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Treatment Of Women In Lady Macbeth

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For many years, women were perceived as unequal within their society. This is evident as women didn’t have any rights to vote until 1920, when the women voting act came into place. However this continuous slur would continue to follow women throughout history. As a result, the writers Shakespeare, Carol Ann Duffy and Robert Browning, all create female characters that have adopted a sense of anger and hatred towards their set society. In the poems and play the writers create strong female characters that have determined voices to deal with the various problems that society brings upon them. This could further reflect how their breakdown was built up and how they might have inflicted the break down upon themselves. Moreover, this could also suggest …show more content…

“Unsex me here and fill me from the crown to the toe; full of direst cruelty” The dynamic verb “unsex me” suggests that Lady Macbeth wants an excuse for her sins and that she wants to gain the power and mind-set of Jacobean man in order to go through in killing the king. This could be due to men in this era going through wars and having the role of being a strong citizen who can protect their community. As Lady Macbeth wants to be filled with cruelty could reflect the malicious ways which Shakespeare created Lady Macbeth in. The religious imagery of Lady Macbeth calling upon the spirits could suggest the ways in which she feels that she will not be able to follow through with killing the king unless she receives some sort of guidance and help. Despite, being brave by carrying through killing the king we could also infer that the fact that she seeks help could show her weaknesses and that her psychological mind-set is not encouraging her to kill the king. In addition, Lady Macbeth expresses that she doesn’t want any of her femininity to remain inside her whilst killing the king. This is shown through the quote: “fill me from the crown to the toe” this infers that she wants to be disguised in order for her to carry through with killing King

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This is clearly illustrated in her prolonged soliloquy in Act 1 Scene 5. Her extreme willingness to kill King Duncan is apparent in the quote: “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.” She is calling on ‘evil spirits’ to give her the courage and extensive masculine characteristics. Women in the Jacobean era were considered weak, contrasting what Lady Macbeth wants herself to become. The denoted meaning of the quote is that she wants the spirits to ‘unsex’ her and to fill her with cruelty.

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This quote exemplifies the lengths that Lady Macbeth is willing to go to get exactly what she wants. She goes further by saying “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” (Shakespeare 1.5). This quote shows the reader that Lady Macbeth wants any qualities associated with being female to be stripped away from her. She believes that these qualities are what make her weak and unworthy of holding any power. Rosenblum adds, “She so dominates the scenes in which she appears that her role at times seems equal to, perhaps even larger than, Macbeth's” (Rosenblum).

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She wishes to be freed from the shackles of gender, and to have the freedom to act on her masculine traits. She says “Come, you spirits / That tends on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, / And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full / Of direst cruelty!”. In this quote, she is expressing that she wants to get rid of her feminine traits----specifically those traits that would prevent her from killing Duncan. Lady Macbeth is stating that she wants to be free of the idea that women are the lesser sex because of their bodies.

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The use of the expression ‘Come you sprits… unsex me here… make thick my blood’ instinctively makes the reader believer that she wants the ‘spirits’ to fill her with ruthlessness and hate in order to kill King Duncan and gain power. The specific use of the word ‘unsex’ conveys that she is willing to change her gender in order for her to become king/queen. Her willingness to change her gender clearly demonstrates how much power men had and how submissive women were. Intriguingly, Lady Macbeth is seen as having a connecting with the supernatural world especially with the use of the word ‘spirits’ which she includes in her manipulative language to possess her body. The appearance of the supernatural in Macbeth could be a metaphor for all the disturbances in the characters especially when Lady Macbeth sleepwalks.

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Lady Macbeth calls to the spirit to rid her of her feminity and fill her like a man, one with deadly cruelty. This shows how the female qualities Lady Macbeth possessed kept her back by her delicacy to commit such churlish crimes. After Lady Macbeth was stripped, she was later able control Macbeth's actions and take the lead in Act 2, Scene 2. "Why worthy thane, you unbend your noble strength to think so brainsickly of things," She continues to call his actions weak so unlike

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A reader is subconsciously using gender criticisms throughout the play to determine the influences of gender over how Shakespeare’s literature pieces are read and written. Traditional women during the 11th century in Scotland, women were not seen as powerful figures in society and were not allowed to hold any power. Women were expected to be a mother and/or a mother like figure as well as be polite, fair, and noble hostesses of guests incoming into the home. Men were expected to be courageous. For example, Old Siward was very concerned with how Young Siward died in battle.

