Jodie Jensen

English 495
19 April 2016
In Defense of Lady Macbeth: Gender and Grief in Justin Kurzels Macbeth
Macbeth is often regarded as one of Shakespeares bloodiest plays, and Lady Macbeth is
traditionally portrayed as the instigator behind much of the violence. She urges her husband to
murder Duncan, accusing him of being less than a man if he does not do it. Furthermore, her plea
unsex me here (1.5.39) and her commitment to [dash] the brains out (1.7.58) of any child she
may have, lend themselves well to an aggressive and ambitious depiction. Stephanie
Chamberlain explains that scholars traditionally read these lines as evidence of Lady Macbeths
attempt to seize a masculine power to further Macbeths political goals. Many filmmakers
follow this traditional interpretation of the text, depicting Lady Macbeth as defeminized and
ambitious to a fault. Thus, in her final soliloquy, Lady Macbeth is usually portrayed as being
afraid and mentally tormented to the point of insanity. During her soliloquy in Orson Welless
1948 film, Jeanette Nolan moves joltingly while giving her lines. She rubs her hands together
ceaselessly, and her anguished cry shows her tormented mind. Judi Dench does something
similar in Philip Cassons 1979 film. Her long, drawn-out cry and frenzied rubbing of her hands
reveal the torture she feels inside. And finally, in Rupert Goolds 2010 film, Kate Fleetwood
shakes as she moves, bites her fingers, and, like Dench, cries out as though she were in physical
pain.
Yet, despite this antifeminist portrayal of Lady Macbeth, Shakespeare has shown his
audience over and over through his plays that he was actually quite a feministat least more so
than most of the other playwrights of his day. Many of his plays feature strong female characters

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who are much less submissive than female characters from contemporary plays. Consider
Beatrice from Much Ado about Nothing, or Rosalind from As You Like It. Both are outspoken and
opinionated women who are able to win the heart their love despite (or perhaps because of) these
qualities. Yet somehow in filmic versions, Lady Macbeth is continually pegged as the villain of
the play, or at the very least, a bad mother. She is just as outspoken and opinionated as Beatrice
and Rosalind, but in all the wrong ways. Unfortunately, we can never know exactly what
Shakespeare originally intended with this character, whether history has done her an injustice in
its villainous portrayal, or if that really was what Shakespeare intended. However, through a
study of his play, early modern culture, and modern filmic adaptations of Macbeth, a hazy
picture begins to emerge.
Justin Kurzels 2015 film adaptation of Macbeth makes radical changes to the traditional
depiction of Lady Macbeth. Though past films depict Lady Macbeth as defeminized, culpable,
and overly ambitious, through a close study of gender roles and gender identity in Early Modern
England we see that Kurzel complicates the viewers perception of Lady Macbeth by updating
her gender identity so that it is more relevant to a modern audience. Furthermore, the audience
no longer feels alienated toward Lady Macbeth because of her seemingly masculine identity.
Kurzel does this through his transposition of Lady Macbeths first and last soliloquies. In these
scenes, Kurzel cuts lines from the text of the play and uses light and shots of churches and
children to complicate the viewers understanding of Lady Macbeths motives, particularly
through his depiction of grief. His transposition challenges the traditional portrayal of her
motives by presenting both of these soliloquies in a new contextnot to absolve her of guilt, but
rather to show the complexity of her motives.

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In the early modern period, gender roles and sexual identity were thought of very
differently than they are now. According to Phyllis Rackin, our modern understandings of
masculinity and femininity are radically different than they were in early modern England.
Unlike today, much of the distinction was based on theology and history. Rackin explains that for
a woman to become manlike was often construed, especially in theological discourse, as an
elevation, a transcendences of both flesh and femininity (70). Thus, in her first soliloquy when
Lady Macbeth exclaims, unsex me here (1.5.40), she is asking not for a change in her gender
role, but for an actual change in sexuality. In Shakespeares time society believed that the female
body was weak. To become like a man would be an upgrade. While today we see sexuality as
fixed and gender roles a fluid, in Shakespeares time it was the opposite: gender roles were fixed
and sexuality was fluid. Thus Shakespeares audience would have seen Lady Macbeths words as
a desire to leave the feminine behind and embrace a higher, more masculine identity. In addition,
Rackin points out that in many of Shakespeares plays, when women disguise themselves like
men they are almost always motivated to do so by their love for a man, which would have
excused, or at least explained, such irregular behavior. Like them, Lady Macbeths desire for a
change in sexual identity is motived by her love for her husband and by a desire to see him
promoted.
Today, these words are unsettling and even alienating to an audience who does not
understand sexuality in this way. Our understanding of the feminine is not based on what women
lack, but on what they possess. By todays standards, a woman can accomplish as much as any
man, and therefore it is not wrong for her to possess the same level of ambition. As a result,
modern audiences often struggle to understand what could be gained from Lady Macbeths

