Macbeth femininity essay

the play Macbeth, Shakespeare depicts Lady Macbeth as a negative portrait of femininity. Lady Macbeth's lack of femininity and new found masculinity allowed uncontrolled power to possess her and prevented her from reaching her potential greatness. She has strayed from her naturally assigned gender role which has upset the Great Chain of Being.

Though her name, Lady Macbeth, would suggest that she should be just as her name says, a lady, an accessory to Macbeth himself, her characterisation, as one of the protagonists, defies the definition of the traditional female gender role defined by Tyson (2006) as she is neither emotional nor submissive.

In Macbeth, Shakespeare challenges gender roles by intertwining both masculine and feminine characteristics into characters, ultimately conveying that is not gender, but the nature of the person that determines how they act. Perhaps the most prominent portrayal of intertwined gender roles in Macbeth is the character of Lady Macbeth.

Macbeth is one of William Shakespeare’s many tragedies that deals with power, masculinity and tyranny. Lady Macbeth and Lady Macduff challenge masculinity and femininity, and what it means to be a man and how their gender limits them from reflecting their husband’s actions.