Macbeth shows a reversal in gender roles. The play questions what constitutes masculinity and femininity. It is important to Macbeth to be seen as a strong, powerful man. Lady Macbeth taunts him and mocks his sexuality to force him to get the courage to kill Duncan. He insists that “I dare do all that may become a man, who dares do more is none”. This is shown to be untrue when he witnesses Banquo’s ghost and it “unmans him”, states Van Laan in Role-playing in Shakespeare. This alongside his wife’s desire of male characteristics for herself shows Macbeth’s loss of manhood, and through that, his loss of identity. He has lost his previous manliness of being a warrior by trying too hard to be stronger than he should be, and ultimately failing.
Desire For Power
In Shakespeare and the Nature of Woman, Dusinberre writes that “If a man lacks physical power he becomes a woman, not respected because not feared.” However, Shakespeare proves this wrong by using Macduff as an entirely different type of man. When he hears of the murder of his family, he speaks that he must “feel it as a man”. Dusinberre points out that “Denying that action proves the man, Shakespeare also denies that passion proves him a woman”. To be human a person must have both masculine and feminine virtues.
Critics at the time that the play was staged would be of the opinion that Macbeth was driven to murder by the women. It is the witches who first plant the idea in his mind, and when he falters at the thought, it is Lady Macbeth who drives him to commit the act.
Juliet Dusinberre claims that “In the sixteenth century the idea that women had consciences which might operate independently from men’s, might even judge and oppose the male conscience, was revolutionary.” In her opinion, an audience watching the play would be shocked at how fiery and forthcoming Lady Macbeth was in her behaviour.
Although Lady Macbeth’s actions were out of place for a typical female, they were still “rather predictable for a person desiring power and unable to acquire it in her own right”, says Crump-Wright in The Women of Shakespeare’s Plays. It was not surprising for death threats to be made against the lives of Kings or Queens by those who wanted it for themselves
Heir to the Throne
Lady Macbeth has not produced any children to become heir to Macbeth. At that time, a woman’s role would be as home-maker and child-bearer. As Lady Macbeth has not succeeded in this, the only way for her to gain status as a woman would be with a title. Keeping royal blood in the family was incredibly important. This was very relevant at the time due to the crisis of Elizabeth I not having an heir.
Dusinberre writes that “tragedy is supposed to deal with the isolation of the human spirit, and one of the reasons for the Elizabethan and Jacobean preoccupation with heroines is that isolation is more terrible in a being conditioned to dependence on men”. This challenges the reason for Macbeth being a tragedy. Lady Macbeth is viewed in this way as a tragic heroine because she has not had any children, and therefore feels alone.
A sharp contrast to this view of Lady Macbeth being unhappy with not being a mother is the argument that she tells Macbeth that she would have “dashed the brains out” of a child to take on masculine virtues to be strong enough to kill for the crown.
Home-maker
Shakepeare uses Lady MacDuff as an opposing example of a woman to Lady Macbeth. Lady Macduff’s home is a warm, fertile opposite of the Macbeth’s. She plays the role of a home-maker who cares for her children. When she hears that Macduff has disappeared her response is an emotional one of believing that it is because he does not love them any more. Lady Macbeth’s harsh front is made more extreme when she is regarded next to Lady Macduff.
Read an introduction to the theme of gender and sexuality in Shakespeare
