Examples Of Masculinity In Macbeth

Even good people have a dark side. In the tragedy Macbeth by William Shakespeare he shows masculinity is synonymous with cruelty. In Macbeth, he told several prophecies which compel him and Lady Macbeth to commit some very cruel deeds. Examples of this are Lady Macbeth wants to lose her femininity and become more masculine, Macbeth murderers Duncan, and Macbeth hires murderers to kill Banquo. Lady Macbeth believes in order to convince Macbeth to murder Duncan she has to lose her feminine qualities and become more masculine. This happens when she finds out that Macbeth can gain the throne if Duncan dies. She wants to murder Duncan so that Macbeth can gain the throne. Lady Macbeth does not think women are capable of committing such a deed so she says, “unsex me here, and fill me from the crown to the toe top-full of direct cruelty” (1.5.47-50). She says this so that she can convince Macbeth to go along with the murder. Even though she says this she still cannot bring herself to actually commit the murder she has to convince Macbeth to do it, and he does it. This shows how masculinity is synonymous with cruelty. Macbeth murdering Duncan is also an example of this.

Lady Macbeth is able to convince Macbeth to murder Duncan. Macbeth believes that he will gain the throne by doing this because three witches in the woods told him that he will be king someday. Macbeth automatically thinks that the only way to do this is by murdering Duncan. Macbeth sneaks into Duncan’s room when he is asleep and stabs him to death. After murdering Duncan, Macbeth says, “I have done the deed” (2.2.19). This shows that Macbeth went through with the murder. This proves that Macbeth knows what he did. He killed Duncan in cold blood which is a very cruel act. Also, Macbeth hires two murderers to kill Banquo and this also proves my