Masculinity In Macbeth Essay

Macbeth by William Shakespeare brings about one of the most controversial topic of the gender portrayal in a play. During Shakespearean times, women were considered as the weaker sex, physically and emotionally. On the other hand, men were seen as the dominant sex that is expected to be the head of their households and a strong figure. Unlike this stereotypical representation of men and women, Shakespeare introduces the reversal of gender roles in his play. Shakespeare’s portrayal of the relationship and characteristics of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth diverged from the stereotypical representation of both men and women. The author, William Shakespeare’s use of reverse gender roles which contradicted with the traditional gender roles, is what

In ‘Macbeth’, masculinity is presented as a driving force to Macbeth’s crimes, making it a vital theme. The essay’s focus is masculinity’s presentation through Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Primarily, Shakespeare portrays Macbeth as “valiant”: a prized, respected masculine quality in their society. However, this trait becomes warped along the play. Furthermore, Lady Macbeth yearns for masculinity but she fails to acquire it. Shakespeare thus displays masculinity in two different lights.

Macbeth uses his manhood to portray his solider like qualities, but Lady Macbeth’s masculinity manipulates Macbeth’s actions, however, in the end it is Macbeth who uses his masculinity to do heinous actions.

A prominent and permeating theme in Macbeth is the roles and characteristics of masculinity and femininity. Throughout the play Shakespeare presents the audience with strong and sometimes conflicting views of these gender roles. What exactly defines being a man or a woman? How does an individual’s grasp of these roles effect their actions? Shakespeare shows that a clear and accurate understanding of the concept of masculinity is of critical importance in the success of a ruler. In particular, he illustrates how Macbeth’s acceptance of a perverted, violent view of masculinity leads his kingdom into chaos and turmoil, and leads Macbeth to his inevitable demise. Moral order can only be restored

We see her as a suppressed female clawing to power through men. The most notable scene where Shakespeare conveys this is Act 1 Scene 5. He has Lady Macbeth say, “unsex me here”, demanding elimination of all womanly attributes. She also says, “take my milk for gall”. This demonstrates she does not want to be a nurturing, mother figure. Lady Macbeth thinks her femininity is useless and that she could accomplish more as a male. In the Elizabethan/Jacobean era, women were often subjugated – made to submit to and follow men, regarded as weak and in need of protection. Given no control, women were forced to stay home and bear children. Lady Macbeth yearns liberation from these stereotypes and ideal standards of her time. Her authority cravings lead her to tell Macbeth, “Leave all the rest to me” – seeking dominance. Her husband is essential to succeed so she can be interpreted as somewhat manipulating him into committing larger crimes – namely

In Act One, Scene Seven, Lady Macbeth attacks Macbeth’s pride in order to manipulate his decision. Macbeth doubts the choice to kill the King, but Lady Macbeth wants the power and the title for Macbeth and herself. She asks Macbeth, “Art thou afeard to be the same in thine own act and valor as thou art in desire? Wouldst thou have that which thou esteem’st the ornament of life and live a coward in thine own esteem,” (1.7). Lady Macbeth questions Macbeth’s manliness, by asking if he is a coward or a noble king. No man wants to be called a coward by his female companion, or anyone else. In doing this, she mocks his fear of committing regicide, by calling his masculinity into question. Consequently, this affect’s Macbeth’s decision to kill King Duncan. Macbeth believes that men should be violent, cruel, brave, and unremorseful. This viewpoint has been instilled in him by people surrounding him such as his wife. His pride and masculinity were superior to any future punishment for this action. His myopic view prevents him from truly seeing the consequences to come of his decisions. The egotism of some men seems to take over their perspective of right and wrong. Males today do not want to be inferior to women, because they would seem weak.

Historically, roles of men and women were established to ensure the power of the head of the household. In the early centuries, the head of the household was always male. Shakespeare reflects and at times supports the English Renaissance stereotypes of women and men and their various roles and responsibilities in society. In Macbeth, Shakespeare supports this idea by developing the constant theme of power through masculinity. The idealistic role of men in society goes along with the idea that significant power results in higher ranking in the social hierarchy of this time period.

