Expectations of behavior are often created by the societal stereotypes that follow gender. William Shakespeare’s Macbeth challenges traditional gender roles and defies some of the most frequent stereotypes through many of the play’s characters. Male leads such as Macbeth and Macduff act and speak to prove their manhood. In contrast, female characters such as Lady Macbeth utilize the same male characteristics to remove themselves from the conventional female archetype. Through the mental and psychological development of these characters, Shakespeare suggests that to uphold the status of masculinity, men must have an ambition for power, for strength, and a lack of emotional vulnerability.

Macbeth, initially a loyal and high-ranking subject