essay on masculinity in macbeth

William Shakespeare

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Over and over again in Macbeth , characters discuss or debate about manhood: Lady Macbeth challenges Macbeth when he decides not to kill Duncan, Banquo refuses to join Macbeth in his plot, Lady Macduff questions Macduff's decision to go to England, and on and on.

Through these challenges, Macbeth questions and examines manhood itself. Does a true man take what he wants no matter what it is, as Lady Macbeth believes? Or does a real man have the strength to restrain his desires, as Banquo believes? All of Macbeth can be seen as a struggle to answer this question about the nature and responsibilities of manhood.

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Manhood Quotes in Macbeth

The Dangers of Masculinity in Macbeth by Chris Delaney

The dangers of masculinity in macbeth.

The rigors of masculinity have tainted men’s understanding of themselves, their relationships with others, and the societies in which they live. In “Macbeth,” the main characters implicitly express their beliefs on what a man should be.

During the Italian Renaissance, there were many credentials required to become a courtier to the king and queen. One of the requirements was being a man, but not just any ordinary man. In Baldassare Castigone’s The Book of the Courtier , Count Lodovico announces that the ideal man for the king’s court “should be fierce, rough and always to the fore, in the presence of the enemy; but anywhere else he should be kind, modest, reticent and anxious above all to avoid ostentation.” 1   While this description exemplifies the difficult feat of becoming a courtier, it also presents contradictions within the nearly impossible expectations of what it means to “be a man.” These expectations are not exclusive to the Italian Renaissance era, however. Throughout history, the rigors of masculinity have tainted men’s understanding of themselves, their relationships with others, and the societies in which they live. Playwright William Shakespeare grapples with this idea of manhood in his tragic play Macbeth . Set in the backdrop of eleventh-century Scotland, the play follows the titular character who receives a prophecy that he will be crowned king. Tempted by power and glory, the male protagonist takes matters into his own hands by killing the king, taking the throne, and subsequently facing the repercussions of acting on his ignoble desires. Throughout the play, the main characters implicitly express their beliefs on what a man should be, revealing the societal expectations of masculinity. By analyzing the story of Macbeth , the dangers of masculinity can be presented through the ideologies of the main characters and their understanding of the ideal man.

A character who reinforces the rigorous traits of manhood is Lady Macbeth. Early on in the play, Lady Macbeth is introduced when she receives a letter from her husband. The letter details an encounter with three witches and their prophecy that Macbeth will overtake the throne from King Duncan. Immediately, Macbeth’s wife is eager for this power, insinuating that they must murder the King themselves in order for this prophecy to come to fruition. Lady Macbeth expresses her concerns however, when she worries whether her husband will be manly enough to follow through with this plan. Her fears are confirmed when Macbeth backs out of the plan shortly afterwards when he deliberates over the consequences of treason. Lady Macbeth, however, persuades her husband when she proclaims, “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.” 2 It is within these lines that the paradox of masculinity is expressed. Although Macbeth exhibited ambition by conveying his eagerness to be the King of Scotland, he also exhibits his compassion through attempting to retract against the treacherous plot. Unfortunately, Lady Macbeth manipulates her husband and his understanding of masculinity by claiming that if he went through with the murder, then he would not only be a man, but “be so much more.” Dangling the enticing possession of a manly reputation over Macbeth, his wife’s cunning tactic succeeds in cajoling the tragic figure into killing the King, setting off a domino effect of chaos throughout the rest of the play.

After following through with Lady Macbeth’s plot, Macbeth transforms into a power-hungry leader who is paranoid of losing his new role as King of Scotland. This paranoia is evident when Macbeth expresses his jealousy towards his closest ally and friend, Banquo. Macbeth becomes cautious of his friend when the prophecy mentions that Banquo’s sons would become royalty in the future as well. As a result, this prophecy leads Macbeth to obsess over the possible threat to his crown. Macbeth shares his spite of Banquo when he proclaims,

He hath a wisdom that doth guide his valor To act in safety. There is none but he Whose being I do fear; and under him My genius is rebuked.” 3

This passage uncovers not only Macbeth’s rationalization to ensure Banquo and his sons are killed but also presents the constant threatened state of masculinity Macbeth harbors within. While Macbeth has reason to be worried about Banquo’s children becoming kings, the character convinces himself that Banquo could also be a peril to his control due to his “wisdom” and “valor” which intimidates him. The protagonist presents the embodiment of an insecure man who is fragile in nature with the direct threat of a competitor, who happens to be his closest friend.