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desire to lose her femininity. Judged by todays standards and not those of the early modern
period, Lady Macbeth is seen as a strangeralienated and ultimately misunderstood.
Past filmic versions of Macbeth emphasize Lady Macbeths seeming lack of femininity
through their casting and costumes. Janette Nolan was four years older than Orson Welles in
Welless 1948 Macbeth. Judi Dench was five years older than Ian McCellen in Cassens 1979
version. Since authority often follows age, because Lady Macbeth is older than her husband in
both these films, she possesses equal or even greater power than her husband in their marriage.
Additionally, in both films, the actresses wear their hair pulled back, and at times, each wears a
headdress that hides her hair completely. Youthfulness and long hair are two features that serve
create the appearance of femininity in both Shakespeares day and today. The absence of these
features removes the outward appearance of Lady Macbeths femininity, and instead makes her
appear androgynous. Kate Fleetwood is much younger than Patrick Stewart in Goolds 2010
film, but her square face, hard jaw line, and limited makeup make her features androgynous as
well. The androgyny of these characters alienates a modern audience, making it easier to see her
as a villain.
In contrast, Kurzel seeks to bring the concept of femininity into a modern context through
his casting and costumes. In his film, Marion Cotillard and Michael Fassbender are the same age,
keeping the power balanced between them. Furthermore, Cotillard wears a significant about of
jewelry and makeup throughout the film, and her soft features and round face contribute to a
modern feminine appearance. Though her hair is always up, it is never covered. Thus the
audience has no doubt of Lady Macbeths femininity, and with a more concrete sexual identity, it
is harder to make her into a villain.

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Kurzel transposes Lady Macbeths first soliloquythe soliloquy from which the lines
unsex me here originatein order to nullify the violent and domineering nature so many film
adaptations emphasize. In act one, scene five, Lady Macbeth reads Macbeths letter, and
afterward reacts to what she has read. She states, Yet do I fear they nature. It is too full
othmilk of human kindness / To catch the nearest way (1416). These words imply that
possessing the milk of human kindness is a character flaw, or that it makes one weak. Moreover,
the presence of these words in the circumstance of Macbeths potential promotion implies that
kindness is an enemy to ambition because it creates an obstacle to reaching ones goals. Later she
states, What thou wouldst highly, / That wouldst thou holily (1819). Here Lady Macbeth
informs us that though Macbeth may have ambition, he is unwilling to break the rules to achieve
these ambitions. In other words, he is afraid of getting his hands dirty in order to accomplish his
goals. Lady Macbeth, however, is not afraid, as she states in lines twenty-three to twenty-four:
Hie thee hither, / that I may pour my spirits in thine ear. Unlike Macbeth, she is not afraid to do
what must be done in order to win him what he is promised by the witches, and she wishes him
here so that she might persuade him to believe the same. These lines show Lady Macbeths
willingness to do the unethical in order to achieve her ambition. Interestingly, in Kurzels film,
lines eight through twenty-two are cut from the scene. This means that many of Lady Macbeths
most incriminating lines are no longer a part of the film. The emphasis is instead upon her desire
to elevate her sexual identity, as we see later in the soliloquy, and not upon her desire for
violence or law breaking.
Kurzel further transposes this scene through his use of setting. While Lady Macbeth reads
and reacts to Macbeths letter, she sits inside a church. Her words, Come, you spirits / that tend
on mortal thoughts (1.5.4243) are spoken as she sits before a large, ornate cross, and as a

