Shakespeare's Defiance of Gender Roles in Macbeth

Gender roles are one of the most controversial topics in the history of humanity. Some people approve of them, while others disagree with them. Gender roles are defined as “the behavior learned by a person as appropriate to their gender, determined by the prevailing cultural norms”. There are times throughout history where gender roles were very unfair. However, some individuals still defied them in both open and discreet ways. One of these individuals was the famous literary figure, William Shakespeare. Although Shakespeare may have defied gender roles in some of his other literary works, the scope of this essay will be limited to his stellar play, Macbeth. In Macbeth, Shakespeare mostly uses three characters to defy gender roles: The Three

They were expected to fight in battles and die valiantly, with honor. Meanwhile, women were supposedly caring and kind creatures that could never be evil. They were expected to tend to the children and take care of the house. At the start of the play, the audience is introduced to The Three Witches and as their name suggests, they act abnormally. They are cruel, easy to anger and prefer to live in isolation rather than with other people. Their ill-tempered and cruel nature is evident when the First Witch encountered where the First Witch explains where she was to the other witches. She explains that there was a “sailor’s wife”, (1.3.4-5) who “had chestnuts in her lap and munched and munched and munched”, (1.3.4-5) refusing to share. The First Witch becomes angry and sends a storm out to sea to torment the lady’s husband.

He does this by not being the dominant person in his romantic relationship and showing cowardice. It is obvious that he is not the dominant one in his relationship when Lady Macbeth has to convince him to commit the murder. She scolds him by saying “What beast was ’t, then/That made you break this enterprise to me? /When you durst do it, then you were a man;” (1.7.54-56). If he is the dominant one in their relationship, he should have scolded her about being cowardly, not vice versa. Another way Macbeth defies gender roles is when he shows cowardice. In the final battle, Macbeth duels with Macduff and while they fight, Macduff reveals that he was prematurely born. The Three Witches revealed to Macbeth that he will only be harmed by a man not born of a woman and Macbeth, terrified, says “I will not fight thee” (5.8.26). By cowardly trying to surrender, Macbeth exemplifies the female trait of cowardice because he does not want to die an honorable death and would rather live in disgrace. He is obviously scared of his death. Overall, Macbeth defies gender roles by being the inferior one in his marriage and showing timidity in