Gender Stereotypes In Macbeth

Eliminating Stereotypes in Macbeth Stereotypes are preconceived notions identifiable in society and culture around the world. William Shakespeare utilizes the stereotypes in reference to gender roles in his romantic tragedy, Macbeth, to shape characters and advance plot. The typical characteristic differences between genders in the era in the play are initially revealed but are then readdressed thereafter in a complicated gender-role reversal which Shakespeare portrays the difference between man and woman by how they derive the ultimate theme in Macbeth: power. To begin, Shakespeare employs his progressive view on gender in the play. Extending off of that point, Shakespeare wrote his plays in an era where women had been stereotyped as less …show more content…
She also tells Macbeth that he possessed male qualities of being cruel and daring when he influenced her to make the decision to kill Duncan to whereas now he does not have the same qualities essentially making him a woman. The irony evident in this text advances the plot in the way that once Macbeth does in fact follow through with the murder, he loses the typical male characteristics and becomes a monstrosity of a character who begins to act based on instinct rather than logic. Concluding, Lady Macbeth reverses her role as a conscientious woman in the play to being influential and power-driven, as well as influences then criticizes Macbeth for following through and reversing his role of a being a powerful man to a cowardly …show more content…
Beginning, aggravating factors and outside influences are the drive for power in the play. Macbeth’s manly quality of ambition surpasses all other rational, which is seen as a feminine quality. His ambition is shown when he is confused by the equation of reality with fantasy. He is unable to properly weigh the two ideas which causes his ambition to overrule all reasoning. When speaking of the witches’ prophecies, he says “My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical, / Shakes so my single state of man / That function is smother'd in surmise, / and nothing is but what is not” (1.3.149-152). Macbeth fantasizes of a murder, which the witches did not mention in any of their prophecies. This fantasy is driven by ambition. In this situation, his manly qualities of ambition and delusion are shown in a way which has a negative outcome for him in the outcome of the play. His drive for power is a result of these qualities. One can have this idea instilled in them after reading the definition of ambition found on Dictionary.com. “An earnest desire for some type of achievement or distinction, as power, honor, fame, or wealth, and the willingness to strive for its attainment” (dictionary.com). This reveals that ambition is the catalyst for Macbeth’s drive for power. To close, ambition, which is seen as a male characteristic, is the rationale for Macbeth to strive for