The competitiveness in masculinity is further developed in the scene when Macbeth convinces two men to murderer Banquo and his children. In order to successfully motivate the men to do as he requests, Macbeth makes the analogy that the distinction of men is similar to dog breeds. He elaborates that

The value file Distinguishes the swift, the slow, the subtle, The housekeeper, the hunter, every one According to the gift which bounteous nature Hath in him enclosed… and so of men. 6 Therein lies a pressure for men during the time period to distinguish themselves from one another, in such manly qualities as nobility, honor, loyalty, courage, and so on. For this reason, the expectancy to maintain a manly and positive repute with Macbeth precipitates the two men to follow his commands to murder Banquo and his sons. The imminent threat of Macbeth is most arguably felt by King Duncan’s son Malcom, who flees to England to seek safety from being murdered as his father was. Malcolm is forced to face the troubles at home when Macduff, the Thane of Fife, travels to England to beg the rightful heir to the throne to return to Scotland and defeat Macbeth. After a pivotal discussion between the two men about the pressures and temptations that are inherent within being a ruler, a messenger interrupts them to inform Macduff that his wife and children have been murdered by Macbeth. In response to this horrid news, Malcom commands the grief-stricken widow, “Dispute it like a man.” 7 This line insinuates the ubiquitous ideology about masculinity: that in order to be a man, one must be able to fight “like a man” and stand up for themselves. Malcolm bestows his belief onto Macduff when he advises, “Be this the whetstone of your sword. Let grief/ Convert to anger, blunt not the heart, enrage it.” 8 Within this remark, Malcom advocates for anger and revenge, promoting the masculine ideology in violence as a means to an end. Ironically, these lines proceed their conversation about the downfall of nations and their rulers. An evident trouble to this universal issue can be blamed on wars and their destruction of societies. Rather than civilly settling the dispute, Malcolm personifies the inherently dominant male ideology that presumes combat and killing are inevitable and, therefore, necessary to gain power and glory. Although he listens to Malcolm’s advice, Macduff touches upon the issue concerning expressing emotions in the universal expectation of manliness. As a rebuttal to Malcolm’s request that he fight “like a man,” Macduff counters this line by arguing, “But I must also feel it like a man.” 9 This line hints at the rigor of masculinity during the time period that implicitly encouraged men to repress feelings of sadness. Even to this day, many men still feel ashamed and emasculated for expressing their emotions to others. While Macduff seems to be promoting men to be in touch with their feelings, this line could also be interpreted as a tactical response in justifying why he is upset, specifying that the manner in which he is grieving is manly. The line contains layers of ambiguity in Macduff’s stance on masculinity, however, fundamentally the statement insinuates the general stereotype that the typical man does not cry, nor reveal his emotions. Instead, as Malcom suggests, men are supposed to channel any form of internalized sadness into externalized anger. Even though Shakespeare’s tragedy is a fictional retelling of the tragic demise of Macbeth, the real tragedy comes from the toxicity of masculinity that is pervasive throughout the story. Each character, within their own ideology, demonstrates the issues with masculinity’s rigid expectations. Lady Macbeth uncovers the constant need for men to strive towards ambitious pursuits, emasculating her husband in order to convince him to commit a nefarious act. Macbeth reveals the competitive nature of masculinity with his wish to kill his noble ally, expressing to Banquo’s murderers that being “a man” is inherently a competition amongst each other. Malcolm posits the belief that brutality and rage is the remedy to conflict, while Macduff insinuates that men may need to feel and be more in tune with their emotions—even if it perhaps means that there is a “manly” method to his madness. Despite the characters being fictional personas of historical figures written by William Shakespeare, the author personifies the embedded methodology of masculinity of the time period and the destruction that these characteristics cause men, their relationships, and even societies such as Scotland. Nearly insurmountable in nature, the pressures to be a man suggest that this impossible expedition to become the ultimate man causes destruction to those that have no control nor power over the indirect effects of masculinity. Baldassare Castigone, The Book of the Courtier , translated by Sir Thomas Hoby (J.M. Dent, 1994),  58. William Shakespeare, Macbeth (Penguin Classics, 2016), 1.7.49-51. Shakespeare, Macbeth , 3.1.53-56. Shakespeare, Macbeth , 3.1.95-101. 4

