The Oppression Of Women In William Shakespeare's Macbeth

Improved Essays
Have you ever said I’ll do anything to get something done? In society we do that a lot not really understanding the meaning of anything. Humanity never wants to take that next step to absolutely do anything to make sure they have what need in life. Sooner or later we have to understand the actual meaning of anything. In Macbeth the character’s do exactly anything to make sure they get what they want. As the readers you would think that it’s the men doing all the action making the plans but in this play it starts backwards. The women take control first then the men step up, Lady Macbeth states: Come, you spirits That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, and fill me, from the crown to the toe, top-full …show more content…
Lady Macbeth wants to be able to do these horrible things she has planned and not feel bad about it. She knows that if she goes into this with the mindset of a woman she will feel some type of remorse and back out or not be able to keep calm when all as been done. Unfortunately, that is the best way to look at this situation. Women in today’s society will say such gruesome things but will never follow up on it because most of humanity approach such violent situations with a full mind and a conscience, sadly that’s just how women are whether as a whole society agrees women will always find a way to second guess themselves. So when Lady Macbeth ask the spirts to unsex her and to clog her veins as insane as it sounds it’s the best way for her to accomplish her devious plan to comment murder. Luckily society has men to make the …show more content…
She is going on and on about trying to get blood that’s not there off her hands. While telling Macbeth that he is a soldier and should have nothing to be afraid of. She’s confident that no one can blame them for the death of King Duncan when her, herself is telling the doctor what they have done. Then stating that who would have known that Duncan had so much blood to leave a stain on her hands. So now Lady Macbeth is paranoid that someone will see the blood and asks who it belongs too. She also states: “What, will these hands ne’er be clean. (V, I,70). She wants to know what will clean her hands of the blood that she helped spill. Fair enough the reads do remember when Lady Macbeth said to Macbeth:” A little water clears us of this deed” (II, II,23). Unfortunately, Lady Macbeth doesn’t feel that way now. She feels how Macbeth did, that nothing will wash away the wrong doing that they have done. With that being said the spirits didn’t give Lady Macbeth her wish. If they did she wouldn’t be feeling the guilt that she is for killing King Duncan. Most of the fear and guilt come from trying to hide from it in the first place. By trying to hide and thinking about not thinking about their wrong doing she made things worse for herself. After the death of Lady Macbeth, it’s hard to tell if Macbeth is feeling anyway about it. It’s as if the power as gone to his head and taken over. The only thing that Macbeth seems to care about his

Related Documents

  • Decent Essays

    Macduff becomes angry and stops mourning and starts thinking about fighting Macbeth. His masculine role returns and he is willing to fight to the death in order to bring justice to his family. Many could argue that the character’s in this play strictly stick with their socially acceptable gender roles. They could say that Lady Macbeth was just simply “acting in the moment”, therefore her gender shouldn’t be questioned in that particular scene.…

    • 263 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    She is not enjoying kingship and says they accomplished nothing by killing Duncan. Lady Macbeth begins to regret everything and begins to hallucinate and sleepwalk. This all eventually leads to Lady Macbeth’s untimely suicide. Lady Macbeth is more blood-thirsty than her husband but soon starts to regret everything…

    • 822 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    She may seem like she is very tough and evil, though she doesn't perfrom the murder herself because of it. “Had he not resembled My father as he slept, I had done ’t.” (Macbeth 2.2 12) In this excerpt we get a feel to Lady Macbeth’s soft side. She could not murder Duncan herself because he reminded her of her father. This shows that she does intact have a sense of what is right and wrong.…

    • 646 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    It’s stated here that simply because Lady Macbeth is a woman, she must do what Macbeth says and respect him. In modern day society, it is a known fact that women are just as capable of doing what a man can do since the play is taken place at such a different time period, it results in a man and woman having a different relationship compared to…

    • 1632 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Macbeth Through The Feminist Lens Throughout Macbeth, gender roles are displayed in various ways. These roles affect who has control, and shows the fear of men when women are not submissive. The mixing of gender roles is portrayed by Lady Macbeth, and the Witches. Because Lady macbeth and the witches do not fit into traditional gender roles, they have more power than other women, and they cause discomfort for the men in the play. Viewing Macbeth through the feminist lens demonstrates men’s fear of changes in social power dynamics.…

    • 628 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    It burdens on her still, small voice and it is whatever she can consider. She starts to sleepwalk, demonstrating that her psyche can't quit thinking about the wrongdoing she has conferred. Pictures of blood encompass her and she utilizes water to wash her guilt away. Lady Macbeth has changed her mentality about how she sees herself.…

