Lady Macbeth Gender Roles

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William Shakespeare’s play “Macbeth” subtly discusses the gender roles between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Shakespeare is known for his works of literature, which continue to influence modern culture throughout the world. One of his more famous dramas, “Macbeth,” features a couple driven by ambition and greed to kill a faithful king in order for the husband to gain the throne. Female and male roles have a powerful impact on the course of events in the play, including how Lady Macbeth takes on the position of a man to influence her husband to kill Duncan and how Macbeth commits murder to renew his manhood and his wife’s trust. Lady Macbeth acts as the husband figure when she decides that Macbeth is not capable of murdering the king. The play …show more content…

. . ] 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. Make thick my blood” (Shakespeare 1.5.15-19, 41-44). Lady Macbeth’s first appearance and monologue in the play debate her husband’s masculinity, which shows how her entire character revolves around disbelief in her husband. The words from the king’s wife display how she presumes that women are inferior to men, and she longs to make herself monstrously brutal. Alongside Lady Macbeth wanting to be more bitter and manlike, she also causes Macbeth to doubt his own ability to act like a man. According to the text, “Lady Macbeth is also very critical of her husband's personal anxiety when she discovers his fears …show more content…

After a lengthy conversation, Macbeth says, “I am settled, and bend up / Each corporal agent to this terrible feat” (Shakespeare 1.7.79-80). Lady Macbeth’s power over her husband causes him to change his mind about murdering the king, which is a difficult decision to decide simply. Macbeth’s sudden change of heart shows how he would do anything to please his wife. In addition to Macbeth adapting for Lady Macbeth, he also loses touch with his masculine side when he transforms into a murderer. According to the text, “[Macbeth] is plagued by feelings of doubt and insecurity which his wife attributes to ‘effeminate’ weakness. Fearing that her husband does not have the resolve to murder Duncan, Lady Macbeth manipulates his lack of confidence by questioning his manhood” (“Overview of Macbeth”). Lady Macbeth’s disbelief in her spouse causes him to have a warped concept of being a man. A new, corrupt sense of masculinity ultimately provokes the murder of King Duncan, Banquo, and Macduff’s family. Lady Macbeth takes on the role of the man, while Macbeth is downgraded to regaining his role as the husband by going against his judgement to concede with his

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