Lady Macbeth (Post 6)

Lady Macbeth has proved to be one of the most interesting female roles we have come across thus far in the semester.  She is one of Shakespeare’s most powerful and frightening female characters.  In many aspects, Lady Macbeth is superior to her husband, Macbeth.  She is stronger and more ruthless than Macbeth, whom she consistently taunts for his lack of courage.  She makes these comments about him despite our knowledge of his actions on the battlefield. 

It is interesting to see what appears to be a gender role reversal displayed in this play.  Lady Macbeth possesses many “masculine” characteristics while Macbeth himself is heavily influenced by her power.  In the beginning of the play, she calls upon the spirits to “unsex” her of her feminine instinct to care so that she is able to carry out her plans to murder the king, Duncan.  This is perhaps the most interesting line in the play, as it suggests a typical female character would not be able to carry out such a horrific action.

 As the play progresses, we see even more masculine traits portrayed by Lady Macbeth.  Specifically speaking, she uses manipulation to persuade Macbeth into doing what she wants.  This is seen in scene 7 when Macbeth verbalizes his disagreement with their murderous plan.  Macbeth understands the powerful reason for killing the king, but he is nagged by doubt.  He fears that he will face heavy retribution on both earth and in heaven.  When Lady Macbeth hears of his doubts, she becomes outraged.  She tells him that he is not a man until he dares to finish this deed.  She then lays out her plan to execute the murder, and Macbeth is impressed by its efficiency.  Eventually, Macbeth succumbs to his wife’s will, showing that he may be inferior and incapable of standing his own ground.