Shakespeare's Macbeth: Gender Roles, Power, and Ambition

This essay delves into the intricate interplay of gender roles and power dynamics within Shakespeare's Macbeth. The analysis centers on the characters of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, exploring how their ambitions and actions challenge and subvert traditional societal expectations of masculinity and femininity in a patriarchal context. The essay examines Lady Macbeth's manipulation of gender norms to achieve her goals, her embodiment of masculine traits, and her influence on Macbeth's actions. It also discusses the play's broader implications regarding ambition, moral corruption, and the consequences of disrupting established gender roles. Through close readings and critical analysis, the essay highlights how the characters' relationships and choices contribute to the play's exploration of power, ambition, and the complexities of gender within a controlling society.

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Macbeth
Lead/ General Statement
Shakespeare’s play revolves around the themes of greed, violence, and cruelty as well as
the role of gender and power. The play focuses on the importance of masculinity for power and
authority. Lady Macbeth sometimes exhibits more masculinity than Macbeth and reprimands
Macbeth for showing weakness and associates him with womanliness. The character of Lady
Macbeth shifts between the values of masculinity and femininity to meet her objectives and
influence her husband. The play disturbs the traditional gender roles dictated within a typical
patriarchal society.
Summary
Macbeth, the Scottish general, and his wife, Lady Macbeth are the two main characters of
the play. Macbeth carries strong ambitions to be the King and Lady Macbeth is aware of his
secret desires. Lady Macbeth has a deciding influence on her husband and manipulates him into
committing those heinous crimes. Although Macbeth is a brave soldier and a powerful man, he
becomes selfish and unreasonable under the influences of his wife. Lady Macbeth manipulates
Macbeth because of his masculinity and his lust for power. Even those she is a female; she
exhibits the traits of masculinity to show her determination and assertiveness.
Plan of Development
Based on the research and further reading on Shakespeare’s play Macbeth and related
research, it is evident that gender plays an important role in Macbeth. The play extends the

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possibilities of what it means to be a man or woman in a patriarchal society. Macbeth wants
more power and control as he is a man and desires to be the King. Lady Macbeth is aware of her
husband’s desires and reminds him to be a man and not show any weakness as a woman. In a
way she herself has to take on masculine traits and values to assert herself. She is aware of her
power over her husband and thus pushes her husband to commit murder and trigger a series of
events.
Thesis
The gender roles in Macbeth are shaped by overwhelming ambitions, and neither is
capable of reaching their ambition without relying on the other. Patriarchal society forces Lady
Macbeth to adjust the traits of masculinity and femininity based on the situation.
3 Arguments
Macbeth’s characters and their relationships together create such a disturbing
abomination of gender. While Lady Macbeth succeeds in achieving her aims within the
patriarchal society, she is looked upon as the main culprit while Macbeth comes out as a victim
and a hero (Uddin and Sultana 68). As Lady Macbeth embodies many masculine values, the
play challenges the assumptions about femininity and the role of gender within a patriarchal
society.
1) Lady Macbeth is associated with witchcraft, and this is a typical role awarded to
women in patriarchy and how an association with witches can cause the downfall of human
beings (Uddin and Sultana 68). However, it should be noted that Lady Macbeth motivated her
husband to carry out those evil tasks not just because of her own desires but also for her
husband’s aims. Lady Macbeth's success is hinted because of her associations with demonic
forces and powers of the notorious three witches (Thomas 81). She is good at manipulating

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gender expectations verbally to suit her purposes. Lady Macbeth relies on the traditional evil
female stereotypes (Thomas 81).
2) Lady Macbeth is able to achieve her ambitions despite living in a patriarchal society as
she manipulates gender values to suit her purposes (Thomas 81). She can be seen as a shrewd
because of her bullying behavior and abusive remarks for Macbeth (Ferguson 5). Still, she comes
across as a woman who was assertive and sexually domineering, and that must have made men
of the Renaissance uncomfortable about her as asserted by Ferguson (21). She successfully plots
Duncan's demise with effective rhetorical manipulation of her husband. She is shown to enjoy
powerful moments and at the same time, has an unnatural side to her because of her affiliations
with the supernatural and her "unsex me here" speech.
3) Lady Macbeth is aware that while her husband carries strong desires to be the King, he
is not strong enough to fulfill them. She fears that Macbeth is too weak to fulfill the task and thus
uses harsh words to get rid of any softness from her husband's personality (Ferguson, 21). Lady
Macbeth does not use any physical force to dominate Macbeth but only used words to
manipulate him (Uddin and Sultana 67). She even rejects her femininity to get her power and
thinks that she does not belong to any gender at all (Sorge 3).
Thesis Reworded
The character of Macbeth in Shakespeare’s Macbeth is brave, ambitious and intelligent
and confirms the values assigned to masculinity. Lady Macbeth’s character is complex as she
embodies the male characteristics at times to achieve her goals and influences her husband. The
play does not adhere strictly to the assigned values of masculinity and femininity due to gender-
bending.
Plan of Development Restated

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The focus of the essay would be to show how the gender roles overlap and get disturbed
within a controlling society that is patriarchal in nature. Lady Macbeth links femininity with
weakness and admonishes Macbeth to have too much womanliness to commit murder (Surge 3).
In a way, she conveys that as long as one is a woman or has feminine traits, she cannot attain
power. Still, she uses her femaleness cleverly to get out of the trap of the female gender (Surge
3). Lady Macbeth rejects the feminine standard when she wants and goes back to the
stereotypical female to suit her plan the flawed patriarchal society.
General Statement/ Greater Implications
Macbeth is a play that may seem to focus more on moral corruption and how
uncontrolled ambition and wild temptations can lead to a terrible ending. It seems that gender
and sexuality are not at the forefront. However, a closer observation of the traditional gender
roles within the play reflect different dimensions of evil. The play's careful narrative about Lady
Macbeth’s ambition shows that she has crossed the boundaries of appropriate wife to obtain
position and fame. One should understand that it was not easy for women to obtain power in a
patriarchal society.

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Works Cited
Ferguson, Lisa. "Lady Macbeth and Gertrude: A Study in Gender." Western Kentucky
University, vol. 1, no. 1, 20129, pp. 1-76.
Sorge, Kelly. " Masking Femininity: Women and Power in Shakespeare's Macbeth, As You Like
It, and Titus Andronicus." University of New Hampshire, vol. 1, no. 1, 2017, pp. 1-35.
Thomas, Catherine E. “(Un)Sexing Lady Macbeth: Gender, Power, and Visual Rhetoric in Her
Graphic Afterlives.” The Upstart Crow, 2012, p. 81. =eds-live.
Uddin, Mohammad Jashim, and Mst.Halima Sultana. “Patriarchal Dominance in Shakespeare’s
Macbeth: Viewing from A Feminist Perspectives.” ASA University Review, vol. 11, no. 2,
July 2017, pp. 67–76.