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Examples Of Sexism In Macbeth

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William Shakespeare is considered by many to be the most famous English poet and playwright. During Shakespeare’s time, there was a patriarchal society with a strong feeling that women were inferior to men. Shakespeare incorporated this societal misogynistic view of sexist manifestation in many of his works.
In many of Shakespeare’s works, we see examples of sexism and stereotypical gender roles. A great example of this would be seen in one of Shakespeare’s most famous works, Macbeth. Throughout Macbeth, upon looking deeper, it is easy to notice a pattern: The successful and prosperous characters are all male, and the female characters are associated with destruction, with the most common destruction being the destruction of the family. This idea was described …show more content…

Furthermore, when discussing the representation of masculinity in Macbeth, we see similar instances of females having negative connotations for simply being a woman. Feminine qualities are associated with weakness in this time period and we see the characters of Macbeth tapping into this stereotype. For example, Lady Macbeth rejects her feminine qualities and tries to adopt more masculine qualities. She tries to convince Macbeth to adopt his cultures vision of manhood and kill Duncan (Rosenblum). Rosenblum theorizes that masculinity is defined through violence in Macbeth. Lady Macbeth has made it very clear that violence does not intimidate her because of her masculine mindset. On the contrary, Macbeth originally had no intention to kill and he was scared of the idea of murder. However, after adopting Lady Macbeth's mindset we see him develop this culture’s idea of masculinity. Once Macbeth equates manhood with violence, he subordinates his wife. He does not tell her about his plan to kill Banquo and leaves her in the dark. Likewise, after Act 3, Scene 4, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth do not appear onstage

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A reader is subconsciously using gender criticisms throughout the play to determine the influences of gender over how Shakespeare’s literature pieces are read and written. Traditional women during the 11th century in Scotland, women were not seen as powerful figures in society and were not allowed to hold any power. Women were expected to be a mother and/or a mother like figure as well as be polite, fair, and noble hostesses of guests incoming into the home. Men were expected to be courageous. For example, Old Siward was very concerned with how Young Siward died in battle.

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William Shakespeare’s Macbeth focuses heavily on gender role reversals and ambition. Lady Macbeth shows both of these themes consistently with her character. She also frequently shows how this masculinity and ambition combination can cause her to break. More precisely, Lady Macbeth shows the inherent masculine cruelty her ambition brings, how violent and toxic this masculinity causes her to be, and how this brings her to the breaking point.

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Gender Roles in Macbeth The characters of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth deviate from accepted gender roles of the Elizabethan era. Throughout the play, social constructs of expected masculine and feminine roles are defied by both major and minor characters. Throughout Macbeth, Shakespeare explores and challenges stereotypical gender roles through female characters exhibiting masculine behaviours, introducing non-traditional relationships, and portraying examples of sexism. Shakespeare illustrates a world where traditional gender roles are broken.

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This study will focus on the way in which Shakespeare crafts his play and uses dramatic devices in his portrayal of Lady Macbeth in order to confront the gender stereotypes of the time, femininity and the natural order of society. During the early 17th century there was a substantial fear that if women were liberated from their domestic, maternal roles, the historically patriarchal society would unravel. With prevailing challenges of gender such as “When you durst do it, then you were a man” Shakespeare uses the character of Lady Macbeth to transgress the natural limits concomitant with her sex. In order to be able to answer the research question, it is vital to concretely establish the contemporary gender roles and the context of the play.

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Shakespeare believes that Gender roles shouldn’t be the stereotype of any relationship because the roles can be switched, and them being switched can cause a lot of trouble. When a woman thinks for men it ends up pretty bad. The play Macbeth shows that when a man follows a women's word because they love them, that's when

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Lady Macbeth says these things in a condescending tone which conveys her disdain for her husband’s reluctance to complete the murder and her belief that a man should be stronger than a women. After Macbeth hears this he goes along with the murder plot tentatively. Lady Macbeth’s words reveal that manliness in this society is seen as being strong enough to unmercifully kill someone and Macbeth’s reaction shows that the need to be seen as masculine is so intense that he will do anything, even kill his cousin and king whom he was fiercely loyal to, in order to achieve it. Throughout the play, Macbeth’s need to meet Lady Macbeth’s and societies view of masculinity increases. Until he pushes those ideas onto other men.

