. But this did not help her to keep away from ultimate tragedy or fate. In short, the reversal of gender is the main reason behind the tragic fate of Lady Macbeth and Macbeth.

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Gender Roles in Macbeth

This essay will explore the representation of gender roles in Shakespeare’s “Macbeth.” It will examine how characters like Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, and the witches challenge and conform to the gender norms of the Elizabethan era. The piece will discuss the play’s exploration of themes such as power, ambition, and masculinity. It will also consider how gender dynamics contribute to the tragic downfall of the characters and the moral implications of their actions. More free essay examples are accessible at PapersOwl about Gender.

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In Macbeth, William Shakespeare comments on gender roles in the 17th century, conveying the distinct separation between male and female duties in life. Women were seen as domestic caretakers whose main role in society consisted of tending to their husbands, children, and household; while men dominated the worlds of decision making, politics, and finance (Sucese Lecture Notes 1/29).

As male and female roles were so distinct in society characteristics began to become associated with them. Women were expected to be dependent, submissive, and have no opinion or ambitions, while men were expected to be ambitious, independent, and strong (Sucese Lecture Notes 1/29).These gender roles and attributes largely stemmed from the idea that women were inherently evil and manipulative, leading to the view that men must take control in relationships and daily living in order to suppress women’s tendencies (Sucese Lecture Notes 1/29). This view of women can be traced back to the idea that women were like Eve, manipulative and deceiving, and that if they were not controlled, they could use their femininity to manipulate males into committing atrocities (Sucese Lecture Notes 1/29). In Macbeth, Shakespeare challenges gender roles by intertwining both masculine and feminine characteristics into characters, ultimately conveying that is not gender, but the nature of the person that determines how they act.

Perhaps the most prominent portrayal of intertwined gender roles in Macbeth is the character of Lady Macbeth. Lady Macbeth is an ambitious, strong, and violent woman; characteristics that were largely thought of as masculine in the 17th century. Although she has characteristics that equal that of males, Lady Macbeth is unable to pursue her ambitions because of the social constraints on women during that time. As she is unable to pursue things herself, she instead channels her energy into manipulating her husband to do what she would do had she been born male. In fact, Lady Macbeth states “…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” (Macbeth.1.5.17), this conveys her desires to be male so she could follow her ambitions. In order to do this, Lady Macbeth manipulates her husband into thinking that her ambitions are also his, leading him to murder King Duncan so that he can gain power (Macbeth.1.7.23). Even after the murder of King Duncan it is Lady Macbeth that is the source of reassurance and strength for her husband. While her husband becomes weak and emotionally frail, Lady Macbeth continues to convey her strength and mental stability conveying that she believes her husband is “too full o’ the milk of human kindness” (Macbeth.1.5.16), essentially saying that he is too weak to behave as a male should. However, Lady Macbeth’s stability and strength lasts only for a short time, and eventually she becomes consumed with guilt as she becomes increasingly sensitive (Macbeth.5.1.82.). This feminine characteristic of sensitivity eventually leads to the demise of Lady Macbeth, as she can no longer maintain the strength that she had before, ultimately leading to her suicide.

Through Lady Macbeth, Shakespeare conveys the idea that just because a woman is a woman, does not mean that they do not have the ambitions and strength of a man. He completely throws away the societal view of how women should act, and brings to light how women have the same capacity as men, and that they are able to be the source of opinions and ambitions in a relationship. This is shown in act one when Lady Macbeth challenges Macbeth to go through with the murder of King Duncan, saying to him, “but screw your courage to the sticking-place, / And we’ll not fail” (Macbeth.1.7.23).Through this quote it is clear that Lady Macbeth is the source of power, ambition, and strength in her relationship with Macbeth, propelling him to do what he thinks he cannot. Shakespeare also uses this quote to show how ambitious women use their femininity to persuade their male counterparts to take various actions. Lady Macbeth also essentially ridicules Macbeth, saying that her courage is steadfast even though she is a woman, and that he needs to have the same courage because he is man. The view of a women as both feminine and masculine was abnormal in a century so tightly bound to specific gender roles and female inferiority. In Macbeth, Shakespeare essentially puts all women on the same playing field as men.

Another prominent portrayal of male attributes in females is the three witches. Throughout the play, they tap into Macbeth’s inner desire for power and give him false security in his actions. Without the witches it is unlikely that Macbeth would have gone through with the murder of King Duncan, as it was their words that placed the thought in his mind and made him think that was his destiny (Macbeth.1.3.12). The Witches are the only characters in Macbeth that not only portray masculine and feminine characteristics inwardly but have physical characteristics that make it hard to outwardly define their gender. Although the witches are sisters, they have beards that cause characters in Macbeth to become confused with the ambiguity of their gender. This shown through Banquo’s first interaction with the Witches when he says, “You should be women, / And yet your beads forbid me to interpret / That you are so” (Macbeth.1.3.8). For the most part, the Witches words and actions can be seen as traditionally female, as they use manipulation in order to meddle with the minds of various characters, but they can also be seen as male because of the strength in their words and the respect that they command. The way in which they use words brings dark, unconscious thoughts to the surface for characters, which is specifically shown through Macbeth, as they bring to light his unconscious desire for power by hailing him as king (Macbeth.1.3.9.). Once these dark thoughts take a place in the characters minds, they are not easily displaced, starting a chain reaction of events that lead to the climax of the play.

