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Gender Roles In Macbeth

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Gender Roles in Macbeth
In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the stereotypical portrayal of gender roles from the characters originates from the influence of the former Elizabethan culture where certain roles are expected of their gender. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are examples of characters in the play who challenge these gender roles. The dominant of the two is significantly more stereotypically masculine during the scene due to the part that one plays that influence the other's behaviour and place in the play.
Macbeth is an honourable and great warrior, as his role as Thane of Glamis is derived from his position as the chief of his clan. As the play progresses, Macbeth becomes submissive to Lady Macbeth’s decisions when directing the plan for …show more content…

The same reasons Lady Macbeth struggles with conformity to her traditional roles are many of the same reasons Macbeth exhibits feminine qualities. Lady Macbeth would rather remove all feminine and maternal qualities than conform to her role. Filled with greed at the thought to be Queen, Lady Macbeth renounces her femininity,
Under my battlements. Come, you spirits
That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,
And fill me, from crown to the toes top-full,
Of direct cruelty!
(1.5.43-46)
She desires to be worth more and begins rejecting her feminine qualities in order to climb in status. Unlike the traditional role of a nurturing mother who forfeits her time and dedication to family, she dismisses her stereotyped role as a woman and seeks her own desires above else. In Act 2, scene 2, Lady Macbeth returns the daggers to the room to remove suspicion by having the murder weapon. Macbeth cannot return to Duncan’s chambers as he fears what he has done. Lady Macbeth calls him weak and does the job herself,
Inform of purpose!
Give me the daggers; the sleeping, and the dead
Are but as pictures; ‘tis the eye of childhood
That fears a painted devil.

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