Gender

• Gender is a concept that comes up throughout the play Macbeth
• Gender roles in Macbeth

  • Masculinity is seen as the desired trait, male characters are offended if their manhood is questioned, characters feel restrained by the expectations of their gender
• In the Jacobean era, gender was a strict and rigid construction determining male and female roles within society
• Gender expectations in the Jacobean era

  • Women were expected to be loyal and respectful daughters, wives, and mothers, angering men could result in being kicked out or killed, women had limited financial support, education, and freedom of movement. Men had easier lives, were householders, politicians, landlords, encouraged to be aggressive, celebrated in their sexuality, bread-winners, financially independent, viewed as honourable warriors
• Types of masculinity in Macbeth

  • Shakespeare presents different types of masculinity in the play, questioning why his male characters are so different and what message he is conveying to the audience
• Lady Macbeth taunts Macbeth about his masculinity


  Macbeth's insecurity is highlighted, his sense of manhood is dependent on the women in his life
• Macbeth's response to Lady Macbeth's accusations: '“Prithee, peace. / I dare do all that may become a man; / Who dares do more is none,” (1.7)'
• Macbeth's response to Lady Macbeth's accusations

  He cannot withstand the attack on his masculinity, he is sensitive and fragile, his manhood is dependent on the women in his life
• Macbeth's response to Lady Macbeth's accusations

  Manhood is tied to honour, there are two 'types' of man: violent and chivalrous
• Macbeth's response to Lady Macbeth's accusations


  Macbeth gives into his wife's insults and accusations, becoming obsessed with proving his masculinity
• Shakespeare implies there are two ‘types’ of man


  One is violent, the other is chivalrous
• Macbeth gives into his wife’s insults and accusations


  He becomes obsessed with proving his masculinity and changing into the man she wants him to be
• Speaker: 'Quote'
• Lady Macbeth: '“Are you a man?”'
• Macbeth: '“Ay, and a bold one, that dare look on that / Which might appal the devil,”'
• Macbeth


  • His manly bravery is emphasized by the words "bold" and "dare"
  • He is portrayed as stronger than the ultimate source of evil, providing an exaggerated perspective of his manhood
• Shakespeare portrays different types of masculinity within the play
• Both Duncan and Macbeth end up dead in the play
• Fear and paranoia are deemed incompatible with the Jacobean view of masculinity


  Male figures in the play do everything they can to repress or reject these feelings to retain their masculinity
• Macbeth

  • He struggles to keep his fear at bay
  • Giving into his fear leads to him becoming feminised and adds to his fear
• Macbeth admits he is scared when he hears that Fleance escaped
• Macbeth


  • His doubts and fears make him a flawed man
  • His fears somehow pollute or taint his manhood
• Macbeth


  • His doubts and fears overwhelm him, leading him to continue murdering others and being a tyrant as a means of escape
• Macbeth's attitudes towards masculinity almost do a full circle in his final battle


  He decides to fight to the death rather than surrendering or committing suicide, suggesting his courage and honour have been restored to him
• Macbeth: '“I’ll fight till from my flesh be hacked,”<|>“Why should I play the Roman fool and die / On mine own sword? Whiles I see lives, the gashes / Do better upon them,”'
• Shakespeare's audience would recognize Macbeth's decision in the final battle as the sign of a noble hero and a real man
• In the army

  It was considered more honourable to die in battle than to surrender
• Shakespeare’s audience: 'would recognise the decision to die in battle as the sign of a noble hero and a real man'
• Macbeth can only thrive in battle


  Thus, masculinity is associated once more with violence
• Shakespeare offers an alternative form of manhood through Malcolm and Macduff


  This form of masculinity seems to triumph overall
• Malcolm becomes king


  He restores order to his kingdom even though his understanding of manhood differs from the norm
• Malcolm warns Macduff


  Associating masculinity with unstoppable sexual desire
• Macduff admits


  Boundless intemperance in nature is a tyranny, suggesting men are encouraged to be tyrants
• Macduff: 'Expresses deep paternal love, suggesting masculinity can be tender and loving'
• Malcolm tells Macduff


  Dispute it like a man, suggesting the appropriate manly response would be to wage war on his enemy
• Macduff implies

  Repressing his grief would be a denial of his love, suggesting the stone heart of masculinity is unnatural
• The female characters transcend gender boundaries within the play

  They are given agency by Shakespeare
• The female characters have rejected their femininity


  In order to have power
• Lady Macbeth


  • Highly significant in Shakespeare’s presentation of gender
• The traditional subservient wife figure has been entirely rejected by Shakespeare