The Traditional Gender Roles In Shakespeare's Macbeth

Traditionally, men have been the superior partner in a relationship. Throughout time men have always been the one who is outspoken and dominant in marriages. Shakespeare tends to move away from these traditional gender roles and write woman who are strong and independent. In his play, Macbeth, Shakespeare has Lady Macbeth take on a more dominant, cruel and “manly” role in the marriage while Macbeth submits to his wife’s demands thus giving him a more “womanly” role. Both of these characters go through many role reversals between the two of them and subsequently their greed for power leads them to their downfall.

Throughout the play Lady Macbeth makes men question their manhood. From the very beginning she convinces her husband, Macbeth,

unsex me here, / And fill me from the crown to the toe top full / Of direst cruelty.” In this speech she is asking to be unsexed and to be given the power of a man so she can do the deed of killing Duncan. She clearly asks to have the feminine traits of pity and sympathy and bodily signs of motherhood to be removed. She also invokes the images of death, sex, maternal purgation, and wounding (Thomas). Scholars, such as Janet Adelman, have said this scene is evidence of Lady Macbeth’s evil and unnatural behavior with the mention of murderous spirits, which also resonates with the appearance of the Witches throughout the play. In any way, her rejection of womanhood and determination of masculinity has made this speech a famous

Which is normally a role taken on by male characters. Christina Leon Alfar argues that, "Lady Macbeths 'evil ' is ... an ideologically inscribed notion that is often linked in our literary tradition to strong female characters who seek power, who reject filial loyalty as prior to self-loyalty, and who pursue desire in all its forms - romantic, adulterate, authoritarian, and even violent." This is shown, as Lady Macbeth is ambitious and successful with her plot to kill Duncan. She can also be seen as evil when she calls upon evil spirits and uses language associated with the supernatural. I don’t agree with what these critics say. I believe that Lady Macbeth is indeed ruthless and very ambitious, but many people take on roles, they aren’t necessarily suited for, to gain