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Women, Power and the Devil; although many may incline to believe this to be the feminist holy trinity, it is, in fact, men's worst fear. Going back from second-century Christian theologian Tertullian who claimed women to be the gate of Hell (2) to a notorious American businessman who recently accused this presidential candidate of being the Devil himself (Volk and Sullivan,"Trump calls Hillary Clinton ‘the devil’"), men have always been prone to demonize women in order to prove their unfitness to govern. Shakespeare is no stranger to this thought pattern which he explores in his 1606 play, Macbeth. Indeed, Shakespeare's vile portrayal of Lady Macbeth and the Witches in the play stems from the medieval demonization of women. Through his choice

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At the beginning of the play, Lady Macbeth’s manipulative nature takes control of Macbeth, and makes her seem like the man of the house. She fulfils this role when she talks to the supernatural, asking them to “unsex me here”. This command further portrays her dominant side and how she seemed fearless towards anything, even beings the audience knew we couldn’t trust. This could show her cockiness at how she, similarly to Macbeth, believes nothing could stop or harm her. The verb “unsex” gives us a disturbing image which in Jacobean times would be seen as ungodly and going against their religious values,

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Similarly earlier on she wishes to be "unsexed" so that she can convince her husband to kill, and feel no remorse for doing so. "The witches" are a source of violence and evil. Their prophecies are the spark for Macbeth's greed and violence. Lady Macbeth is the one who pushes him to commit the murder. Macbeth traces the root of chaos and evil to women.

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In the play Macbeth, Lady Macbeth has a very large range of emotions as the play progresses and she changes drastically over the course of events. At the beginning, she encourages Macbeth to kill Duncan but as it goes on, she realizes he’s taking it way too far and goes crazy with guilt and loneliness. Lady Macbeth said, “Unsex me here, and fill me from the crown to the toe topfull of direst cruelty; make thick my blood, stop up th’access and passage to remorse.” (Act I, scene 5, line 40)

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Shakespeare is often referred to as a man before his time, or even called a feminist. He revered amongst many audience members for his use of the woman in his plays. Others disagree, saying Ole Willy Shakes is a misogynist who hated women. Neither of the extremes is completely accurate, and neither have claims that could be taken very far. Shakespeare lives somewhere between being a feminist and being a misogynist, he uses female character radically; for his time at least.

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In the play called “Macbeth” by William Shakespeare, Women are being portrayed differently in respect as well as their roles in the society. Lady Macbeth is one of the most interesting and intriguing Shakespeare’s female characters. Her action portrayed her right at the time period. At the beginning of the play, Macbeth was told by the three witches that he would be the next king. Arriving home, he told his wife about it and quickly Lady Macbeth comes up with a plan to kill Duncan so that his husband would become king.

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Testing a man’s manliness during this time era is an assured way to receive any wish, so that is what Lady Macbeth did so precisely. In fact, Wayne C. Booth notes in Shakespeare for Students, “She twits him for cowardice, plays upon the word “man,” making it seem that he becomes more a man by doing the manly deed.” It is evident that Lady Macbeth already realizes how to maintain control over her husband, so what would the purpose of being unsexed be? She deliberately uses her charm and questioning of Macbeth’s manhood to develop his contrasting feelings into what Lady Macbeth believes. If pursuing additional power is what Lady Macbeth desires, no explanation will ever make sense because she possesses a myriad of competence that directs Macbeth straight toward the path of her ambitions for him to become King of

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729 Words | 3 Pages

Well Lady Macbeth, who is dead set on having absolute power, disagrees with that. She convinces Macbeth to kill, to cover up the murders, and tries to convince him that these murders will get them to the top. Lady Macbeth calls upon the witches and states, “unsex me here, and fill me from the crown to the toe top-full of direst cruelty” (Macbeth Act 1 Scene 5 lines 31 and 31). This shows that while in the pursuit of power, Lady Macbeth wanted it so much that she asked the witches to “unsex” her and make her more like man. But along with that you see the theme of gender roles are uncertain which ties into Lady Macbeth leading Macbeth in this pursuit of power, also giving him the ambition that she wants him to

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How do women affect Macbeth throughout the play? Macbeth experiences all type of pressure from the women in the play. Thus he also demands high of them without truly knowing what will come and what to expect next. If present day was a matter how could've it been different.

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