I.E.S.

en Lenguas Vivas Juan Ramn Fernandez

Curso: Literatura I 2013
Alumna: Gabriela Modroff
Gender role portrayal in Macbeth

I declare that this assignment is the result of my own work, has not been copied from
anyone elsess work, and that all my sources of information have been properly
acknowledged

In Early Modern England it was believed that ()God destined certain characteristics
and roles as gender specific. The woman, the wife and mother, was ordained to be warm,
caring, reserved, nurturing, to bear the burden of children and to foster compassion in the
hearts and minds of her husband and offspring: ultimately the weaker of both sexes. The
man, the husband and father, conversely, was ordained to be the opposite: cold, aggressive,
ambitious, callous, and strong; meant to be the protector and provider for his wife and
children.
i
In the same way, Robert Kimbrough (1983) states that in Macbeth, and
elsewhere in Shakespeare, as in Elizabethan literature in general, to be 'manly' is to be
aggressive, daring, bold, resolute, and strong, especially in the face of death, whether
giving or receiving. To be 'womanly' is to be gentle, fearful, pitying, wavering, and soft, a
condition often signified by tears (177). Bearing the previous quotations in mind, one
could say that the way Shakespeare depicts the Macbeths in his tragedy called Macbeth,
goes from conforming to non-conforming until finally they seem to conform once more to
the stereotypes of gender of Early Modern England society. The aim of this essay is to
focus on the portrayal according to gender of Lady Macbeth and her husband Macbeth
because as Juliet Dusinberre (1975) proposes to talk about Shakespeares women is to talk
about his men, because he refused to separate their worlds physically, intellectually, or
spiritually (308)

On the one hand, despite the fact that at the very beginning of the play Macbeth is
presented as conforming to the stereotype of gender as it is shown in the following
quotation:
CAPTAIN But alls too weak,
For brave Macbeth well he deserves that name
Disdaining Fortune, with his brandished steel,
Which smoked with bloody execution,
Like Vaours minion carved out his passage
Till he faced the slave,
Which neer shook hands, nor bade farewell to him,
Till he unseamed him from the nave to thchaps
And fixed his head upon our battlements.
DUNCAN O valiant cousin, worthy gentleman.(I .ii. 105)
ii


he does not follow the stereotype when depicted in the private sphere interacting with his
wife. He is manipulated by his wife and passively follows her commands. In a way he
seems to act according to the female gender stereotype. Even his wife knowing him so well
fears his nature as she expresses it in Act I. V
Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be
What thou art promised; yet do I fear thy nature,
It is too full othmilk of human kindness
To catch the nearest way. Thou wouldst be great,
Art not without ambition, but without
The illness should attend it.
iii

and she tries to help him to act as a man, as he is expected to
That I may pour my spirits in thine ear
And chastise with the valour of my tongue
All that impedes thee from the golden round,
Which fate and metaphysical aid doth seem
To have thee crowned withal (I.v. 124)
iv




In the same fashion, Lady Macbeth is portrayed in the public sphere as following the
corresponding stereotype of gender. She fulfills her role among the nobility and is well
respected like Macbeth. King Duncan calls her honored hostess (I.VI. 129).
Nevertheless, she is ambitious and determined to help Macbeth to become a king. So, she
concludes that the fastest way for Macbeth to become king is by murdering King
Duncan. In order to do so she has to be aggressive, daring, bold, resolute, and strong that is
to say she has to act manly. She has to be unsexed and this is what she asks the spirits:

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: make thick my blood,
Stop up th acces and passage to remorse
That no compunctious visitings of nature
Shake my fell purpose nor keep peace between
Theffect and it. Come to my womans breasts
And take my milk for gall, you murdring ministers,
Wherever in your sightless substances
You wait on natures mischief. (I.v. 125-126)
v


As Schiffer (1991) points out in his essay Macbeth and the Bearded Women : Clearly,
for Lady Macbeth, and for her astonished husband, to be strong and valorous and quick to
act, regardless of the action, is to be manly, while to refuse to act on the grounds of love,
compassion, or obedience to law and morality is to be womanly. And to be womanly, by
their definition, is to be daunted and fearful, powerless and unfulfilled.(205-217) And this
is clearly shown in the Play: Lady Macbeth takes the lead and acts manly not only planning
Duncans murder but also going back to the crime scene in order to plant the dagger in the
servants hands while everybody was sleeping. On the other hand, Macbeth feels
remorseful not only after committing his first crime but even before when he had only
thought of committing it. As L. Veszy-Wagner explains, "The main problem is Macbeth's
uncertain identity. He is uncertain not only whether he is loyal or disloyal to the King, but
also whether he is an effeminate man or a mannish woman--and he is deeply afraid of both
sides of his nature."
vi
and Shiffer (1991) adds The more insecure Macbeth is about his
manhood, the more vulnerable he is to domination by women; the more he is dominated,
the more sexually uncertain he becomes. Lady Macbeth is well aware of her husband's fears
and therefore easily manipulates him. When in Act I, scene vii, Macbeth resolves to
"proceed no further in this business," she chides:
When you durst do it, then you were a man;
And, to be more than what you were, you would
Be so much more the man. (I.vii.205-217)
She even goes further, she would rather dash out the brains of a nursing child than shame
herself with a broken promise:
I have given suck and know
how tender tis to love the babe that milks me:
I would, while it was smiling in my face,
Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums
And dashed the brains out , had I so sworn
As you have done to this (I.vii.135)

