The Thin Gender Line in Macbeth

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The Thin Gender Line in Macbeth

Some people would do anything to get what they want. The characters of Macbeth are no exception. Shakespeare creates people who either strive for, or abuse authority. The men and women in Macbeth have varying degrees of guilt, power, and integrity.

In order to compare the genders in Macbeth, one must understand how women were treated in Shakespeare's time. The great Queen Elizabeth I died three years prior to the writing of Macbeth, and yet her reign made little difference on the matter of women's rights. "At the time of Queen Elizabeth's death, almost everyone of both sexes agreed that the female intelligence was less than that of the male" (Fraser 4). Women were considered to be the "weaker vessel" (Fraser 4). A woman was forced to marry a man of her father's choosing and then was under the complete control of her husband (Fraser 5). When Macbeth was written, women were supposed to be virtuous, submissive, maternal, and nonviolent. However, men also saw women as temptresses and felt that they were more susceptible to the devil's influence (Fraser 5). Most women of that time had little control over their own lives.

Lady Macbeth is the antithesis of what a woman was supposed to be. She is ruthless, bloodthirsty, and non-maternal. She would have "dashed the brains out" of her own child to suit her ambitions (1.7.64). Lady Macbeth is not content with a bit part in the drama; she wants center stage. She seems almost ashamed of her frail sex. "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!" (1.5.44-47). Lady Macbeth has much in common with the weird sisters. Th...

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... their gender and those who are the total opposite. He proves that both sexes can be ruthless, and do anything to achieve their objective. The line between genders is thin, and is crossed in Macbeth quite often.

Works Cited

Fraser, Antonia. The Weaker Vessel. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. 1984.

Mahood, M.M. "Shakespeare's Wordplay". Shakespeare: Macbeth. Ed. John Wain.

Nashville: Aurora Publishers Inc. 1970.

Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. Folger Library General Reader's Shakespeare. New

York: Washington Sq. Press. 1959.

Waith, Eugene. "Manhood and Valor in Macbeth". Twentieth Century Interpretations of

Macbeth. Ed. Terence Hawkes. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall Inc. 1977.

Wills, Garry. Witches and Jesuits: Shakespeare's Macbeth. New York: Oxford University

Press, 1995.

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