Women

• Women are presented as weak in 11th century society, which was echoed in the 17th century.
• Lady Macbeth, who is initially quite strong (she refers to Macbeth as a 'coward') is clearly an anomaly and, actually, her actions cause her to lose her mind and kill herself - representing the ultimate weakness. Her death is also presented off set and we never learn exactly how she died, again highlighting how insignificant she had become.
• Lady Macduff is killed through no fault of her own, again reminding us of how weak and defenceless women are.
• The witches are powerful but it is never clear whether they are actually women ("you should be women, / And yet your beards forbid me to interpret / That you are so")
• The lack of women in the play as a whole reminds us of their insignificance in society's affairs.