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Examples Of Misogyny In Macbeth

1511 Words7 Pages

Nelo Ghadiali
April 6 2023
Macbeth Essay
Misogyny in Macbeth
Shakespeare grapples with the idea of feminine and masculine women and the way they are treated throughout Macbeth, using different female characters as tests. The main women in the play are the three witches and their master, Hecate, as well as Lady Macbeth and Lady Macduff, Macbeth and Macduff’s wives. The wWitches and Hecate manipulate Macbeth, a Scottish warrior, into killing King Duncan so Macbeth can rule instead. Lady Macbeth makes the plans and does everything except the actual murder. She and Macbeth have lasting guilt which eventually leads them both to ruin. Macbeth kills everyone standing in his way, including Lady Macduff, who had been staying at home, taking care of …show more content…

He clearly thinks Banquo, an honorable man and soldier, can handle knowing about Duncan’s death, while Lady Macbeth, a fragile and weak lady, cannot. Macduff is an excellent example of toxic masculinity and sexism. He thinks he and other men are better than ladies, because society thinks they should be the one doing the actions they deem “heroic”. This reinforced traditional ideas of gender roles. Fighting in battles and gaining respect is important to one’s future, but so is surviving. These men haven’t an ounce of knowledge on how to cook or clean, otherwise they wouldn’t need wives to do that for them. Macduff values his wife, Lady Macduff, for the sole purpose of having heirs and good food for when he comes home. Shakespeare must have thought this way, too, otherwise he wouldn’t have written his characters in such a sexist and misogynistic way. Women in Macbeth are valued less than men, as the men think of the women as incompetent, unable, and weak, while characters such as Macbeth and Macduff think of themselves as strong, brave, and heroic soldiers. Throughout the play, men reinforce feminine stereotypes as they question the traits, clothes, and appearances of any woman who deviates from their assumptions. When Banquo and Macbeth see the witches for the first time, they are stunned by their

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Lady Macbeth uses demeaning language to assert dominance over her husband. Lady Macbeth is a willful woman that takes on the role of a male character in the beginning scenes in order to instigate the ambition in her husband. She exploits Macbeth's masculinity when she says, “Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be What thou art promised. Yet do I fear thy nature; It is too full o' th' milk of human kindness To catch the nearest way. Thou wouldst be great, Art not without ambition, but without The illness should attend it”(Macbeth, 1.5, 15-20).

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Banquo becomes wary of the motif of the witch's prophecy and cautions MacBeth against having any faith in their words. Banquo and MacBeth share a deep, noble friendship. However, despite lacking any destructive ambition, he is a victim of Macbeth's ambition, who kills him due to his perceptions of him as a threat to his conquest for power. Other victims of over-ambitious characters in the play include MacDuff. Macduff, who is loyal to the rightful king Duncan possesses no personal ambitions for power (4.3.221-226).

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