Themes


Macbeth


distract the attention away from her husband. Again, Shakespeare both illustrates the feminine norm and undermines it at the same time. Lady Macbeth puts paid to the idea that woman are weak and fragile. Instead, she exhibits


a steely nature traditionally associated with masculinity. She dominates her husband at the start of the play, plans the murder of Duncan, uses the bloody daggers to ‘gild the faces of the grooms’ and acts with resolve and composure following the crime. On the night of Duncan’s death she appears stronger than her husband and appears to easily overcome her moral scruples. As she says to Macbeth: ‘My hands are of your colour; but I shame / To wear a heart so white’ (Act 2, Sc 2). Some commentators argue that Lady Macbeth can only act in such a way because she has


renounced her femininity. She calls on evil spirits to ‘unsex’ her and begs them, ‘Come to my woman’s breasts, / And take my milk for gall’ (Act 1, Sc 5). This is dramatically presented in the infanticide image where Lady Macbeth tells her husband that she would rather kill her own child than break a promise to him:


‘I have given suck, and know


How tender ‘tis to love the babe that milks me: I would, while it was smiling in my face, Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums, And dashed the brains out, had I so sworn’ (Act 1, Sc 7)


Macbeth recognises these ‘masculine’ traits in his wife: ‘Bring forth men-children only; / For thy undaunted mettle should compose / Nothing but males’ (Act 1, Sc 7). Again, the connection between masculinity, violence and emotional detachment is asserted within the play. When Lady Macbeth calls on evil spirits to ‘unsex’ her, she is turning her back on her feminine


nature. Shakespeare may be suggesting that femininity (and indeed masculinity) are simply roles that are played in society. Although these are powerful signifiers, they are not grounded in biology, in any pre-determined way. Shakespeare sees that our perceptions of ourselves as men and women have great social significance, but that these are merely roles that we fill out in a social context. Like ‘poor players’ we act our part but ultimately these traditional roles have little to do with who we really are.


Gender Roles


Traditional masculinity is linked to physical bravery


Traditional masculinity is associated with emotional composure


Macbeth’s recognition of the emptiness of manly pride


Traditional femininity is associated with weakness


The character of Lady Macbeth asks questions of the stereotype of the fragile woman


Shakespeare explores how society thinks of men and women. He ultimately undermines the idea that gender is a fixed role and points to the emptiness of traditional gender roles


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Manliness is equated with bravery on the battlefield in the eyes of society


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Emotional composure is seen as a traditional manly trait


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Macbeth comes to understand the emptiness of his manly pride


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As a woman, Lady Macbeth is thought of as fragile


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Through her actions and resolve, Lady Macbeth undermines the traditional view of womanhood


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Traditional gender roles are interrogated through the actions of the play’s central characters: Macbeth and Lady Macbeth


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