• Shakespeare, Macbeth , 4.3. 220.
• Shakespeare, Macbeth , 4.3.228-229.
• Shakespeare, Macbeth , 4.3.222.

Chris Delaney (BA ’21) originally wrote “The Dangers of Masculinity in Macbeth ” in Bella Mirabella’s Fall 2020 Interdisciplinary Seminar “ Tragic Visions .”

Mr. Henderson in the Character of Macbeth (1787) by John Jones, Drawings and Prints, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

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2 Femme Fatale: Exploring the Dangers of the Gender Binary in Macbeth

Alyssa Mendonca

William Shakespeare’s Macbeth explores the link between gender and power, often associating callousness and brutality with ‘true’ masculinity. The catalyst of the tragedy lies in the Macbeths’, especially Lady Macbeth’s, view of manliness as an internal essential while antithetically insisting on outward acts as ‘proof’ of it. I suggest that the reason for their downfall is due to this irreconcilable view of gender. My adaptation of act 1 scene 5 highlights the inherent performativity of gender by portraying Lady Macbeth as a faceless drag queen being stripped of her external feminizing garments by the non-binary witches. Thus, the “unsexing” scene in Macbeth illustrates Shakespeare’s emphasis on the performance of gender and the existential dangers of viewing it as an essence rather than a projected exteriority.

I chose to represent Lady Macbeth as a faceless drag queen because the drag industry emphasizes gender performativity, she is reminiscent of Shakespearean cross-gendered casting, and it highlights the loss of identity as a consequence of gender essentialism. Naomi Jacobsen reminds us that Shakespearean theatre began as a “cross-gender form” (“Women Merely Players” 00:15:25-00:15:30); young boys in feminine costumes appeared on stage because it was one of the few places one could “discuss a woman having power because in fact she didn’t really have [it]” (00:08:18-00:08:23). Lady Macbeth seems the play’s catalytic female powerhouse however Shakespeare reminds us that her gender is performative: “Come, you spirits / That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here” (1.5.47-48). This passage is traditionally understood to be Lady Macbeth’s invitation to be stripped of her feminine weakness however, considering the role’s being originally played by a male, the line linguistically emphasizes gender as an illusory representation rather than a concrete reality. My adaptation of this scene as a drag performance echoes the sentiment that Shakespeare “writes people [not…] gender” (“Women Merely Players” 00:07:57-00:07:59) because his poetry calls attention to the performance of gender both on and off the stage. This aspect of Shakespeare’s poetry powerfully illustrates the danger of adhering to binary thinking as a society in which theatrical displays of gender performativity—and therefore fluidity—are ‘acceptable’ only because “the various conventions which announce that ‘this is only a play’ allows strict lines to be drawn between performance and life” (Butler 527). When gender fluidity is witnessed off-stage, it is met punitively (522) because it contests society’s gender essentialism that insists men and women are fundamentally different due to biological make up. Lady Macbeth’s personal tragedy stems from the fact that she views masculinity as biological, attempting to make it run in her blood (1.5.50) while telling her husband that his masculinity can only be achieved by performing ‘masculine’ acts like ambition-motivated murder. Because she acts gender herself, swapping between “actual performances” (5.1.13) of feminine hostess and masculine master, but only accepts gender as essential, she finds herself in an irreconcilable dilemma that erases her identity and confines her to the silent suffering woman trope by the end of the play.