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result, her words seem more like a prayer to the saints depicted on the walls before her, than her
own thoughts spoken to herself. Moreover, while these words are spoken, the camera cuts to a
drawing on the wall of St. Peter holding a scale with which he weighs the souls of men. Those
whose souls are too heavy fall into the hands of a demonic creature below. (See figure 1.) This
strange image in conjunction with Lady Macbeths prayer signal to the viewer that Lady
Macbeth is aware of the consequences of any future actions she may take. Knowing she is
Christian, the audience can assume she has been taught about such things as sin, and heaven and
hell. She knows that should she sin against God, she would be damning herself and her husband
to hell, like the poor souls in the image before her. However, the image in conjunction with her
call for assistance from heavenly spirits also reveals that Lady Macbeth believes her actions
are justified. Or at the very least, that her motives and desires justify her actions. Her prayer
reveals that she believes God is on her side. Though Kurzel is not attempting to justify murder in
this scene, the presence of the cross and the murals of saints show that no matter how the
audience perceives Lady Macbeth, she does not consider herself evil, thus complicating the
audiences understanding of her motives for her later actions.
Kurzel transposes Lady Macbeths first soliloquy in order to defend her against an
incriminating portrayal, but he also transposes her final soliloquy to de-emphasize her crimes and
instead introduce her in a new context. In this scene, Kurzel completely eliminates the presence
of the doctor and the gentlewoman in order to emphasize the possibility of mercy over moral
judgment. In this scene, Lady Macbeth speaks her lines to herself, making the scene much more
personal and intimate. Furthermore, like her first soliloquy, she speaks these lines inside a
church, as though her words are her confession to God. In Shakespeares play, the gentlewoman
states, while in audience to Lady Macbeths speech, She has spoke what she should not, I am

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sure of / that. Heaven knows what she has known (5.1.4041). The gentlewomans judgment
that she has spoke what she should not in conjunction with the image of heaven bring
religion into the scene. The phrase Heaven knows is traditionally understood as an exclamation
meaning I couldnt begin to guess. However, more literally these words signify that heaven, or
God, knows something the speaker does not. In this case, heaven knows what Lady Macbeth
knows. In addition, in the Welles and Casson versions of the film, the gentlewoman is dressed as
a nun, signifying the presence of not just religion, but more specifically Christianity. As a nun,
the gentlewoman is, to some degree, a figure of authority. Her statement that she has spoken
what she should not reveals a degree of judgment placed upon Lady Macbeth and implies
eternal consequences for her actions. The absence of this line and this character means the
absence of any on-screen moral judgment. Though the gentlewoman is absent, the setting of the
scene in a church still raises the same issues of religion. Thus the same ethical questions are
raised. Was Lady Macbeth justified in her actions, or was she not? Instead of answering this
question, Kurzel leaves the judgment of Lady Macbeth open-ended, forcing viewers to draw
their own conclusions about Lady Macbeths character, rather than feeding it to them through the
gentlewomans lines.
Two of Lady Macbeths own lines from this scene are also cut to emphasize Lady
Macbeths grief and potential regret for her actions. In Shakespeares play, Lady Macbeth says,
One, two,why, / then 'tis time to do't (5.1.30-31). This line refers to the moment before
Duncans death when Lady Macbeth encourages her husband to murder the king. It would seem
that Lady Macbeth is unaware of her present and instead believes she is stuck in this past
moment. Later she says, I tell you yet again, Banquo's buried; he / cannot come out on's grave
(5.1.5354). Here, once again addressing her husband, Lady Macbeth is stuck in the moment

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when Macbeth sees the ghost of Banquo. Both these lines are absent from Kurzels film.
Interestingly, these are the only two lines from her speech in which Lady Macbeth speaks
directly to her husband. Other lines may be construed differently, but these lines speak clearly of
past scenes and specifically reflect lines spoken to Macbeth earlier in the play. However, Lady
Macbeths last lines Wash your hands, put on your nightgown and To bed, to bed, to bed
(5.1.52, 58) are not, strictly speaking, tied to Macbeth, though they are traditionally thought to be
addressed to him. Another alternative interpretation is present. These lines are reminiscent of
words spoken by a parent helping a child prepare for bed. Earlier in the film Macbeth and Lady
Macbeth attend the funeral of a childtheir child. It is with this image in mind that the audience
realizes Lady Macbeth is not stuck in recent memories of the deaths of Duncan and Banquo;
rather, she is stuck in a memory long before either onethe memory of her child and of
motherhood. She does not address these final lines to Macbeth, but to her child whose image, it
is later revealed, Lady Macbeth has been staring at through her entire speech. The absence of
these lines addressed to her husband places the emphasis of her words on the grief she felt that
drove her to her actions, rather than on a desire to push her husband toward the violence of the
play.
Though Kurzel cuts down the language of the scene, he uses light to show Lady Macbeth
in a gentler manner. As she sits on the floor of the church, soft morning light filters in from the
doorway and lands upon her. The only other source of light comes from a cross-shaped window
above her head. The colors of the shot are primarily blue tonescool colors that subconsciously
calm the viewer. (See figure 2.) Though the gentlewoman is absent from this scene, the cross
above Lady Macbeths head signals the presence of Christianity. Unlike the gentlewoman, it does
not speak, but silently exists. The light emanating from the cross emphasizes the non-judgmental

