Gender Boundaries In Lady Macbeth

Lady Macbeth breaks gender boundaries and asserts her dominance throughout the entire play of Macbeth. She can be described has manipulative, controlling, assertive, and driven. She is clearly one of Shakespeare’s strongest female characters, but there is more to Lady Macbeth than what meets the eye. In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Lady Macbeth plays a significant role in the plot and overall outcome of the story. The critical role she plays can be seen through her strong will, thirst for power, and the dominance she holds over Macbeth. Lady Macbeth’s character has a strong will that cannot be easily influenced. Throughout the play, the audience comes to realize that Lady Macbeth is only satisfied when the plot goes according to her plan. Lady Macbeth does not take change and authority well; therefore, she manipulates the events of the play in her favor. This can be seen in act I when she says “Hie thee

She clearly drops hints to Macbeth in the beginning of the play that she wants to be queen. This is seen in act I scene V 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”. In this scene, Lady Macbeth hears the prophecy from the letter written by Macbeth, and she immediately concludes that a murder should take place. Macbeth does not think that is the best plan, but Lady Macbeth always gets her way. Lady Macbeth knows that if Duncan is killed, Macbeth will become king. This means she can obtain what she wants most, the throne. Because the idea of being queen in presented to her, she knows that she has to convince her husband to commit this crime. Lady Macbeth has a strong influence over Macbeth, so this persuasion should be simple for her to