In terms of dress, I decided that key garments—the breastplate, corset, and skirt—should be made separately, deliberately put onto the model after the body was painted to creatively embody the process of what feminist scholar Judith Butler calls “the crafting of gender.” Drag Lady Macbeth’s male body is made to be perceived as feminine via garments which produce a visual metaphor of womanliness. I painted the breastplate on a separate piece of paper and carefully cut out the gap for the neck to highlight its removability and its ability to portray a woman only if it is put on. This garment is reminiscent of Lady Macbeth’s metaphorical transformation of Macbeth’s “milk of human kindness” (1.5.17), a compassion just as nourishing as a mother’s milk, into the “gall” (1.5.55) of her female breasts. Next, I cut the corset out of a magazine cover and drew the ribbing onto it before pasting it on; this garment represents the suffocating restrictions of adhering to strict gender binaries which are “put on […] under constant constraint, daily and incessantly, with anxiety and pleasure” (Butler 531). This kind of breath-restricting anxiety can be seen in Macbeth’s alliterative response to his failed execution order of Banquo and his offspring, an act that would ‘prove’ his masculine ambition to his wife: “Then comes my fit again. I had else been perfect, / …. / But now I am cabined, cribbed, confined, bound in / To saucy doubts and fears” (3.4.23-27; emphasis mine). These fits of weakness provoke Lady Macbeth’s degrading taunts towards his masculinity, which ultimately results in Macbeth restricting himself to the extreme masculine archetype of cruel tyrant, callously saying that returning to morality is “as tedious as” (3.4.170) continuing his murder spree. The confining structure of the corset on drag Lady Macbeth represents the imposed gender restrictions which ultimately cause the Macbeths’ tragic downfall. Lastly, the hoop skirt—called a farthingale—was constructed by threading embroidery floss through the paper, tying each line segment individually on the back. This underskirt was significant in Elizabethan dress because it feminized one’s outward appearance by emphasizing the lower half of the body (Bendall 712, 716); I included it because it was the most intensive and exhausting to construct, emphasizing the laborious “stylization of the body” (Butler 519) necessary for upholding the punitive binary gender system.

The androgynous hands in my adaptation represent the non-binary witches in Macbeth, placed deliberately to illustrate the subversive power that can be harnessed when gender is understood as performative. Butler re-contextualizes gender as a scripted “act that has been going on before one arrived on the scene” (526) meaning that existing cultural understandings of gender expression are projected onto the body by others before its birth. This, in turn, informs its future gender act. I included the disembodied witch hands because I believe that the spirits Lady Macbeth invokes are the witches she has just read about in Macbeth’s letter. These androgynous witches, who appear prior to the “unsexing,” prompt Banquo to question which gender they represent based on their exterior: “You should be women, / And yet your beards forbid me to interpret / That you are so” (1.3.47-49). Banquo encounters the irreconcilable dilemma of gender essentialism being contested by the subversive genderless state that the witches inhabit, struggling to fit them into traditional categories. Two scenes later, Lady Macbeth is metaphorically influenced by the acting of gender that precedes her arrival on stage; she seems to invoke the subversive power of the witches asking them to “unsex” (1.5.48) her but cannot harness it because she continues to mistake gender “for a natural or linguistic given” (Butler 531) when she asks the spirits to rearrange her biological—essential— make-up (1.5.48, 50, 54-55) and assert her masculinity “with the valor of [her] tongue” (1.5.30). Thus, the hands in my adaptation exclusively manipulate external garments; one androgynous hand unties the corset—undoing the restrictive, feminizing garment—while others weave through the threads of the skirt in a ‘snipping’ gesture, emphasizing that the illusion of a ‘natural’ gender binary falls apart when its manufactured performance is highlighted. The placement of these hands demonstrates the wearing of gender by removing the gender costume from drag Lady Macbeth and suggest that the witches in the play provide the alternative reality to the (ultimately fatal) gendered world of Scotland.

