Perceptions of Role and Gender in William Shakespeare's Macbeth

Perceptions of Role and Gender in William Shakespeare's Macbeth

In the tragedy of "Macbeth" Shakespeare dramatized certain events and

legends of the history of Scotland in the 11th century recorded in

Ralph Holinshed's 'chronicles', from which he borrowed and altered

freely. Holinshed told how Macbeth's imaginations were first fired by

the prophecies of 'three women in strange and wild apparel, resembling

creatures of the elder world.' Egged on by the importunity of his

wife, Macbeth slew Duncan with the help of Banquo and other friends.

Holinshed gave no details of the murder of Duncan. This episode

Shakespeare adapted from the murder of King Duff by Donwald, who also

was encouraged by an ambitious wife. The remarks of the porter -

'Faith here's an equivocator that could swear in both the scale

against either scale, who committed treason enough for God's sake yet

could not equivocate to Heaven' - are a likely reference to the

notorious trial of Father Garnet on March 28th, 1606, for involvement

in the Gun Powder Plot. Garnet admitted in his defense that he had

deliberately deceived his accusers, and justified himself by the

Jesuit doctrine of equivocation. The play was probably written in 1606

fo0r the visit of King Christian of Denmark, King James'

brother-in-law, to the English court from 17th July to 14th August,

1606. Shakespeare and his company were the King's players and so it

was natural for them to produce a story of Scottish history touching

on the ancestry of their patron. The audience in those times when

watching this play would have been shocked at the way Lady Macbeth is

portrayed, because they were used to Queen Elizabe...

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...a whole, the most powerful and dangerous people are the

witches. The question can be asked, why are the witches female? They

are described as the "weird sisters" and the "midnight hags." We can

say however, that even though they are sisters, they have male

features - "you should be women, but your beards forbid me to believe

it." This again can be seen as a situation where a woman cannot be

seen as normal if she acts like a man. Because witches are dangerous

and powerful, they cannot possibly be seen as 'real' women, and their

beards allow this.

Our overall impressions of the play are that men are seen as higher

power, and are more dominant than women. The female gender is looked

down on, and the attitudes are, that if a woman is to be a true woman,

she must not possess anything that is seen as a quality for a man.