Relationship Between Women And Lady Macbeth

In comparison to a woman of Shakespearean times and a woman of current times, Lady Macbeth more embodies the modern woman in both her personal affairs and her relationships with men, being a strong and independent character in Macbeth. In Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is portrayed as a strong character who has a mind of her own. She speaks, unafraid and proud, on matters that she believes in. This is a stark contrast to the ways of most women in the times of Shakespeare. It was understood that the woman of the house was to stay at home, cook, clean, and care for the children. Any “difficult” or “taxing” affairs such as politics, careers, education, and farming were down to the men to complete. Women were seen as being lesser beings who were incapable …show more content…
Meaning, gender does not exist naturally but is actually an idea that the human race has created to define cultural norms. When a baby is born, it is conditioned to fit to certain gender roles based on the sex of the child, setting it forth onto the path of what is considered “ordinary” for him or her. This conditioning is seen in even the first moments of birth when the baby is wrapped in a blanket, blue for a boy, pink for a girl. During our current times, it is accepted for a man and a woman to be equal in society, in education, careers, and status. In terms of education, social class is the most determining factor on how educated a person is, not gender. It is also accepted and sometimes even admirable for a woman to take on a career that is viewed to be physically challenging or “rough” to undergo. In contrast, the poverty of beneficial difference in society, created due to the inadequate amount of strong womanly voices, made the Shakespearean era, a male dominated world. In Shakespearean time it was usual practice for a woman to be unemployed and to take up the traditional female role of being a housewife, caring for the family and the house. The traditional image of what women should be lasted for a very long time, stretching into the time period we live in today. Even in the early 1900s, women who tried to get a job or join the suffragette movement were less respected in society. Some were …show more content…
Lady Macbeth stands out in the story in many ways. One of which, being the fact that she is the only female who actually has an important role in what the story is about. All of the other main characters, including thanes, servants, and sons of the king, are male. So, Lady Macbeth not only stands out in her manners to that of other women, but also in the style of Shakespeare 's writing. The majority of Lady Macbeth’s speaking is written in poetry, showing education and a certain standard or level of class that allows for her eloquent diction, contrasting the mostly un-educated women of her time. Lady Macbeth treats Macbeth as if she is above him in intellectual standards, as she believes he is weak for being so worried and emotionally wrecked over the death of King Duncan. She belittles his feelings of remorse and regret on several different occasions. When Macbeth tells her that he is afraid to look at a dead Duncan, after forgetting to leave the dagger with the body, she tells him: “‘tis the eye of childhood that fears a painted devil” (Shakespeare 2 2 54). Her tone is scathing as she mocks him for behaving like a child for being afraid of something that cannot harm him, that thing being the dead king. Lady Macbeth is often seen belittling her husband 's panicking states of mind, an example of which