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What roles and actions should actors of a particular gender portray? Should men be aggressive and have a level of ambition high enough to meet their loftiest goals? Should women always be passive and frail, never using their energy to advance their lot? William Shakespeare's Macbeth is a tragic tale of one mans deadly and unchecked ambition to be king, and his wifes lust for power and title. By the final act of the play, Macbeth has been consumed by his own drive. The prophecies he once thrived upon have turned against him and left him virtually helpless to alter his own destiny.
The characters in Macbeth are frequently dwelling on the confining issue of gender, which ultimately dictates a majority of their actions throughout the play. This is evident in the contrasts between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, the idea of manipulation through gender, and the reversed gender roles found in some characters in the play. Lady Macbeth is often troubled by what she perceives as the limitations of her gender. When first receiving news of the prophecy made by the three witch sisters, she believes that her husband does not have the courage or the ambition to stand and take what is being given to him.
In her famous soliloquy, Lady Macbeth asks the spirits to unsex me here (Shakespeare, Act I, scene v, line 39). She is well aware that the stereotypes and societal expectations of the time period have labeled women as frail, dainty, and weak. Most importantly, women are seen as lacking the ability to be vicious. Lady Macbeth recognizes her husbands lack of resolve to commit the tasks that he must to become king.
She does not share Macbeth's uncertainty. Unlike most women of the time, Lady Macbeth has an unquenchable ambition to become queen, and will do whatever she must for her husband to seize the throne, even if it means tyrannicide. In this aspect, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have adopted opposite societal gender roles: Lady Macbeth has become strong and sure, the essence of a man. Macbeth, on the other hand, is weak and indecisive, the essence of the perception of a womans role of the time. Lady Macbeth resolves to drive her husband forward in the deeds necessary to become king.
She even becomes the mastermind behind the plot to murder King Duncan. In the soliloquy, Lady Macbeth also says, Come to my womans breasts, / And take my milk for gall, (Shakespeare, I, v, 45 - 46) The symbols of breasts and milk are attributes of womanhood and are often associated with nurturing. She claims that these elements of womankind obstruct her from what she perceives as the cruelty and maliciousness that comes with masculinity. She associates masculinity with acts of violence, and feels that, as a woman, she cannot carry out these acts. Unlike her real life counterpart, Lady Macbeth seems to lack humanity, and she is viewed as both bloodthirsty and a magnificent villain. In itself, this fact seems to prove that women have the ability to make excellent villains despite role expectations to the contrary.
In Act IV, however, a much different Lady Macbeth can be seen. Gone is the commanding woman that was able to manipulate her husband into committing murder. Gone, also, is the woman who betrayed the common practice of hospitality by murdering her esteemed guest and king. Lady Macbeth is reduced to a mere fraction of herself, sleepwalking through the castle and rubbing her hands raw as she attempts to remove the spots of blood spawned by her guilt-ridden mind. Moreover, Shakespeare strays from the iambic pentameter he uses through the balance of the play, signaling that something within her demeanor (and sanity) has changed.
Lady Macbeth is unable to surpass the level of ruthlessness she has set for herself and, in the end, the guilt and remorse she prayed against are now her worst enemies. Lady Macbeth gives into the stereotype of womanhood, guilt and human (not feminine) frailty. Macbeth, in contrast, has been given the prophecies by the witches, and has been forced into an ambition-fueled madness. All uncertainty has left him; he is now a devout and true killer, incapable of remorse. The prophecies delivered by the three witches have led him into arrogance. In Act III, Macbeth seems to have become dominant over his wife.
Each person he kills reduces the humanity in him, until what is left is a man who has succumbed to madness and is lost in it. Adelman mentions that Macbeth is in a dream world (295). He assumes that the prophecies will keep him safe, and there is no way he can be harmed. He has reverted to the extremes of the masculine role, and also reverts to bloodshed (such as killing Young Seward). His pride and boldness are his ultimate downfall. Together, he and Lady Macbeth forge their own version of Hell that they must submit themselves to.
There are many accounts in Macbeth in which characters force others into action by demeaning them according to gender role stereotypes. Lady Macbeth is mostly responsible for this, using Macbeth's displays of femininity to force him into action. When Macbeth shows reasonable doubt in his ability to kill Duncan, Lady Macbeth is outraged. Macbeth comments, Prithee, peace: / I dare do all that may become a man; / Who dares do more is none" (Shakespeare, I, vii, 45 - 47), meaning outwards that a real man would not commit a murder. Lady Macbeth replies, When you durst do it, then you were a man (Shakespeare, I, vii, 49) Lady Macbeth, then, questions his manhood, unequivocally attempting to manipulate him into action.
She believes that as a man, he should be entirely ready and able to commit a vicious crime, such as the murder of King Duncan. In the same manner, Macbeth openly questions the manhood of the murderers he hires to kill Banquo and France. He believes that since they are men, they are prone to violence and destructive behavior. Because of this, the murderers are then easily manipulated into attacking Banquo and his son, resulting in the death of one.
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Research essay sample on Gender Roles And Macbeth