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theme created by the absence of the gentlewoman and doctor. However, though Kurzel paints
this scene in a gentler and kinder light, the presence of light does not absolve Lady Macbeth
from guilt. Through her earlier lines she acknowledges the error of her ways. She says, All the
perfumes / of Arabia cannot sweeten this little hand (5.1.42-43). Here Lady Macbeth
acknowledges that her crimes will not be erased simply because they cannot be proven to have
happened. Yet, through the soft light in the scene, Kurzel seeks to show her imperfections and
vulnerabilities in a welcoming environment. Once again he leaves the question of her judgment
open-ended, but the light resting on Lady Macbeth and the cross above her head hints that God is
listening to her words and is aware of the difficulty of her circumstance.
At the end of Lady Macbeths soliloquy, Kurzel includes several shots of a young child in
order to complicate the viewers understanding of Lady Macbeths motives. Only when the
viewer sees Lady Macbeth in such a vulnerable position does Kurzel reveal the presence of the
child, who, we are to assume, is the child the Macbeths lost at the beginning of the film. (See
figure 3.) At the end of her speech she pleas, Come, come, come, come give me your hand.
Whats done / cannot be undone. (5.1.57-58). In the context of speaking to her dead child, these
lines take on new meaning. Traditionally these lines reference the scene between Lady Macbeth
and Macbeth just after Duncans death. However, here her words become a plea to her lost child.
The line, come give me your hand speaks of her longing for her child to return to her, and the
words whats done cannot be undone speak of her knowledge and regret that this can never
happen. With this lens, the emphasis is no long on the crimes Lady Macbeth and her husband
committed, but on the bigger picture: their grief at the loss of their child. Their actions are no
longer motivated solely by ambition or greed for power. They are a reaction to the grief the
Macbeths feel at the loss of their child.

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Many of Lady Macbeths reactions in this scene mimic those of grieving women and
mothers in early modern Europe. Patricia Phillippy explains that in the early modern period, grief
was gendered, and that tears were not only the most common sign of feminine grief, but also a
natural function of womens weak, immoderate bodies (214). In Kurzels film, tears fall from
Lady Macbeths eyes through most of her soliloquy. Tears, more than any other sign of grief, are
significant because as Tobias Doring writes, unlike clothing or other customary suits of solemn
black, tears are secreted by a physical organ, that is they are actual products of the humoral body
and are hence credited with genuine power to speak of its secret emotions (117). What Doring
means is that other signs of grief can be faked, such as wearing black clothing or public wailing.
Tears, however, are difficult to fake, and their presence reveals an inward emotional condition.
He further explains that early modern concepts of corporeality encouraged belief in the bodys
ability to express itself through natural signs (117). Hence, Lady Macbeths tears are a sign of
both the real grief she feels inside and her feminine identity.
Early modern elegies written by grieving mothers as well as modern scientific studies on
grief show that grief can have a major influence a persons mind and, in some cases, can lead to
depression. Dr. Joseph Nowinski, a psychologist at the University of Connecticut, explains
several symptoms that could indicate the presence of depression due to prolonged grief. These
symptoms include fatigue, a decrease in energy, and insomnia. In Kurzels film, just before her
final soliloquy, Lady Macbeth is seen traveling to the same church she attended at the beginning
of the film. It is clear from her attirea simple nightgownand the blue lighting of the shot that
is early in the morning. It is likely that Lady Macbeth has only just risen from bed, perhaps due
to insomnia, and seeks out solace in the churcha place of familiarity and probably comfort for
Lady Macbeth. Furthermore, throughout her soliloquy, Lady Macbeth acts as though she is

