He uses them as symbols of negativity by making the female characters in Macbeth highly influential and victims of circumstance. The first type of women Shakespeare chooses to portray in Macbeth is women of a highly influential nature. Though characters such as the three Witches and Lady Macbeth he shows his audience that women can also be full of spite and bitter ambition the following quotes demonstrate this: “He shall spurn fate, scorn death, and bear His hopes above wisdom, grace, and fear. And you all know security Is mortals’ chiefest enemy.” (3.5.30) Is said by Hecate the Queen of the Witches in regards to filling Macbeth with overconfidence to bring him down. These lines are preceded by a soliloquy of her scolding the other witches for not including her in the downfall of Macbeth.
Shakespeare uses Lady Macbeth’s persuasion and the witches’ charm, both in act 1 to show the influence of others. Lady Macbeth uses different techniques to persuade Macbeth to kill the king. She accuses Macbeth of being “green and pale” like a coward. He is also accused of being “afeard to be the same in …act…as thou…desire”, telling us he might be weak or fearful. The witches are possibly linked as the “charms” seem to influence Macbeth and he begins to echo “foul and fair”.
“(1.3.47-49) These three lines are extremely crucial to the play because it gives Macbeth his beginning thoughts toward receiving the throne. Shakespeare made the witches deceive Macbeth and Banquo who begin to believe they are invincible and have much to look forward to. This proves misogyny in Shakespeare because it ultimately put the witches to blame for all the horrible events in the play. Shakespeare also portrays his misogyny through Macbeth as he belittles the witches by saying, “How now, you secret, black and midnight hags.” (4.1.47) In Shakespeare’s era, chivalry and respect toward women was big. By having a character in his play say this to three so called women, seems
How does Shakespeare show the difference in character between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth in Act 2 Scene 2 of Macbeth? From the beginning of the play there is a strong portrayal of Lady Macbeth as the stronger force in her and Macbeth’s relationship, she is shown to have great power and emotional rule over Macbeth. We know this because she manages to convince/manipulate Macbeth to agree to kill King Duncan with much ease even though at one point he strongly questioned it. She insults his masculinity to make him believe he is a coward and therefore agrees to commit such an extreme and seemingly wrong act. Lady Macbeth possibly sees herself as the/a man in the relationship when she describes herself and how far she would personally go.
It suggests a certain foreshadowing of things to come in the play, implying that all may be not what it seems. The quote can also be said to represent the characteristics of Macbeth and his wife Lady Macbeth. In the beginning of the play, Lady Macbeth is the foul, ruthless woman who tries to convince her husband to commit regicide in order to become King. She manipulates him into killing the King, sparking the many murders to follow this event. Initially, she differs from Macbeth in this way because he is reluctant to kill his kinsman.
In the early 17th Century Shakespeare wrote a play named Macbeth, in this era men are described as Powerful and women are described as week. Macbeth is presented as strong and masculine but is controlled by his wife, Lady Macbeth. She is seen to subvert female gender stereotypes as she convinces Macbeth to murder the king and famously rids herself of her femininity. Lady MacBeth is evil, tempting and witch-like, through out the play. However, during the play we see her in two different ways.
Through these techniques and motifs, Shakespeare shows how the once valiant and noble Macbeth turns into a guilty and ruined man due to letting his ambitious ways ruin him. In this essay I will examine the theme of ambition, motifs and techniques used in Macbeth to show how Macbeth’s actions lead to his ultimate downfall. After hearing the enticing prophecies of the witches we begin to see glimpses of Macbeth’s burgeoning ambition. The reader sees the idea of murder and tyranny enters his mind soon after Malcolm is crowned Prince of Cumberland: ‘The Prince of Cumberland: that is a step/ on which I must fall down, or else o’er-leap/, for in my way it lies.’ This quotation begins to forebode the series of bad and dark ideas that will enter Macbeth’s mind, the ideas which will make him turn to murder. This is the starting point of Macbeth wanting to push every inch of morality aside.
Lady Macbeth’s disposition brings to the fore many themes concerning gender, including; the definition of manhood and alternatively femininity, the role of women in the play highlighted through the characters of Lady Macbeth and the Witches, and the synonymy between masculinity and cruelty. Through key scenes in Macbeth, particularly Act 1, Scene 5 (Norton), Lady Macbeth’s gender is explored as she indicates that she must compensate for her husbands lack of masculine characteristics and thus propel him to commit Duncan’s murder. Similarly, the ambiguity of the Witches gender is reiterated through their very own being- a violation of how women were expected to behave. Act 1, Scene 5 introduces the audience to Lady Macbeth’s indifference to the feminine qualities not only of herself, but also those of which her husband possesses. Lady Macbeth decidedly usurps the dominant role because she feels her husband “is too full o’ the milk of human kindness” (i.v.16).
Shakespeare subverts gender roles like this throughout the play, such as when Lady Macbeth decides her husband is unable to commit the atrocities to sit on the throne and taunts him, insinuating things about his manhood and claiming he has "th' milk of human kindness" (Act 1, 5.15) implying that he isn't strong enough to kill King Duncan. There is also a moment during a soliloquy where she wishes she could unsex herself so she could do the job without an inkling of guilt. (Act 1.5.38-41). This goading, as Lady Macbeth is aware, became a powerful tool in emasculinating her husband and forcing his hand to prove that he is in fact up to the task. This is the first time we see where the power lies, and this dynamic proves that it resides with Lady Macbeth; she's the one that's controlling things, despite the times.
One main character is Lady Macbeth. In the beginning of Shakespeare’s play, she is a strong-willed, dominant figure. She takes on the role of being the dominant partner, almost male-like, when she sees Macbeth will not do so himself. She has infinite influence over her husband, who is portrayed as weaker than she is. She is the one who plans the betrayal of Duncan and pressures Macbeth into thinking the only way to fulfill the witches “promise” is to kill the king.