On the other hand, as Stephanie Chamberlain (2005) points out : Lady Macbeth
assumes a masculinity she will prove unable to support (72). It is in the third Act where
a remarkable gender role reversal takes place between the now King and Queen Macbeth.
After Macbeth assumes the throne of Scotland, Lady Macbeth assumes her feminine role in
the relationship, submitting to the once docile Macbeth
vii
. She takes commands and
receives guidance from Macbeth, after listening to his paranoid rants about his best friend
and status of kingship she asks, Whats to be done? (3.2.47)
viii
Each of them assume
now the role they were supposed to fulfill: Macbeth assumes his natural and divine
ordained gender role more dominant and masculine after being crowned King of Scotland
and Lady Macbeth is left completely in the background. Nevertheless, she could not live
with the consequences of her unnatural behavior and was driven to insanity and eventually
into suicide. Macbeth, on the contrary, has no problem shedding more innocent blood; he
orders Banquos assassination and the massacre of the entire Macduff household. Once he
assumed his manly role there was no room for remorse.

Accordingly, as mentioned in the introduction, the Macbeths were portrayed as
conforming to non-conforming until finally they seem to conform to the stereotypes of
gender of Early Modern England society. Some would say that Lord and Lady Macbeth
betrayed their natural gender roles, and as a result suffered detrimental and fatal
consequences
ix
. Others, on the other hand, would think that although they fail miserably
on the stage of this life, Shakespeare constantly keeps before us their potential for human
fulfillment. In spite of their isolating, alienating behavior in the play, a bond with the
audience is maintained so that we are not merely repulsed; we are moved through pity to
understand and to fear the personal and social destructiveness of polarized masculinity and
femininity
x
. Time has shown that gender stereotypes are cultural and have changed
considerably lately, that is why one cannot agree with those who think that the fatal
consequences suffered by the Macbeths were the result of the betrayal of their natural
gender roles. On the contrary, it was their ambition that did not take into account their
gender roles that led them to their tragic end.


i
Mcgee, Curlie Fries, Gender roles in Macbeth: Masculinity versus Femininity and the Gender Roles of
Macbeth and Lady Macbeth (2012).
<http://curliefriesmcgee.hubpages.com/hub/Gender-Roles-in-Macbeth >. [27 June 2013]
ii
Shakespeare, William. Macbeth (The New Cambridge Shakespeare). Edited by A. R. Braunmuller.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997.
iii
Shakespeare, William. Macbeth (The New Cambridge Shakespeare). Edited by A. R. Braunmuller.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997.
iv
Shakespeare, William. Macbeth (The New Cambridge Shakespeare). Edited by A. R. Braunmuller.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997.
v
Shakespeare, William. Macbeth (The New Cambridge Shakespeare). Edited by A. R. Braunmuller.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997.
vi
Veszy-Wagner, L. 1968 Macbeth:Fair is Foul and Foul is Fair American Imago No. 25 pp- 242-257
vii
Mcgee, Curlie Fries, Gender roles in Macbeth: Masculinity versus Femininity and the Gender Roles of
Macbeth and Lady Macbeth (2012).
<http://curliefriesmcgee.hubpages.com/hub/Gender-Roles-in-Macbeth >. [27 June 2013]
viii
Mcgee, Curlie Fries, Gender roles in Macbeth: Masculinity versus Femininity and the Gender Roles of
Macbeth and Lady Macbeth (2012).
<http://curliefriesmcgee.hubpages.com/hub/Gender-Roles-in-Macbeth >. [27 June 2013]
ix
Mcgee, Curlie Fries, Gender roles in Macbeth: Masculinity versus Femininity and the Gender Roles of
Macbeth and Lady Macbeth (2012).
<http://curliefriesmcgee.hubpages.com/hub/Gender-Roles-in-Macbeth >. [27 June 2013]
x
Kimbrough, Robert. "Macbeth: The Prisoner of Gender."Shakespeare Studies. 16 (1983): 175-190.










Bibliography:
Mcgee, Curlie Fries, Gender roles in Macbeth: Masculinity versus Femininity and the
Gender Roles of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth (2012).
<http://curliefriesmcgee.hubpages.com/hub/Gender-Roles-in-Macbeth >. [27 June 2013]

Shakespeare, William. Macbeth (The New Cambridge Shakespeare). Edited by A. R.
Braunmuller. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997.
Veszy-Wagner, L. 1968 Macbeth:Fair is Foul and Foul is Fair American Imago No. 25
pp- 242-257
Chamberlain, Stephanie. Fantasizing Infanticide: Lady Macbeth and the Murdering
Mother in Early Modern England. College Literature, Vol. 32, No. 3 (Summer, 2005), pp.
72-91. Available at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25115288

Kimbrough, Robert. Macbeth: The Prisoner of Gender Shakespeare Studies. 16 (1983):
175-190.
Schiffer, James. "Macbeth and the Bearded Women." In Another Country: Feminist
Perspectives on Renaissance Drama. Ed. Dorothea Kehler and Susan Baker. Metuchen,
N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1991. 205-217. Rpt. in Shakespearean Criticism. Ed. Michelle Lee.
Vol. 100. Detroit: Gale, 2006. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 18 Oct. 2010.
<http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?&id=GALE%7CH1420073543&v=2.1&u=scschools&it=
r&p=LitRG&sw=w> [29 June 2013]
Dusinberre, Juliet. Shakespeare and the Nature of Women. London: Macmillan, 1975 (2nd
edn, 1996).