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The Conflict Of Gender Roles In Shakespeare's Macbeth

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Recommended: Feminist perspective in macbeth

Brooke Ranson
Mr. Ritchey
British Literature
15 November 2014
Gender Roles in Macbeth William Shakespeare’s writing style often reflects the stereotypes of men and women’s various roles and authorities in society, as well as how they interpret the authentic challenges those representations face. Shakespeare utilizes gender roles in the story of Macbeth to capture the audience 's attention to society’s stereotype discriminations. He does this solely through Macbeth’s complicated and rather ambitious wife, Lady Macbeth. She is one of Shakespeare’s most famous and terrifying female characters. The important character is written to defeat the stereotypes that women are only to be known compassionate and nurturers. Lady Macbeth exemplifies the certainty …show more content…

It turns out that Lady Macbeth let the stereotype overrule her conflict and allowed Macbeth to do the deed himself. She still involved herself in the plan, (in a not so innocent way) by distracting the other men with the king by getting them drunk. Lady Macbeth’s character depicts the significance as to how women deal with the conflict of gender role stereotypes in relationships everyday. The bible talks about how the husbands are supposed to "rule" their wives in the same way that kings ruled countries, wives are also supposed to submit to their husbands like the kingdom submits to the ruler. (Ephesians 5:22-33) If Lady Macbeth respected Macbeth’s decisions in not wanting to kill the King, then it would not have led to the guilt’s and consequences they both faced at the end of the story. Since Lady Macbeth is as capable of prime evil as any other man, there should not be discrimination or greater punishment between man and woman in any crimes they commit. Men and women should be punished equally and Shakespeare proves that both genders can be equally as violent and guilty as one …show more content…

This story of Macbeth is yet another brilliance work of Shakespeare that brings the incumbent attention of treason and feminism to the world. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth shows that every human being has both masculine and feminine characteristics. In summary, we know that we are not all innocent humans. Even in the primordial story of Adam and Eve, both man and woman brought the fall upon us. Both Lady Macbeth and Macbeth plotted the king to be in the shambles to receive higher power, so they should be equally punished as for God did the same to Adam and Eve. Thanks to Lady Macbeth’s motif, she demonstrates the equity that all women should be worthy of nobility aside from their gender

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