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How Did Shakespeare Portray Women In Macbeth

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1. Powerful, or devilish? Strong, or demonic? Women play a crucial part in one of Shakespeare’s classics, Macbeth. Did Shakespeare intend to portray women in a positive or a negative light? In this seminar, I will explore both of these possibilities, and dissect different parts of the text in order to build up not only mine, but your opinion on this ongoing debate. As a contemporary audience, we may see a biased view of how Shakespeare was meant to portray women. This is because in modern times, women are treated equally with respect. It is the societal norms of today. An Elizabethan audience may have interpreted Shakespeare’s message completely differently. 2. In Elizabethan times, people that were considered powerful were Kings, and Thanes. …show more content…

Firstly, I will analyse key quotes from Lady Macbeth, to try and decipher whether Shakespeare was portraying Lady Macbeth as powerful or devilish, at that moment in the play. In this Lady Macbeth quote from Act 1 Scene 7. Lady Macbeth is insulting Macbeth for not wanting to kill Duncan. This is a example of the switching of gender roles in Macbeth. Lady Macbeth is the powerful individual in the relationship, and Macbeth is doing what would be expected of women at the time. This argues strongly for women being portrayed as powerful, because she manages to convince Macbeth to kill Duncan. Degrading comments, such as “And live a coward in thine own esteem”. And constant humiliation, can make the audience sense the power Lady Macbeth possesses in this moment of the play.This, all adds up to make Macbeth agree to the plan. No part of this quote shows Lady Macbeth’s possible devilish side. Lady Macbeth is just using the power she possesses in her relationship with Macbeth to persuade him to do what she thinks is right. It should be noted that Lady Macbeth did not want to murder Duncan herself because he reminded her of her own father. “ I laid their daggers ready; He could not miss’ em. Had he not resembled my father as he slept, I had done’t.” This shows Lady Macbeth’s softer side. This really helps the audience understand that she does show emotion, and is not completely power greedy. Some people may view this as devilish as well. While she didn’t commit the ultimate act …show more content…

In Act 3 scene 2, Lady Macbeth uses rhyming couplets. She starts talking more like the witches do. This shows to us as the audience that Lady Macbeth is adopting more devilish-like tendencies that the witches have shown throughout the text. In this extract, Lady Macbeth is saying how she has what she wants, but she feels like she hasn’t gained anything from killing Duncan, and she isn’t as happy as she thought she would be. She thinks that it would be better to be the person who gets murdered, rather than the murderer who has to live with the guilt and anxiety. Lady Macbeth is struggling to live with the guilt of killing Duncan, she is plagued with paranoia because she thinks that someone will find out about the horrid deeds Lady Macbeth, and her husband committed. Shakespeare may have done this to highlight that Lady Macbeth isn’t powerful, because she can’t handle the guilt the comes with the ultimate act against God. Since Lady Macbeth cannot handle the guilt from murdering Duncan, she may be resorting to more devilish tendencies to combat it. This dramatizes the nature of crime and punishment, and highlights the fact of the dangers of ambition. I do not have time to analyse anymore of Lady Macbeth’s quotes, what do you think Shakespeare’s intentions were at this point in the seminar? Powerful, or

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(I.V.30-33). In that quote Lady Macbeth is basically telling the evil spirits to fill her with negative and violent thoughts. To give her murderous thoughts and to make her less like a women and more manly. This is so she can do these acts by herself and she still won’t feel any

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Lady Macbeth believes that if Macbeth confronts his fears of betraying Duncan and Scotland, then he will be able to successfully obtain the throne without feeling any remorse. Essentially, Lady Macbeth believes that their plan will not fail as long as Macbeth acts savagely and stays committed to the plan. Lastly, Lady Macbeth reveals her ruthlessness by taking full initiative on arranging for Duncan’s murder. When discussing the plan with Macbeth, Lady Macbeth says, “You shall put this night’s great business into thy dispatch” (Shakespeare 1.6.79-80).

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As Well as in the same act 1 scene 6 she also says to Macbeth “look like th’ innocent flower but be the serpent under’t. — To alter favor even is to fear leave all the rest to me.” In this quote Lady Macbeth is telling Macbeth this is how you should act and put on a mask of kindness around others. Telling him to deceive those around him into respecting and seeing him as good but to still have thoughts of murder and evilness within him. This not only shows how much dedication she has but what she would do as to using her own husband for her own

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Lady Macbeth belittles him stating that he would be less of a man if he failed to follow through with the plan. On page 43 Act 1 scene 7 “when you durst do it, then you were a man; And to be more than what you were, you would Be so much more the man. Nor time nor place Did then adhere, and yet you would make both”. This quote illustrates Lady Macbeth using Macbeth's lack of self-esteem to persuade him to follow through with the plan. She as his wife knows how to get into his head, therefore, she emasculated him claiming that he is currently not a man because he lacks courage; however, he would be more than a man if he did follow their plan to murder.

