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Women's Roles In The Jacobean Era

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Shakespeare’s Macbeth is set in 11th century Scotland and first written and performed in the 17th century for a Jacobean audience. In the Jacobean era there was a patriarchal society which is a society governed and controlled by men. There were clearly defined roles for men and women. Men were considered to be superior, dominant, masters of the house and in control. Women had a very different role from men. They were regarded as inferior and were expected to be submissive and passive figure who fully submitted to the authority of men. Women were often confined to the domestic sphere and very often were not involved in making important decisions. In most Jacobean marriages women had to respect and obey their husbands and submit to his authority. …show more content…

He shares the experience fully with Lady Macbeth which suggests that Macbeth trusts and respects his wife as she is privy to everything that is going on with her husband. This shows that she possesses strength in the relationship as in most Jacobean marriages men held the position of power and most Jacobean wife’s were kept in the dark about important issues. Lady Macbeths position in the marriage contradicts typical Jacobean marriages as her husband does not see her as inferior, in fact, he treats her as his equal. This is demonstrated when Macbeth refers to his wife as ‘my dearest partner of greatness ‘. Through the term ‘partner’ it is shown that she is on a par with Macbeth and straight away the audience is shown that Lady Macbeth is a strong …show more content…

Once Lady Macbeth learns that it may be possible for her to become Queen of Scotland the audience sees that she becomes determined to make this a reality and will not allow anything to stand in her way. This strong ambitious desire could be perceived as a strength especially given the fact that Lady Macbeth lived in a patriarchal world which disempowered woman. Many women, of this era, would not have held such strong ambitions as most woman tended to accept their positions. Lady Macbeth clearly contradicts this. Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth as a strong ambitious character through the effective use of soliloquy as the audience is given a clear insight into her thoughts and

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