The structural elements of my drag queen adaptation of Lady Macbeth offer insight into the construction, the putting on and performing of gender, by linking Shakespearean cross-gender theatre traditions to the contemporary drag industry. Simultaneously, the problem that arises when one essentializes and rigidifies gender rather than viewing it as a fluid exteriority— the dilemma which arguably proves fatal to the Macbeths and those around them—is illustrated as a loss of identity that strips a person of flexibility and thus the ability to thrive in changing conditions. The presence of the androgynous, aloof witches sits in contrast with the punitively gendered world of the Macbeths, suggesting that a world which exists beyond gender is one that fosters a sustainable and complete human existence.

Works Cited

Bendall, Sarah A. “‘Take Measure of Your Wide and Flaunting Garments’: The Farthingale, Gender and the Consumption of Space in Elizabethan and Jacobean England.”  Renaissance Studies , vol. 33, no. 5, Nov. 2018, pp. 712–737,  https://doi.org/10.1111/rest.12537 .

Butler, Judith. “Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory.” Theatre Journal , vol. 40, no. 4, 1988, pp. 519–531,  https://doi.org/10.2307/3207893 .

Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Macbeth . Edited by Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine, Simon and Schuster Paperbacks, 2013.

Jacobsen, Naomi, et al. “Women Merely Players.” Shakespeare Unlimited , episode 2, The Folger Shakespeare Library, 15 March, 2017,  www.folger.edu/shakespeare-unlimited/actresses-on-shakespeare .

Femme Fatale: Exploring the Dangers of the Gender Binary in Macbeth Copyright © 2022 by Alyssa Mendonca is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Gender in Macbeth

There were few social codes that were more important to people in jacobean england than the codes of conduct for how men and women should behave. our gender assigned us the role that we should play in society and breaking or bending them would have been frowned upon by anyone in the mainstream., but at the heart of macbeth is a couple who break the traditional gender roles, and in doing so flip the entire kingdom on its head., most modern writers tend to focus on how lady macbeth challenges the traditional gender role by being a woman who desired political power, though i'd argue that this misses the real core of the play which was macbeth wrestling with his masculinity., in a post feminist world, it's easy to look at historic men as having freedoms that women didn't have, and although this was true, it didn't mean that men weren't also shaped by powerful expectations on how to behave., the unwritten codes of masculinity and femininity were powerful. macbeth and his wife break them, seize power and bring havoc on the kingdom..

