Macbeth Manhood Quotes

In this Shakespearean tragedy, the key character, Macbeth, undergoes numerous vicissitudes throughout the play, though the most significant is his evolution of manhood. In the opening of the play, Macbeth is depicted as a valiant and honorable “man”. After a violent and ferocious battle with Norway, three witches provide Macbeth with his forthcoming, bestowing that he will be King of Scotland. Macbeth shortly realizes that he might need to murder Duncan to fulfill his fate; however, his feelings on Manhood preclude him until Lady Macbeth assesses his decision. When Macbeth takes on Lady Macbeth’s definition of manhood, he loses his honor and she loses her sanity.

Macbeth begins the play with a strong grip on his principle of manhood: displaying

power, strength, bravery and emotion, traits that Macbeth uses to demonstrate his masculinity.

However, his actions and opinions are distorted due to his wife’s insight of what it takes to be a man. After the battle with Norway, the Captain explains to Duncan that “Brave Macbeth- well he deserves that name” (1.2.16), is scorning affluence on the battlefield. The captain continues with Macbeth’s courageousness and willpower and that he slew the trader McDonald, turning the war in favor of Scotland. Not only is Macbeth thought of as the protagonist during this act of the play by the readers, but also by the additional characters. He has a practical view on manhood and distinguishes what it takes to be considered a man. His thoughts become grotesque as he thinks about murdering Duncan due to the witches’ prophecies. His wife, Lady Macbeth encourages him to murder the king: “When you durst do it, then you are a man. And to be more than you were, you would be so much more the man” (1.7.48-50). Lady Macbeth creates an impractical picture of manhood because she isn’t a man herself. She begins criticizing her husband because he refuses to kill Duncan. She explains that he was more of man when he ventured to commit murder. She also supposes that to be a man, one must be a cold-hearted killer,

someone who will do what it takes to be a bigger man: "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!" (1.5.40-43). If the spirits unsex her, then she won’t be concerned about a woman’s sympathy or regret. She will be a murderer, like her description of man. Macbeth, portraying the man he his, knows better than to do this: "Prithee, peace: I dare do all that may become a man/Who dares do more is none" (1.7.45-47). Macbeth explains that a proper man wouldn’t commit murder, and a man who dares to do more is not a man; however, Macbeth’s ambitions get the best of him and he decides to murder Duncan.