Although Lady Macbeth and the Three Witches portray women with male attributes, there are characters in Macbeth that show the opposite – men with female attributes. The best example of this in Macbeth is Macbeth. In the play, Shakespeare uses Macbeth to convey what happens to men when they take on female characteristics while also emphasizing his point that gender is not inherent to character. In the beginning of the play, Macbeth shows a lack male attributes and instead expresses himself as weak and frail; characteristics that a female is supposed to have. He shows this through his anxieties and worries about killing King Duncan, and becomes very close to not committing the murder because of it (Macbeth.1.7.22.) However, in the end his wife persuades him to, which shows a further lack of strength in masculine attributes for Macbeth as it indicates lacks of courage. This is because males are not supposed to listen to the inferior opinion of women, and conveys that Macbeth is taking on a feminine role in his relationship with his wife. While Macbeth has his own ambitions of gaining power, it is his conscious that stops him from doing everything he can to attain it. Unlike Lady Macbeth who becomes increasingly frail as the play goes on, Macbeth becomes less emotional and more in tune to the violent, ambitious part of him that represents his masculinity. Shakespeare uses Macbeth in the same way he uses Lady Macbeth, which is to convey that gender does not determine character. Macbeth may be male, but he acts like a weak and emotionally frail women who needs support and validation from a more powerful figure in her life. The fact that Macbeth needed that validation and support from a female would have been embarrassing in the 16th century, and any normal male in that time period would have been ridiculed and labeled as a shell of a man.

In contrast to Macbeth, Malcom represent the epitome of manhood in the 17th century. While Macbeth tries to gain power by deception and murder, Malcom gains power by using his intelligence and fortitude. Not only that, but Malcom’s drive to attain power comes from within him, whereas Macbeth’s ambitions are driven by his wife. Malcom’s intelligence is shown specifically in his interactions with Macduff. He uses his wit to test the loyalty of Macduff by conveying that he is a greedy and overly ambitious man that would be a worse ruler than Macbeth. When Macduff shows his grief at these statements, Malcom decides to trust him and reveal his true nature (Macbeth.4.3.75.). Through this interaction, Malcom shows how he hopes to strengthen good within the Kingdom by ruling with virtue and restraint, instead of evil and desire. Shakespeare uses Malcom to show how a proper man and ruler should act by emphasizing the clear divide between the character of Malcom and Macbeth. He also conveys that if one acts with good intentions then the end result will always be better than if they had not.

Through his use of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, The Witches, and Malcom, Shakespeare breaks down gender roles in in the 16th century while questioning the validity of them. He uses Lady Macbeth to portray how women do actually have the capability of men both professionally and mentally, but have to hide their ambitions due to social constraints. The Three Witches represent an ambiguity in gender and dark thoughts driven by the want for power. They use their words in a confusing yet reassuring manner that manipulates the characters but provides a sense of reassurance at the same time. Macbeth is used to portray that men have the capacity to be like women, while Malcolm is used as an example of how a proper man without female influence should act. Shakespeare’s use of Macbeth calls into question the unwarranted power that society gives the male gender just because they are male. Overall, Shakespeare uses various characters in Macbeth to raise questions about gender roles while conveying that the personality traits each character has is not linked to their gender, but instead to their inherent nature. 

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Gender Roles in Macbeth. (2021, Apr 16). Retrieved from https://papersowl.com/examples/gender-roles-in-macbeth/

"Gender Roles in Macbeth." PapersOwl.com , 16 Apr 2021, https://papersowl.com/examples/gender-roles-in-macbeth/

PapersOwl.com. (2021). Gender Roles in Macbeth . [Online]. Available at: https://papersowl.com/examples/gender-roles-in-macbeth/ [Accessed: 11 May. 2024]

"Gender Roles in Macbeth." PapersOwl.com, Apr 16, 2021. Accessed May 11, 2024. https://papersowl.com/examples/gender-roles-in-macbeth/

"Gender Roles in Macbeth," PapersOwl.com , 16-Apr-2021. [Online]. Available: https://papersowl.com/examples/gender-roles-in-macbeth/. [Accessed: 11-May-2024]

PapersOwl.com. (2021). Gender Roles in Macbeth . [Online]. Available at: https://papersowl.com/examples/gender-roles-in-macbeth/ [Accessed: 11-May-2024]

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