Examples Of Misogynity In Macbeth

Macbeth, Overcompensation, and Internalized Misogyny
There is no question in the mind of readers that the women and men presented in William
Shakespeare’s play M​acbeth​are products of gender roles and expectations of an antiquated, long gone era. What is unclear is whether these characters adhere to the confines of these expectations or if they manage to subvert them. Lady Macbeth is a dynamic, interesting female character, but this does not change the play’s overall disdain for women and feminine people. The characters in Macbeth reaffirm the traditional gender stereotype of masculinity being intrinsically linked with power and worth by way of Lady Macbeth’s disdain for femininity and Macbeth’s hunger for masculinity.
One way in which masculinity

and power are associated in M​acbeth​is the degrading way in which Lady Macbeth, the only central female character in the play, refers to her own femininity. On the night when Macbeth murders Banquo, Lady Macbeth muses to herself about how intimidatingly hateful her and her husband’s crime is, while also stating that if she was unburdened of being a woman it would be easier to stomach. “Come, you spirits
That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, and fill me from the crown to the toe top­full
of direst cruelty!” (Passage 1) Lady Macbeth is lamenting her womanhood because it strips her of the ability to be cruel, and in this case capable.

The two, femininity and power, are presented as mutually exclusive concepts that cannot coexist; one must be eradicated for the other to be present. In another instance, Lady Macbeth ridicules Macbeth for his fear of Banquo’s ghost, on
the basis of it being unmanly. She compares the ghost to “A woman's story at a winter's fire,/ Authorized by her grandam. Shame itself!” (Passage 3) This is another instance of Lady Macbeth’s internalized misogyny; she uses the metaphor of a woman’s story to signify something shameful and undesirable. In writing the only female character with a reputable speaking role to hate herself, the only viable spokesperson for femininity in the story rejects it and confirms that as the only feminine­identified person she still prefers prefers the construct of

masculinity.
Another instance in which this is present is in Macbeth's overcompensation for fear of his own inadequate sense of being a man.

If masculinity weren’t presented as such an essential trait, Macbeth would not have the motivation to so constantly need to prove that he is a “real man”. When Lady Macbeth is attempting to convince Macbeth to kill Duncan, she tells him that his hesitance is naturally associated with being a coward, to which he replies “I​dare do all that may become a man;/ Who dares do more is none.” (Passage 2) Macbeth feels the inclination to defend the fact that he is a man when it hasn’t been directly questioned, nor was it being discussed. This indicates his overwhelming need to be convinced that his masculinity is valid, because without it he has no power. Later in the same scene, Macbeth compliments Lady Macbeth by saying that her spirit is only fit for birthing sons rather than daughters. “Bring forth men‐children only;/ For thy undaunted mettle should compose/ Nothing but males.” (Passage 2) Macbeth sees the degradation of females while simultaneously complimenting men as a worthy, valuable compliment that should flatter Lady Macbeth, which it does because of her own issues with womanhood. This lends itself to

Macbeth’s
delusion about men's place in proximity to women regarding power; Macbeth is a misogynist as a result of his own insecurities, projecting them onto the women in his life.
Despite the unique power dynamic presented between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, Shakespeare does nothing to challenge traditional patriarchal values in M​acbeth.​This proves the importance of scrutiny of pieces of literature truly presenting “strong female characters”. Lady Macbeth is a woman and she is undeniably strong but her disregard for everything that defines her gender only leads to the belittlement of other women, not empowerment. To put it frankly, she simply does not do nearly enough to undermine gender stereotypes‐ women are more complex than hating themselves and yearning for the power their husbands possess because they are men. Women are multi faceted and
complicated, and M​acbeth ​does not do them justice.