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It’s no surprise, that Shakespeare’s Macbeth was clearly constructed as a rebellion against femininity roles of the time. During the Elizabethan era, women were raised to believe they were inferior to men since men obtained desired masculine qualities such as strength, and loyalty, whereas women were viewed as figures of hospitality (1; 6; 28-31). Obviously, not being tempted by the luxury of subservient women, William Shakespeare rebuked this twisted belief, applying that women deserve more respect than their kitchen tables.

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How are gender roles shown in today’s society? How have they changed over time? In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, the author shows how gender roles can be adopted by the opposite gender. The author also shows how characters can manipulate their situation by adopting roles they might not normally portray. Shakespeare uses the character Lady Macbeth to illustrate how goals can be obtained by adopting non-traditional gender roles.

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The society of the historical period in which Macbeth was set was dominated by sexist ideology; women were not seen as equals and could be accused of witchcraft without reason. There were many male and female stereotypes that were popular perceptions of what each gender should be, creating rigid gender roles. In the play, Lady Macbeth takes on many stereotypically masculine characteristics and her dominant power has led to the interpretation that she was responsible for the horrible events of Macbeth. However, Lady Macbeth’s strong actions, despite their bold defiance of gender roles, did not lead to the tragedies of the play, but rather were a result of societal pressure, and after events spiraled out of control, ended in guilt. The real cause

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There is a strong correlation between violence and masculinity. In the play, Macbeth by Shakespeare, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth constantly battle the challenges of manhood. This can be supported by Lady Macbeth and her “unsex me speech” (Act 1.5.47-61). During the play Macbeth, characters tend to dwell on issues of gender and their roles in society.

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In MacBeth, even though men are seen as the stronger and more powerful sex, by giving women power, Shakespeare allows them to be the inciting force of many key events and most

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It is clear that men and women have two different cultures in Shakespeare’s time, and the relationship between the two was hierarchical. Throughout Shakespeare’s play, it is obvious that the feminine emotions are far less desirable than the masculine. When Lady Macbeth plots to kill Duncan in order for Macbeth to become king, she is aware that he must suppress his natural “love, compassion, pity, [and] remorse” in order to kill Duncan, and she will need to ignore the same emotions, “which she clearly thinks of as feminine” (180). Macbeth, of course, eventually gives in to the gender definitions of his wife and society and kills Duncan. “He is on his way literally and figuratively to becoming the kind of man his wife has urged” (183).

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In William Shakespeare’s tragedy, Macbeth, the protagonist desperately tries to live up to the image of a man that his society portrays. The search for his manhood leads him to violent acts that inevitably get him killed. In this tragedy, male and female roles are constantly discussed and defined. Both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth equate masculinity to violence and aggression. They both believe that in order to be a real man, then a man must perform violent acts when necessary.

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“Come, you spirits, That tend on mortal thoughts,/unsex me here, And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full/ Of dire cruelty” (1.5.41-44). Lady Macbeth is the personification of male dominance, ruthlessness and violence. She hopes that she could take control of all action. She yearns to be a man and her implication is that she is more masculine than Macbeth. Her drive and violent nature is more akin to men and their masculinity.

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In the popular play Macbeth, Shakespeare compares the gender stereotypes portrayed to those different pre-existing ideas from other generations such as the 1900’s, the 50’s, and even today 's society. Macbeth has plenty of examples of the exaggeration of gender roles that clearly differentiate male and female by construing their proper roles as polar opposite or complementary. Examples proving that there are gender stereotypes in Macbeth pertain to characters such as Lady Macbeth, The Witches, and Macbeth himself. In Macbeth, the many different stereotypes of gender roles from throughout the century to today’s society have been displayed in many aspects of the play. With examples of the exaggeration of gender constructs pertaining to the male

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