In his play, Macbeth, Shakespeare uses the ambitious construct of Lady Macbeth to portray his critical perception of the patriarchal Jacobean society. Consequently, Macbeth’s death is not displayed onstage reflecting gender inequality and the dangerous repercussions of disallowing women to obtain power. The persecution of Lady Macbeth fuels her desire to garner power, ultimately resulting in her manipulating and emasculating her husband to commit regicide. Sexism and the marginalisation of women causes Macbeth to call upon evil spirits to ‘Unsex me here’. ‘Unsex’ implies that Macbeth is aware of the societal disadvantage of being a woman and desires to be stripped of her feminine characteristics allowing her to become more powerful. However, later in the play, Lady Macbeth claims that ‘All the perfumes of Arabia could not sweeten this little hand’. The adjective ‘little’ has connotations of delicacy, reflecting how Jacobean women were viewed as fragile. Shakespeare’s use of feminine imagery contrasts Lady Macbeth’s masculine ambitious nature and his use of this metaphor indicates that she has committed a sin and is unable to cure her cruelty and greed.
Throughout the play masculine women are depicted as evil beings. In Act 1, Banquo states that ‘you [the witches] should be women and yet your
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This phrase illustrates the importance of masculinity and reputation in Jacobean society. Macbeth is so concerned with how others perceive his masculinity that he is driven to murderous actions in order to prove his courage. Shakespeare is criticising societal pressure for men to conform to traditional gender roles and display characteristics of courage and violence and the consequences of doing