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In the quote above, Lady Macbeth questions Macbeth's manliness, knowing that this is the greatest insult she can say to him. Because Lady Macbeth and Macbeth are so close at the beginning of the play, she knows exactly how to manipulate him into committing

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After hearing of the witches' prophecy, Lady Macbeth manipulates and belittles her husband to convince him to carry out his plan against Duncan. She tells him, “Art thou afeard / To be the same in thine own act and valor / As thou art in desire? Wouldst thou have that / Which thou esteem’st the ornament of life, / And live a coward in thine own esteem” (1.7. 39-43). She expresses her belief that Macbeth should be willing to do whatever is necessary to get what he wants.

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Lady Macbeth uses many different tactics that ultimately convince Macbeth to go through with the murder plan she creates. One idea she uses is questioning and degrading Macbeth's masculinity by saying, "Wouldst thou have that/Which thou esteem’st the ornament of life,/And live a coward in thine own esteem,/Letting “I dare not” wait upon “I would, ”(Macbeth 1.7.41-44). She is basically asking Macbeth will you take the crown you desire so badly, or will you love as a coward. Macbeth is still troubled by the idea of actually killing King Duncan and the fact that his wife is urging him on as well.

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Towards the beginning of the play, Lady Macbeth exudes wickedness when interacting with Macbeth. Lady Macbeth uses her skills of deception to persuade Macbeth into killing Duncan by giving him repeated tips on how he should gain the trust of Duncan by looking “like th’innocent flower” but being “the serpent under’t”(i.v. 60-63). Her message to Macbeth represents her true character, due to how she persistently harasses Macbeth into assassinating

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Initially, Macbeth chose to remain loyal to Duncan and no longer wished to “proceed... further in this business” of the plotting and planning to murder Duncan. However, Lady Macbeth ridicules Macbeth by attacking his masculinity and calling him a “coward” who is “afeard to… [act] in desire”. Preying on his courage to become “so much more the man”, Lady Macbeth suggests that his masculinity and strength as a man would grow if he were to continue as planned. Through their dialogue, Shakespeare reveals Lady Macbeth's evil personality as she is strong and more ambitious than Macbeth. She controls Macbeth as she knows that Macbeth would “not play false”, to commit the murder to prove that he is capable of doing such a “deed”.

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(Act 1, Scene 7) she implies that Macbeth is not a man if he does not follow through with their plan to kill Duncan. This takes an effect on Macbeth's confidence and he tries to prove himself to Lady Macbeth, his

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Lady Macbeth basically threatened Macbeth that he would lose her love and respect had he not gone through with the murder and questioned his bravery, therefore causing him to commit the act to prove himself worthy to Lady

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Lady Macbeth drives her husband to commit the first killing. The ambition of Lady Macbeth, as with Macbeth, leads to her death, unlike Macbeth however, the death of Lady is caused by the guilt that came from committing such vile acts. She slowly begins to descend into madness and leads to her suicide. Throughout the play it is made obvious that her ambition has been left unchecked, she begins to look to evil for the power to commit the acts that Macbeth was reluctant to carry out. “Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, and fill me from the crown to the toe top-full of direst cruelty” (Act 1, Scene 5), this quote shows her willingness to give up her womanhood in order to become a man and be able to carry out the vile acts that were require for their rise to power, her ruthless ambition leads her to take each and every single opportunity to gain power, to gain this power she uses her influence over others to persuade them to do what she wants.

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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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In their defence they often reference to her small talks with Macbeth, where her opinions often surpass his (1; 7; 72-74). But, it’s clear that Lady Macbeth is no feminist lady. Throughout the play, she is viewed by the audience as a selfish female character, consumed with ambition to successfully bring the witches prophecy of Macbeth becoming king into reality. Unlike, Macbeth who tends to carry out his deeds holily, Lady Macbeths ambition completely disgraces the definition of feminist, believing regicide of faithful leader King Duncan is the way to gain power. Macbeths strong values, belies and attitudes of King Duncan, created a series of doubts towards Lady Macbeths idea, since.

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In Macbeth, one of William Shakespeare’s most famous plays, the character of Lady Macbeth at first appears as if she breaks the mold of what a woman should be, and how she should act. She is driven and takes control of the conflict at hand. Her characterization appears new and fresh. Unfortunately, Shakespeare takes this revolutionary depiction of a woman and falls short.

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