Lady macbeth

• Lady Macbeth


  • Subverting feminine stereotypes of the Jacobean era
  • Conforming to feminine stereotypes of the Jacobean era
• In Shakespeare's time, women belonged to their fathers and then their husbands when they married
• Women could not attend school or university, purchase property, vote, or appear on stage in plays in Shakespeare's time
• Macduff doesn't want to inform Lady Macbeth about the murder of King Duncan


  Telling her the news would "murder as it fell", presenting women as weak
• Macduff states "I could play the woman with mine eyes"


  Meaning he could weep like a woman
• Ross says that Macduff's return to Scotland would be so inspiring it would "make our women fight"


  Presenting women as weak
• Lady Macbeth


  • Powerful and the opposite of feminine stereotypes
  • Trying to assist her husband in achieving his goals as was expected of wives at the time
• Elizabeth Klett: 'As a woman of ambition living in a patriarchal world that allows no outlet for her intelligence, Lady Macbeth becomes motivated to seize power through her husband'
• In Act 1 Scene 5, Lady Macbeth calls on evil spirits, which would have been shocking to the Jacobean audience as witchcraft was a crime punishable by death
• Macbeth has just about talked himself out of killing King Duncan


  Lady Macbeth enters and destroys his resolve in less than 50 lines of dialogue
• Lady Macbeth's techniques to persuade Macbeth

  • Calling him inconsistent and changeable
  • Using his love for her against him
  • Challenging his manhood
• In the banquet scene, Lady Macbeth takes control


  Challenging her husband and directing the guests
• Some argue Shakespeare was proto-feminist, as his female characters display eloquence and strength
• Another interpretation of Lady Macbeth

  • Not powerful at all, but conforming to feminine stereotypes of the era
  • Rejecting her femininity to help her husband achieve his goals as was expected of wives
• Lady Macbeth's role in the murder of King Duncan is significant, but it's debatable whether she instigates it or simply assists her husband
• Grade 7 interpretation

  • Macbeth's marriage has broken down because Lady Macbeth has emasculated him in persuading him to murder Duncan, and he blames her for provoking him to doom his soul to hell
  • He does not appear to mourn her death, does not go to her, and even suggests that her death is an inconvenience - "she should have died hereafter"
  • This implies he is happy for her to die, but just not now when his mind is on the coming siege and invasion
  • He doesn't call her by name and instead simply appears to focus on himself and the pointlessness of his own life
• Context for grade 7 interpretation

  • In a patriarchal society, Lady Macbeth has embarrassed Macbeth in public when he saw Banquo's ghost and humiliated him in private by calling him a coward
  • Shakespeare points out her proper subservient place in this patriarchal society by having her die offstage, as she is punished for being "unsexed" and rejecting her gender role
• Alternative grade 9 interpretation

  • Macbeth is facing his own death at this point, and yet he pities his wife for her guilt and mental anguish
  • He stops his vital battle preparations to summon a doctor to minister to her, which is an extraordinary mark of his love
  • He realizes he has tried to keep her innocent of the knowledge of his own descent into violence, and he doesn't want her to be dragged down the same way
  • His comment "she should have died hereafter" means he knows his own death is imminent, and he had desperately hoped she would live a longer and perhaps happier life after he is defeated
• Additional context for alternative interpretation

  • Shakespeare married a woman, Anne Hathaway, who was at least his equal
  • The offstage tragedy of Lady Macbeth's death is presented partly to explain what can happen when women are denied any equality or power in a patriarchal society
  • Lady Macbeth is forced into violent actions in order to gain power, because the patriarchal society prevents women from gaining power in their own right
  • The creation of the witches can also be seen as a protest against the male abuse of power, as women turn to extreme means to acquire power in a society run by men
• Macbeth is desperate to help his wife, as shown by his anger when the doctor can't cure her, and his yearning for his own death
• Macbeth wants to discover the identity of the man who will kill him


  He does not want Lady Macbeth's death at all, he actually wants his own
• The two interpretations of Macbeth's reaction to Lady Macbeth's death should be considered, and the most convincing one should be supported with explanation of why the other interpretation is less convincing
• Lady Macbeth


  A pivotal character who gives Macbeth the final push to kill King Duncan and become king himself
• Call me spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, and fill me from the crown to the toe top-full of direst cruelty!: 'Lady Macbeth'
• Lady Macbeth's speech


  • Speaks in imperative sentences, commanding the supernatural
  • Uses the verb 'unsex me' to illustrate her frustration with her femininity and limitations as a woman
• Lady Macbeth's speech


  Relates to themes of ambition and the supernatural
• Lady Macbeth's speech


  Relates to how Jacobean audiences saw her as the 'fourth witch' due to her evil ambition
• Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under 't.: 'Lady Macbeth'
• Lady Macbeth's advice to Macbeth

  • Demonstrates her mastery of deception
  • Uses juxtaposition of 'flower' and 'serpent' to illustrate how she advises Macbeth to use his outward appearance to mislead others
• Lady Macbeth's advice


  Relates to the theme of reality vs. appearances
• Lady Macbeth's advice


  Relates to how she manipulates her femininity and fragility to influence Macbeth
• I have given suck, and know how tender 'tis to love the babe that milks me: I would, while it was smiling in my face, have pluck'd my nipple from his boneless gums, and dash'd the brains out, had I so sworn as you have done to this.: 'Lady Macbeth'
• Lady Macbeth's speech


  • Uses alliteration 'dust and do it' to show her forcefulness and control over Macbeth
  • Manipulates Macbeth's masculinity to convince him to kill the king
• Lady Macbeth's speech


  Relates to the theme of ambition
• Lady Macbeth's speech


  Relates to the power imbalance and gender reversal in the Macbeth marriage, which was unconventional for Jacobean society
• The sleeping and the dead are but as pictures: 'tis the eye of childhood that fears a painted devil.: 'Lady Macbeth'
• Lady Macbeth's speech


  • Uses assonance and metaphors to illustrate her lack of humanity and empathy
  • Mocks Macbeth's horror at the sight of King Duncan's dead body
• Lady Macbeth's speech


  Relates to the theme of ambition corrupting her humanity
• Lady Macbeth's speech


  Relates to how King James I saw women like her as witches or possessed by the devil
• Lady Macbeth's speech


  • Uses repetition of 'out' to show her frantic state and guilt
  • Sees hallucinations of blood spots on her hands, representing her guilt