gender

• key ideas

  • Guilt of Lady Macbeth isn’t solely fuelled by the regicide – transgression of her prescribed femininity.
  • Ambition and ruthlessness defy rigid gender norms but become intertwined with consuming guilt.
  • Breach of cosmic order adds another layer of torment to her conscience.
  • In Jacobean England, masculinity was a potent and precarious force.
  • Macbeth & Lady Macbeth derive identity from societal expectations of heroism and strength.
  • Any threat to this image – a questioning of strength – could trigger a devastating downfall.
• intentions

  • masterfully dismantles rigid gender roles - portrays expected battlefield heroism of men whilst simultaneously undermining them
  • lady macbeths ambition and ruthlessness shatters image of passive subservient women
  • witches live outside binary all together
  • alternativly could show lady macbeth dies as a feeble hysterical women and macbeth died as a warrior king at battle
  • fate exposes enduring power of cosmic order - die physically and symbolically
• macbeth- “worthy cawdor”

  • lady macbeth goes from calling him “worthy cawdor… all heil here after” to a “coward“ in act 1
  • initial flattery is juxtaposed with a poisonous insult which emasculated macbeth
  • soon king to mere coward
  • single word pierces macbeths core defined by courage and strength
  • not just questioning his masculinity but is a brutal attack on his very essence of his identity and battlefield reputation
  • within rigid gender roles dominance over wife was paramount
  • recognises his harmatia was deeply intertwined with perceived masculinity
  • epithet threatened foundation if his self worth
  • emasculation is key factor in his downfall
  • ambition crumbles when image of powerful man is shattered
• macbeth - tarquins


  • “With Tarquin's ravishing strides, towards his design”
  • Contextual: Alludes to Roman tyrantTarquin, who raped a virtuous woman, so he can embody what it means to be a ruthless bloodthirsty leader.
  • Ambition fuelled by ingesting masculinity in the hands of Lady Macbeth (Act 1). Power becomes synonymous with brutality.
  • This perception is compounded by his insatiable ambition which propels a relentless pursuit of dominance through brute force.
  • Diction "design" connotes intentional creation, mirroring Macbeth's intention of creating his assured position as king through ambitious pursuit.
  • Despite his transgression of natural order in this pursuit, the seductive allure of that temporary power and authority obstructs him from seeing
• lady macbeth - “make thick my blood, stop up the access and passage to remorse“


  • imperative “make thick my blood” illustrates how she commands for emotional restraints and a callous indifference
  • recognises aspirations for tyranny requires a detachment from femininity and the accompanying emotions
  • she is a femme fatal - manipulative and rejects womanhood
• lady macbeth - “unsex me here”


  • imperative phrases "come you" - commanding familiarity with ominous supernatural realm
  • unhesitant and determined - seeks liberation from societal constraints imposed by femininity
  • androgynous nature perceived as supernatural in jacobean era
  • gender roles are rigid and a break in this shows possession
  • syntax of spirits preceding unsex - deliberate arrangement illuminated dependency on supernatural as a necessity for transcending societal norms
  • recognition on dependency shows social awareness that liberation from societal constraints imposed on her femininity necessitates as engagement with forces beyond natural order
• lady macbeth - “dash’d the brains out”

  • Plosive on "dash'd" creates a brutal sound, mirroring her brutal rejection of motherly instinct.
  • Her proclivity for violence takes precedence over motherhood, leading to her unapologeticwillingness to extinguish human life in the relentless pursuit of unchecked violent ambition.
  • Juxtaposition - deliberate contrast between forceful verb "dash'd" and delicate nature of "brain" serves as a poignant symbol reflecting how forgetting undeniable truths of human experience yet ironic as the organ she seeks to destroy in her unborn child becomes the locus of her tragic downfall.
• witches - ”beards”


  • banquo act 1
  • masculinity potrayed as synonymous with power
  • description imbues them with threat of dominance
  • appears androgynous alike to lady macbeth
  • lack of gender conformity exacerbates them as duplicitous and powerful
  • in a patriarchal society where power is associated with clear gender identity
  • witches ambiguity is a potent symbol of their threat
  • represents a chaotic force that can unravel a carefully constructed social order