Readers can appreciate Shakespeare’s masterpiece Macbeth without much knowledge about the beliefs and ideals of the time period, but possessing such knowledge provides a richer and more meaningful reading. One particular aspect that has been of critique in Shakespeare’s play Macbeth is his representation of female characters, including the witches and the supernatural. Often individuals are quick to label Shakespeare as a chauvinist, but upon closer inspection, one can find instances where he creates female characters portrayed with much more depth than was typical in the literature of the time period. This portrayal is especially apparent in Macbeth. Throughout this play, women are given diverse personalities that create conflict in his plots.
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Still, infanticide was a fairly common crime. Sometimes, mothers who faced emotional or economic depression killed their infants instead of forcing them to be subject to hunger, disease, or other issues that were prevalent in many families. Many more cases, however, involved illegitimate babies. In 1593, a woman named Anne Lynsted allegedly “killed her newly born female child by throwing it into a seething furnace,” (Chamberlain, 76). According to historical records, the word “seething” referred more to Anne’s intense state of agitation, and less to the temperature of the furnace (Chamberlain, 76). There are many more cases similar to Anne’s, with women stabbing, suffocating, or choking their newborns. These women are referred to as monstrous humans, removed from any form of maternal instinct, just as Lady Macbeth desires to be. As Chamberlain states, “the murdering mother embodies both her society’s expectations and its anxieties about motherhood by showing motherhood to be at once empowering and destructive,” (76). Although Lady Macbeth darkly states she would have no hesitation in killing a baby, she still refuses masculine authority, just as she refuses to kill Duncan herself. The small remark she makes about once having a daughter leads the reader to suggest that killing her own child would not be something she would actually
Still, infanticide was a fairly common crime. Sometimes, mothers who faced emotional or economic depression killed their infants instead of forcing them to be subject to hunger, disease, or other issues that were prevalent in many families. Many more cases, however, involved illegitimate babies. In 1593, a woman named Anne Lynsted allegedly “killed her newly born female child by throwing it into a seething furnace,” (Chamberlain, 76). According to historical records, the word “seething” referred more to Anne’s intense state of agitation, and less to the temperature of the furnace (Chamberlain, 76). There are many more cases similar to Anne’s, with women stabbing, suffocating, or choking their newborns. These women are referred to as monstrous humans, removed from any form of maternal instinct, just as Lady Macbeth desires to be. As Chamberlain states, “the murdering mother embodies both her society’s expectations and its anxieties about motherhood by showing motherhood to be at once empowering and destructive,” (76). Although Lady Macbeth darkly states she would have no hesitation in killing a baby, she still refuses masculine authority, just as she refuses to kill Duncan herself. The small remark she makes about once having a daughter leads the reader to suggest that killing her own child would not be something she would actually