Inversion of Gender Roles in Shakepeare¡¯s Macbeth
...rns. When Macbeth is hesitant of murdering King Duncan, Lady Macbeth repeatedly questions his manhood to make it seem like he must commit the murder to prove that he is a man. ¡°when you durst do it,¡± she says, ¡°then you were a man¡± (1.7.49). Lady Macbeth wishes that she were a man so she could do the deeds that Macbeth dare not do himself. In Lady Macbeth¡¯s soliloquy, which begins in Act 1, scene 5, she requests to ¡°unsex¡± herself and requests that the milk in her breasts be exchanged for ¡°gall¡± so she could murder Duncan herself. ¡°Come, you spirits / That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, / And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full / Of direst cruelty¡± (1.5.39-42) Lady Macbeth basically controls Macbeth and is the one behind all of her husband¡¯s murders. After the murder of Duncan, Lady Macbeth was the one to calm her husband by saying that ¡°A little water clears us of this deed; / How easy is it, then!¡± (2.2.67-68) Lady Macbeth is also mentally stronger than her husband because Macbeth suffered from guilt when Banquo¡¯s ghost came back to haunt him during the night of the feast and Lady Macbeth tries to counteract her husband¡¯s ranting by soothing the guests. Other dramatic female characters in Shakespeare¡¯s Macbeth are the three witches. This group of women is extremely wicked and menacing. They have beards similar to males and empower over the men. The three witches often speak in rhyming couplets and their most famous line is ¡°Double, double, toil and trouble; / Fire burn and cauldron bubble¡± (4.1. 10-11) The play begins with their prophecy that Macbeth will be made the thane of Cawdor and eventually the king of Scotland. Macbeth is at first doubtful of this prophecy but becomes curious of the possibility of him becoming king once he does find out that he became thane of Cawdor. Though Macbeth is uncertain, Lady Macbeth demands that he act upon this prophesy as soon as she hears of it. The personalities of Lady Macbeth and Macbeth are alternated in this play, whereas Lady Macbeth is more determined and ruthless, yet Macbeth desires power but does not dare murder Duncan to ach...