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excessively tired or fatigued, another symptom of depression. In Shakespeares text, Lady
Macbeth exclaims, O, O, O! (5.1.4243). In Cassons film, Judi Dench turns this line into a
prolonged wail of pure anguish. Her cry is so tormented that it reduces a grown woman into a
whimpering child. Similarly, in Goolds film, Kate Fleetwoods bloodcurdling cry is enough to
make the audiences skin crawl, the sound echoing in their minds long after it ends. In both films,
this line expresses the pinnacle moment of Lady Macbeths mental and emotional torment. Yet,
in Kurzels film, Marion Cotillards adaptation of this line consists merely of three long sighs.
These sighs are not a cry so much as the weak release of air by one who is too exhausted to
actually make a sound. The result reveals to the audience a woman who does not appear to be
psychologically tormented the way Denchs and Fleetwoods characters are. Rather, the words
and sighs of Cotillards Lady Macbeth suggest that she instead suffers from prolonged grief and
perhaps even depression.
Modern studies of depression show us that depression is a complicated emotion and, if
left untreated, can lead to dangerous consequences. Virginia Hughes states that in situations of
complicated grief, a person often experiences thoughts of suicide (American Scientific).
Furthermore, in a study of early modern elegies written by grieving mothers, Patricia Phillippy
writes that the depth of maternal despair can be gauged by the poems images of self-consuming
grief and their melancholic gestures toward self-cancellation, dissolution, and death (206). In
early modern times, just as today, grieving mothers are often subject to feelings of despair and
even suicide. Ellen Moody expands upon Phyllippys argument, stating that early modern
mothers often showed an impious, rebellious violence against her fate and that of her child
(qtd. in Phillippy 206). If Moody is correct, than Lady Macbeths grief for her child could be

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motive enough to cause her to act out in violent ways as she does by convincing her husband to
murder Duncan.
Ultimately, grief is the motivation that leads to Lady Macbeths suicide at the end of the
film. In Kurzels film, following her soliloquy, Lady Macbeth exits the church only to spot the
witches on a nearby hill. Among the witches are two small childrena young girl and an infant.
With this sight before her eyes, she repeats the last lines of her soliloquy: to bed, to bed, to bed
(5.1.58). There is a third interpretation in these lines not addressed earlier in this paper. While in
the original text Lady Macbeth may be speaking to her husband, and earlier in the film she may
have been speaking to the image of her dead child, here she seems to be repeating the lines to
herself. Her depression is goaded one final time by the presence of the children with the witches.
It would seem that every character in the play has a child except for the Macbeths. This image is
too much for Lady Macbeth, who soon after takes her own life. The tragedy in this event is felt
even more than in Cassons or Goolds films because the audience understands the complexity of
Lady Macbeths emotions and are able to connect with her in ways they could not in past films.
She is not tormented by guilt, and thus her suicide cannot be seen as punishment for her actions.
Knowing her grief, the audience understands that she is suffering from a complicated and very
human emotion. Thus her suicide is a genuine tragedy because of the loss of human life and
connection that must necessarily accompany it.
Though traditional depictions of Lady Macbeth peg her as the guilty party in the play,
Kurzels film seeks to remind the audience that an alternative interpretation exists. The
transposition in Lady Macbeths first soliloquy as well as her last reveal a level of humanity not
present in earlier film adaptations. Unlike previous portrayal of Lady Macbeth, Kurzels
character more accurately reflects the truth of reality: humans are as complex as they are

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imperfect, and grief is a necessary part of life. By portraying Lady Macbeth as both imperfect
and complex, Kurzel is able to uncover the humanity within Shakespeares text and make Lady
Macbeth herself more human. Kurzel does not simply portray Lady Macbeth as the instigator,
and therefore, culpable party, but as a woman stricken with grief who made a quick decision that
changed the course of her and her husbands lives forever. Kurzels portrayal of Lady Macbeth
deepens our understanding of humanity by revealing that no one is evil simply for evils sake.
Even a villain sees his or her own actions as justified. Ultimately, it is both unfair and unrealistic
to portray Lady Macbeths motives as solely ambition or greed. But by putting her actions in a
larger context, viewers can identify and empathize with Lady Macbeth, and see her as they see
themselvesas a human being.

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Figure 1

Figure 2

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Figure 3

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Chamberlain, Stephanie. Fantasizing Infanticide: Lady Macbeth and the Murdering Mother in
Early Modern England. College Literature 32.3 (2005): 7291. JSTOR. Web. 14 Mar.
2016.
Doring, Tobias. Tears and the Purgatory of Mourning. Performances If Mourning in
Shakespearean Theatre and Early Modern Culture. New York: Palgrave Macmillan,
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Hughes, Virginia. Shades of Grief: When Does Mourning Become a Mental Illness?
Scientificamerican.com. Scientific American, 1 June 2011. Web. 16 Apr. 2016.
Long, Donna J. Maternal Elegies by Mary Carey, Lucy Hastings, Gertrude Thimelby and Alice
Thornton. Speaking Grief in English Literary Culture: Shakespeare to Milton. Ed.
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Nowinski, Jospeh. When Does Grief Become Depression? Psychologytoday.com. Psychology
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Phillippy, Patricia. I Might Againe Have Been the Sepulcure: Paternal and Maternal Mourning
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Rackin, Phyllis. Foreign Country: The Place of Women and Sexuality in Shakespeares
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