Over time, there’s been obsession over whom is the most dominant man in all of Scotland and whom can be the best king of Cawdor. There’s sacrifices made and many deaths. It’s a tragic book with people whom carry a lot of pride in what they believe in. William Shakespeare from the play, Macbeth, in 1606, expresses how there’s a lot of integrity and hatred that everyone will have to go through in order to grow into a better a better person and role model for others. Masculinity shows pride. When you’re male, you would instantly have more power and control then if you were female. Some people, like Lady Macbeth, wish to be a gender they’re not in order to have the dominance they want so they’re treated with respect. You can appear to be someone you’re not. Lady Macbeth is the wife of Macbeth who is a powerful commander in the Scottish Army. Lady Macbeth wishes to have the masculinity a man has so that she could overthrow Macbeth and take his place. She won’t be able to succeed that goal if she is a woman. Because of that, Lady Macbeth decides to “work with” Macbeth to kill the king of Cawdor, who is Duncan. Lady Macbeth and Macbeth will kill Duncan after the battle in the defeat of the Scottish traitor. Lady Macbeth's need for masculinity will lead her to having the success of becoming the King of Scotland. She will overthrow Duncan and take his place as king. Lady macbeth is the tragedy in this play, and will do anything it takes to overthrow the King. Lady Macbeth is willing

Lady Macbeth challenges Macbeth’s masculinity by stating that Macbeth is not a man if he does not carry on the murder. Lady Macbeth demonstrates strong pathos because she targets Macbeth’s ego. This proves effectiveness because when a male’s ego is challenged his testosterone kicks in, so in Macbeth’s case, he feels obligated to assert his dominance over his wife. To further elaborate, when Lady Macbeth says “when you durst do it, then you were a man” she demonstrates subconscious, but powerful use of rhetoric because it is Lady

The play, Macbeth, by Shakespeare was a riveting tale about a man so drawn to the power he was promised in a prophecy that he became a murderer. A common theme in this play is the idea of masculinity and how it proves that a person is strong and important. One famous show of masculinity was that of Lady Macbeth: “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 1:5:47-50).

Blood stains his hands, Macbeth races into battle slaughtering every Norwegian in sight, selflessly risking his own life for the people of his country. Macbeth demonstrates these traits as he is a male in power; he must stop at nothing to prove his masculinity and serve his country. Furthermore, the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare is guided by how people perceive stereotypical masculinity, and how you must act as a male. Therefore, in Macbeth common masculine traits such as violence and selflessness is used to manipulate in order to feed one’s ambition to gain ultimate power.

Shakespeare downplays Macbeth’s masculinity to highlight the lack of dominance over Lady Macbeth. The poet counteracts patriarchy and subjective social status by stripping women of labelled inferiority. In addition, Shakespeare examines the effect of gender in terms of power, greed, and sovereignty. 1.7.31-58 of Shakespeare’s Macbeth destroys

Macbeth's primary wellspring of frailty was his better half Lady Macbeth questioning his grit. Indicated when she utilized her appealing approaches to inspire Macbeth to execute Duncan, "When you durst do it, then you were a man;/And be far beyond the man" (1.7.49-51). Macbeth turned into his own adversary when he attempted to demonstrate his masculinity to his significant other and executed Duncan. Subsequently of his weakness of his absence of masculinity, Macbeth's spirit couldn't be cleaned once more. Macbeth demonstrated to his significant other that he was a "man" however the consequence of killing the ruler was the start of the deceptive activity of Macbeth's spirit on account of the feeling of force he had. Macbeth saw his activities

In Macbeth by William Shakespeare, gender plays a pivotal role in the development of the overall plot and as the play advances, certain characters, including Macbeth and Lady Macbeth experience a reversal in traditional gender behaviors. Additionally, we see gender confusion among other characters that enhances conflict in the play. Originally, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are portrayed in ways that enforce their respective masculinity and feminism in accordance to the society around them. As Macbeth begins to contemplate his decision regarding the killing of Duncan, his marriage becomes the primary driving force behind his action and thoughts in this matter. Although in some cases, male and female roles in this play remain static, the

Being considered a man is not always determined by age, stepping up and taking responsibiity are some of the characteristics of a man. Throughout the play, lady macbeth questions lord macbeths manhood repeatedly, but the one quote that stood out to me the most to me came from lady macbeth in act one scene seven. “When you durst do it, then you were a man, and to be more than what you were, you would be so much more than the man”. She starts questioning him and his masculinity because he revealed to her that he no longer intends to kill duncan because they are related.