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Macbeth Gender Roles Essay

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Gender’s role in Macbeth In act I of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, some characters allude to their commentaries on the natures of men and women. As she dreams of the throne and contemplates the steps towards her ambitions, Lady Macbeth says, “Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, and fill me from from crown to the toe top-full of direst cruelty…come to my woman’s breasts and take my milk for gall…”(1.5, 47-55). When Lady Macbeth says, “Spirits that tend on mortal thoughts,” she is calling out to a form of spirit, or god, to assist in her murderous conniving. It seems that Lady Macbeth feels her evil convictions have never been realized, because as a woman, she could never truly have such thoughts. She continues by requesting …show more content…

In war, men fought because traditional expectation was that they were stronger, in addition to the opposite connotations of women. Through the passage of time, women have gained more respect, with characters like Wonder Woman in pop culture. Other examples like this were Katherine Johnson, Susan B. Anthony, and Ruth Bader Ginsberg. Each of these inspiring figures were only in their positions because of women like Lady Macbeth, they fought to be heard and have the opportunities to make an impact. Nowadays, women are allowed to fight in the army and are commanding and teaching men which shows that they were always capable. All of these facts lead me to disagree with the ideas presented by Lady Macbeth and succumb to the underlying message of Macbeth’s line, that men are not always incredibly strong and therefore women aren’t always as weak as they are presented in our text. I think that the play drives this point to show another pressure on Macbeth, something that will likely haunt him throughout the book and drive him to make irrational decisions. I also think that this story would not have been written in the modern day because it is preaching an extremely controversial opinion with which I do not

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Gender is used to express emotion, caution, and views while also being stereotyped between male and female. Act 1 scene 5, Lady Macbeth quotes, " Come, you spirit that tend on mortal thoughts, unisex me here. Come to my woman's breast and take my milk for gall, you murd'ring ministers. Yet I fear thy nature, it is too full o'th milk of human kindness. "

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