Masculinity in Macbeth

Given how many men would have seen battle, it's no surprise that a lot of masculinity has its roots in the army: you remain loyal to your brotherhood; you don't flinch at the sight of blood; you shouldn't feel emotions like fear or sadness; you should be brave and honourable; you remain true to your word, and maintain a sense of honour and dignity, protecting both with your life., in fact, it wasn't uncommon for men during elizabethan or jacobean england to fight to the death if they were accused of lacking honour, or breaking their word. you can see some of the 'best' of jacobean masculinity by looking at the codes of chivalry that medieval knights used to live by., however, there's also a strange irony here: a lot of the old codes of masculinity were also rooted in protecting women, and as times have gone by the idea of protecting women started to change until it became oppressing them. when you think about the outcomes, it's no surprise that 'protecting' and 'oppressing' end up being so similar, though the initial desire is very different. whichever way you look at it, by jacobean england - and for many centuries afterwards - women were kept locked up at home and were actively discouraged from seeking any role in public life., as a play macbeth encourages this attitude by presented the horrors that come about when masculinity is tempted and led astray by a woman (in many respects it's really just a re-telling of the story of adam and eve. ), on these terms the plot is quite simple:, macbeth is a good man - heroic, brave, loyal, etc... but he cannot stand up to the women in his life (either his wife or the witches) and so he breaks one of the most fundamental codes of masculinity and betrays and murders a man who is his friend, his family member, and his king - while the man was visiting his house macbeth explores what happens when a man chooses his loyalty to his wife over his loyalty to his masculine code of honour. in the end, as was to be expected ends up breaking even more codes of honour: he kills his best friend; he kills macduff's wife and child; and, in the end, he can't even save his wife., one of the most telling features of macbeth, however, is the role of the play's hero: macduff. firstly, macduff chooses his loyalty to the kingdom over his wife (which is why his wife gets killed without his protection); and secondly he is, quite literally, the furthest any man can be from womanhood: he is not even of woman born. and, in fact, to look at the actual language being used, macduff wasn't just 'not born of woman' his birth was an act of violence against women because he was from his "mother's womb untimely ripped.", key quotes:, the sergeant's speech during a1 s2 - so much of this speech is setup to establish macbeth as a heroic, brave and honourable man. the fact that he has earned " brave macbeth " as his name - and remember how important names were to jacobean men; the fact that his sword " smoked with bloody execution " confirms that he is killing with duncan's law on his side; and the fact that he " carved his passage ," while " disdaining fortune " suggests that he makes his own rules and doesn't worry about money or fate to guide him., my thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical, / shakes so my single state of man that function / is smother'd - here, m a cbeth is arguing that the thought of killing duncan is so abhorr e nt to his masculin ity (his "state of man") that "function is smothered" which means he won't be able to act on it. there's a really interesting extension thought here which argues that the "state of man" is actually the patriarchy itself - the "state" by which "man" governs. and in this respect, you could argue that the way he's influenced by the witches and his wife is actually a threat to the patriarchy itself., he's here in double trust - this comes from the speech macbeth delivers in a1 s7 where he lists a whole host of reasons why killing duncan is an affront to his masculinity, not least the fact that duncan trusts him and macbeth is about to break his word and betray and murder a family member, a friend and an honourable king., to show an unfelt sorrow is an office / which the false man does easy. - malcolm says this after his father's dead body is discovered. essentially, malcolm doesn't trust those around him because he knows that they lie. the key here is that a "false man" can lie and cheat, things which were traditionally considered to be more feminine traits - though when women did them they were considered to be sly and cunning, both of which were considered more feminine., when you durst do it, then you were a man, i dare do all that may become a man; / who dares do more is none., macbeth spends quite a lot of the play trying to prove that he's a man. during the opening he single-handedly fights off the norwegians to prove his masculinity. his wife, however, has different ideas of what constitutes a man and she wants to see him take the throne. in order to do this, she challenges him by claiming that he's not a real man unless he kills duncan. this puts macbeth in a difficult situation, as if he betrays duncan then he's betraying his masculine loyalty, but if he doesn't his wife will think him less masculine and he'll feel the shame from that. in the end he kills duncan, and suffers the consequences., killing banquo and macduff's wife and children - having first betrayed his masculinity by siding with his wife's vision of it and killing duncan, macbeth does two of the worst things a man can do: he kills his best friend, a defenceless woman and a child. and if that wasn't bad enough, in both of these cases he went one step worse and arranged for someone else to actually carry out the murders. before she's murdered though lady macduff launches into an attack against her husband for leaving them defenceless. in the play this serves two purposes: on one level it makes her death seem less tragic, as she clearly didn't understand why it was more important for macduff to stay with his king rather than defend his family; and on another level it emphasises how little either she or lady macbeth really understand about the roles and responsibilities of men - and remember that the two of them are the only female characters in the play who were even given names, so it's really a comment about women in general., feel it as a man - when macduff hears that his wife and children are dead malcolm tells him to "dispute it like a man." malcolm is both encouraging macduff to join him in his battle against macbeth, and he is reminding him that it is his male duty to avenge himself. macduff says he will but first he must "feel it as a man." this is really telling, as it shows that macduff can transcend genders. but he's not like lady macbeth who wants to be rid of gender, macduff will revenge himself like a man, but first he will feel it - which means embracing what is considered more feminine., from my mother's womb untimely ripped - the more i read macbeth the more misogynist i find it - which means that the play seems to be quite insulting to women. this isn't to say that shakespeare was a misogynist, but this is definitely a misogynist play, and this fact is never better highlighted than remembering the fact that macduff - the hero of the play - was as far as it is possible to be from womanhood. bear in mind that shakespeare could have chosen anything unique about macduff to give us that great twist at the end, but he chose to use someone whose main feature is that they are not, in any way, associated with women. and not only that, this man is so far from women that he was created from an act of violence against women. this is pretty horrific to think about, but perhaps more understandable when you reflect on the fact that this was written to please king james who lost his mother when he was less than one-year-old and who, quite possibly, could have related to someone who was from their mother "untimely ripped.", femininity in macbeth, one of the first things to reflect on in macbeth is that there are only a few female characters in the play: the three witches, hecate, lady macbeth, lady macduff and a servant of lady macbeth's. that's it. and from that list, the three witches, hecate and lady macbeth are all pretty evil characters, while lady macduff only really appears briefly before being killed., this play is not shakespeare's finest moment when it comes to female parts., having said that, by modern terms, lady macbeth is a pretty rockingly good part to play - she's got some amazing lines, and really runs the show... right up to the point when she gets killed / kills herself for reasons that remain a little unclear. you can read more about this when i looked at guilt ., but the fact is that the female characters in this play are almost all evil, corrupting influences; and the only one that isn't is lady macduff whose only real job is to die. this isn't a surprise though, because, as a play, macbeth is just very misogynist. this doesn't mean that shakespeare was a misogynist, though this particular play probably is; and it doesn't mean that interpreting the play this way makes me - or you - a misogynist, since calling out misogyny where you see it is a feminist act, not a misogynist one., it's actually quite hard to look at the feminine in macbeth though - the witches are clearly evil, and are described almost straight away as looking like men; lady macbeth is also evil, and almost straight away she casts a magic spell to remove gender from her. so really, even the female characters have their genders quite muddled., what there is in this play, however, is a group of women who desire power - the witches like causing havoc and control macbeth to bring that, while lady macbeth is clearly the ambitious one in her relationship. in this respect, the play itself is a warning against allowing women too much power. when women try to seize power, the natural order collapses. to get another view on this, it's worth checking out this page that looks at the play as being a reworking of the story of adam and eve ., as a final point about this, it's worth bearing something important in mind:, shakespeare wrote this play to please king james, and king james had quite a troubled upbringing: his dad was killed, then his mum married the man who'd killed him; then she was exiled from scotland, and then jailed in england - and all that happened before james was one year old. in the end, james was brought up by his uncle, a man who'd openly said that he didn't think women should ever sit on the throne. james's mum was eventually beheaded by queen elizabeth when james was 21-years-old., given his quite tumultuous upbringing, it's not a surprise that james had some clear issues with women. issues that eventually led him to write a book that justified his fear of witches, and led him to try, torture and then burn at the stake a woman called agnes sampson , who'd apparently drowned a cat in order to invoke a storm that made james's wife a little seasick., anyway, the net result is that although this play is very misogynist, that's not necessarily shakespeare's fault because he wrote this play to impress the new king, who probably was really quite misogynist. in fact, there is some evidence to suggest that shakespeare didn't even like this play very much, evidence to suggest he thought it was a " tale, told by an idiot, full of sound and fury and signifying nothing. " and that's the kind of line that makes me wonder what he'd think about us all teaching it 400 years later....

Macbeth and Oedipus

This is a bit of a weird one, so hold onto your hats before you go down the rabbit-hole....

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Masculinity in Macbeth - Sample Essays

Subject: English

Age range: 14-16

Resource type: Assessment and revision

Last updated

26 August 2020

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Four sample essays answering the question 'How does Shakespeare explore ideas of masculinity in ‘Macbeth’?

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• Art Movements

Macbeth: Masculinity and Femininity

Updated 10 April 2021

Subject Art Movements ,  Books ,  Plays ,  Writers

Downloads 78

Category Art ,  Literature

Topic Macbeth ,  Macbeth Ambition ,  Macbeth Guilt ,  Macbeth Power ,  Symbolism ,  William Shakespeare

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