    • 1573 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Gender plays a big part in the play because first off, women are not seen as powerful figures in their time. Second, all of the men in the play must be very brave and courageous. And most importantly, the men don’t show that they are weak. Gender is the most obvious theme played in Macbeth by all of the characters. One very distinct gender criticism showed in the play is that women are not seen as powerful figures.…

    • 491 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    At first, Lady Macbeth does not show sorrow for her actions but as the play goes on, guilt starts to build leading to her paranoid actions. For example, when Macbeth is feeling guilty about killing King Duncan, Lady Macbeth tells him, “ A little water clears us of this of this deed” (2, 2, 67) showing her confident, non-sorrow character. Ironically, later in the play the guilt and remorse come to haunt her. Lady Macbeth is sleep walking and muttering about the horrible act of killing Duncan. Her comments about the blood come back in this scene where she seems to be washing her hands saying "Out damn spot!…

    • 687 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    She is guilt-ridden, paranoid, and tortured from the crimes that she and Macbeth committed in order to obtain the throne. Lady Macbeth’s final appearance in the tragedy is the sleepwalking scene. Her conscience has become too much for her to bare and has driven to the brink of insanity. She is unable to rid herself of the figurative blood that stains her hands, so her subconscious is making the blood a reality for her. She continuously attempts to wash the blood off her hands and insists that “the smell of the blood” (5.1.53) will not dissipate.…

    • 1261 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, the main character Macbeth is a very ambitious man, with an equally ambitious wife who will stop at nothing to make sure she gets what she wants. Lady Macbeth,wife of Macbeth, is a very complex character, and over the course of the play, she displays on numerous occasions her ability to put on a strong and masculine face for Macbeth. While a major part of the play is Macbeth’s deep and dark desires to become king, Lady Macbeth also has secret ambitions of her own. Because of these ambitions, she manipulates Macbeth so that she can reach her own personal goals. She is able manipulate Macbeth in that she calls him a coward, she makes herself as ruthless as possible, and she questions his masculinity.…

    • 1169 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    She believes that Macbeth’s only path to greatness is to act immediately on his ambition and be willing to deal with the negative consequences that accompany this decision. She then wants to be able to act on ambition without any feelings of regret, so she calls upon dark spirits to “unsex me here, And fill me, from the crown to the toe, top-full, Of direst cruelty! make thick my blood, Stop up access and passage to remorse,” (1.5.44-47). She wants to be able to act freely without grief or…

    • 1516 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, gender stereotypes are often related to power. Both Lady Macbeth and Macbeth show characteristics of presenting gender stereotypes of the opposite sex. Maureen Bohan of the Steering Committee for Equality between Women and Men (CDEG) defines gender stereotypes as “Preconceived ideas whereby males and females are arbitrarily assigned characteristics and roles determined and limited by their sex. Sex stereotyping can limit the development of the natural talents and abilities” (Bohan). Throughout the play audiences may read Macbeth as taking on the feminine role and Lady Macbeth as taking on the masculine role due to a gender stereotypical reading of these two characters.…

    • 1554 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    In the Scottish tragedy Macbeth, William Shakespeare plays with gender roles typical of the Elizabethan era, by swapping the traditional attributes of men and women. In the society in which the play takes place, men reign supreme, independently making all decisions without consultation with, or affirmation from, subservient women. This is not the case with Macbeth, Thane of Cawdor. Instead, it is his wife Lady Macbeth, who assumes the dominant role in the marriage, defying historical gender stereotypes. Despite being the patriarch, and previously exhibiting his strength of will on the battlefield, Macbeth succumbs to manipulation by women, taking on a subservient role in his marriage.…

    • 1353 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Macbeth willingly puts himself in danger to achieve more power. When he goes to the witches land unprotected, Macbeth demands that the three witches to, “…conjure you by that which you profess, answer me. Though you untie the winds and let them fight…Even till destruction sicken, answer me to what I ask you” (IV.1. 53-64). Macbeth’s addiction to power consumes his daily life; he’s willing to risk his life in order to hear what his future holds.…

    • 1149 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    However, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth equate masculinity with blatant aggression, brutality, and violence. Masculinity becomes a tool of manipulation to inspire blind ambition without honor. Yet women also contribute to the violence and evil in the play which is in contrast to the feminine nature. The witches’ prophecies spark Macbeth’s ambitions and encourage his violent behavior. Lady Macbeth bullies her husband to murder and controls him by questioning his masculinity.…

    • 982 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays