Edexcel English Literature GCSE

Macbeth: Themes
Gender

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Gender

The concept of gender, and the roles the characters are confined to because of it, come up
throughout the play. Masculinity is seen as the ​desired trait ​and the male characters are
often offended if someone questions their manhood. Lady Macbeth, for example, asks if
Macbeth is a ​“man” (3.4)​ and Macduff explains he must feel his grief ​“as a man” (4.3)​.
Characters, particularly the Macbeths, feel ​restrained ​by the expectations of their gender.

Gender in context
In the Jacobean era, gender was a very ​strict and rigid construction​ and for the most part
determined male and female roles within society. Gender was also an ​establishment ​upon
which the​ hierarchy of society was built​.

Women were expected to be

loyal and respectful
daughters, wives, and
mothers​. Angering the men
in their lives could result in
being kicked out or killed,
and it was near impossible
for women to ​support
themselves financially​.
They received little to no
education, and were very
restricted ​in their
movements and decisions in
life.

Men had a significantly easier time than women. They were ​householders, politicians,
landlords​. They were encouraged to be ​aggressive​, particularly in their sexuality - male
sexuality was ​celebrated​. However, there were still expectations of how men should act.
They were the bread-winners, and needed to be financially independent. Being a ​warrior
was viewed as one of the most ​honourable ​things a man could be, and dying in battle was
the ​idealised way to die​, especially in the Medieval Era, when the play is set.

The Men

Within the play Shakespeare presents the audience with many ​different types of
masculinity​. You should consider ​why​ his male characters are so different and what
message he is trying to give his audience.

Macbeth
Many times throughout the play Lady Macbeth ​taunts​ her husband about his masculinity. It
is evident that Macbeth does not like his manhood being questioned which ​highlights his
insecurity​.
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When Lady Macbeth accuses him of being a​ “coward”​, he replies, ​“Prithee, peace. / I dare
do all that may become a man; / Who dares do more is none,” (1.7)​. The ​plea ​“Prithee,
peace” ​suggests that he ​cannot withstand the attack on his masculinity​, as
Shakespeare conveys how​ sensitive and fragile he is​. It seems as if a man’s sense of
manhood is ​dependent ​on the women in his life.

Lady Macbeth is implying Macbeth is not​ “a man”​ because he refuses to murder Duncan,
suggesting that masculinity is proven with ​violence​, but Macbeth disagrees. The line ​“I dare
do all that may become a man; / Who dares do more is none” ​suggests manhood is tied
to ​honour​. He argues those who go against the natural order or pursue more power aren’t
men, either because they aren’t human or because they aren’t noble. Shakespeare implies
there are two ‘types’ of man that people can choose from: one is ​violent​, the other is
chivalrous​.

Eventually Macbeth gives into his wife’s insults and accusations. Indeed, he becomes
obsessed with ​proving​ his masculinity and changing into the man she wants him to be.
When Lady Macbeth asks, ​“Are you
a man?”​, he replies, ​“Ay, and a
bold one, that dare look on that /
Which might appal the devil,” (3.4)​.
The words ​“bold”​ and ​“dare”
emphasise his​ manly bravery​. The
phrase​ “might appal the devil”
serves to prove he is stronger than
the ultimate source of evil, providing
an ​exaggerated ​perspective of his
manhood.

It is important to consider the different

types​ of masculinity Shakespeare portrays within the play and which characters represent
those characteristics. It’s also interesting to note what happens to them. Both Duncan, the
noble and virtuous king, and Macbeth, the dishonest and violent king, end up dead. Does
this mean that Shakespeare didn’t agree with either type?

Fear and masculinity

Fear and paranoia are deemed to be ​incompatible ​with the ​Jacobean view of
masculinity​. Within the play the male figures do everything they can to ​repress​ or ​reject
these feelings and thereby retain their masculinity.

Shakespeare presents Macbeth as a ​conflicted character​ who struggles to keep his fear at
bay. In giving into his fear, Macbeth becomes ​feminised​ and these ​contradicting​ ​forces
add to his fear. After Duncan’s murder he is both scared of the man he has become but also
of the masculinity he is losing.

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Fleance’s escape
When he hears that Fleance escaped, Macbeth admits he is scared again, adding, ​“I had
else been perfect; / Whole as the marble, founded as the rock, / As broad and general
as the casing air: / But now I am cabined, cribbed, confined, bound in / To saucy
doubts and fears,” (3.4)​.
➔ The use of the ​adjective​ ​“perfect” ​implies fear somehow ​pollutes or taints
manhood​. Macbeth is a ​flawed man​ because of his ​“doubts and fears”​.
➔ The ​similes​ referring to ​“marble”​,​ “rock”​,​ ​and ​“air”​ portray men as powerful,
strong, and dominant, like nature itself. ​“Marble”​ connotes sculptures or luxury,
suggesting masculinity is ​flawlessly constructed by God​.
➔ His ​“doubts and fears” ​overwhelm and surround him, and Shakespeare argues this
is why Macbeth continues murdering others and being a tyrant - as a means of
escape.

Final battle
Yet Macbeth’s attitudes towards masculinity almost do a full circle. In his final battle he
decides he will fight to the death rather than surrendering or committing suicide. He knows
he is going to lose but he fights anyway, suggesting that some of his ​courage and honour
have been restored to him​. He says, ​“I’ll fight till from my flesh be hacked,” (5.3)​, and
later, ​“Why should I play the Roman fool and die / On mine own sword? Whiles I see
lives, the gashes / Do better upon them,” (5.5)​. In the army, it was considered more
honourable ​to die in battle
than to surrender.
Shakespeare’s audience
would recognise this
decision as the sign of a
noble hero and a real man.

However, it is possible that

this scene shows Macbeth
can only thrive in ​battle​, thus
masculinity is associated
once more with violence.

Malcolm and Macduff

Though most of the play explores masculinity through the​ definition of violence and
bravery​, Shakespeare offers an alternative, deeper, more ​emotional ​form of manhood
through Malcolm and Macduff. This form of masculinity seems to triumph overall, as Malcolm
becomes king. He ​restores ​order to his kingdom even though his ​understanding of
manhood differs from the norm​.

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Controlling emotions
Malcolm’s attempts to test Macduff’s morals and loyalties are interesting in their presentation
of the ​ideal man​. He warns Macduff of ​“the cistern of [his] lust”​, his ​“desire”​, his
“stanchless avarice”​, and his ​“voluptuousness” (4.3)​, associating masculinity with
unstoppable sexual desire​. His fabricated personality is the ​epitome​ of the ​aggressive
lust​ society encourages in men.

Macduff admits, “​Boundless intemperance / In nature is a tyranny,”​ a line that is a perfect

summary for the whole play, but also serves to suggest ​men are encouraged to be tyrants​.
Patriarchy grants men ​unconditional power​, allowing them to indulge every need.

A ​revelatory moment​ in the presentation of masculinity in Macbeth is when Macduff learns

of the slaughter of his children and wife. He cries,​ “All my pretty ones? / Did you say all?
O hell-kite! All? / What, all my pretty chickens and their dam / At one fell swoop?”
(4.3).​ The ​repetitive questions, exclamations, and broken speech ​convey his extreme
emotional distress, making him appear unmasculine in the ​traditional ​sense. The phrase
“my pretty ones”​ expresses ​deep paternal love​, suggesting masculinity can be​ tender
and loving​.

Masculine response
Malcolm tells Macduff,​ “Dispute it like a man,” (4.3)​, planning to​ “make us med’cines of
our great revenge / To cure this deadly grief,” (4.3)​ suggesting the appropriate ​manly
response would be to wage war on his enemy. At this point, Malcolm’s idea of masculinity
seems to be ​close-minded​, in line with his
society’s. Macduff’s reply, ​“I shall do so; / But I
must also feel it as a man; / I cannot but
remember such things were / That were most
precious to me,”​ marks a moment of ​learning
both for Malcolm and Shakespeare’s audience.
Macduff implies that ​repressing his grief would
be a denial of his love​, and would be unfair to
his family’s memory. Shakespeare suggests the
stone heart of masculinity is unnatural.

The Women
The female characters ​transcend​ gender
boundaries within the play and are given ​agency
by Shakespeare. Their ​words​ and the
consequences they have are the driving force
behind the plot. Yet they have ​rejected their
femininity​ in order to have this power.

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Lady Macbeth
Lady Macbeth’s character is highly ​significant ​in Shakespeare’s ​presentation ​of gender.
The traditional subservient wife figure has been entirely rejected by Shakespeare, instead
she is ​manipulative ​and​ domineering​ in her marriage. Her ​lust for power ​drives the plot
forward and she attacks Macbeth’s manhood to get what she wants. Yet it’s important to
note that her power is purely mental, while she orchestrates their plan she doesn’t commit
any acts of violence herself.

Religion and the supernatural

Lady Macbeth’s manipulation of Macbeth ​associates femininity with the fall of man​. Her
bullying leads to Macbeth’s tragic downfall in the same way​ Eve convinced Adam to eat
the Forbidden Fruit​. She can be viewed as a ​femme fatale​, an ​archetype ​of femininity
where a woman charms and seduces her lover, to his detriment.

She hopes Macbeth will return home quickly so she ​“may pour [her] spirits in [his] ear”
(1.5),​ showing how she wants to ​persuade him to do her bidding​. The reference to
“spirits”​ connotes the ​occult​, as if
she wants to ​possess ​Macbeth.
Shakespeare links ​witchcraft​ with a
woman’s dominance over her
husband, implying that it is
unnatural​ for women to have power
over men.

An alternative interpretation is that

Shakespeare is ​criticising ​how
society denies women their own
freedom ​and ​autonomy​. Lady
Macbeth only has to manipulate and
possess Macbeth because her
power and status are ​directly tied to his​. ​“Pour[ing]”​ her ​“spirits”​ into ​his ​“ear” m
​ ay be a
metaphor for how her desires can only be fulfilled by a male form. Macbeth is her ​puppet
because she cannot do it herself, instead she has to ​rely on her husband for everything​.
Shakespeare could be showing that men bring their downfalls ​on themselves​ by denying
women power.

Lady Macbeth’s Soliloquy

It is important to note that Lady Macbeth ​rejects her femininity ​within the play, and it is
implied that this act is what enables her to pursue her ambition. Her most famous ​soliloquy
is in​ Act 1, Scene 5​, when she calls upon ​“spirits”​ to ​“unsex”​ her.

She asks to be filled ​“from the crown to the toe top-full / Of direst cruelty”,​ for her
“blood”​ to be made​ “thick”​, for ​“the access and passage to remorse” ​to be stopped up,
and for ​“no compunctious visitings of nature [to] / Shake [her] fell purpose”​. This first
set of demands deal with the ​emotional or hormonal aspects of womanhood​. ​Early
medicine​ believed people’s emotional states were determined by different fluids in their
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bodies, the humors. Thick blood meant someone had a cold heart. Thick blood would also
stop her menstruating, a sign of her femininity and therefore weakness preventing her from
killing the king.

She goes on, ​“Come to my woman’s

breasts, / And take my milk for gall, you
murdering ministers,” (1.5). ​This addresses
the​ physical and visible proof​ of her
femininity more directly than before. She
wants all proof of it gone, as all signs are
obstacles to her plan. Her ​“breasts” ​and
“milk”​ are significant for ​motherhood​, so
Lady Macbeth is rejecting her duty to be a
mother. This has historically been seen as
one of the most threatening things a woman can do, and is often associated with ​femmes
fatales​. Refusing to be a mother meant ​denying a man the ability to immortalise himself
through his children.

This soliloquy is important when considering Shakespeare’s presentation of femininity

because of what Lady Macbeth is asking for. Firstly, she is summoning evil ​“spirits”​. This
aligns her with witchcraft​, which in Shakespeare’s time was associated with women who
challenged the status quo or the superiority of men​. Witchcraft was a serious crime that
went against God, and here, Lady Macbeth is shamelessly and explicitly calling upon
“spirits”​ to help her. This suggests all her actions in the play are evil, maybe even
suggesting ​all powerful women are in league with the Devil​.

Secondly, she relies on being ​“unsex[ed]”​ to be able ​to do all the cruel and violent
things she plans​. Therefore, while as a female character she serves to present femininity
as powerful and violent, her
language suggests the opposite. If
she is successful in ​“unsex[ing]”
herself, then her murderous
behaviour is the​ opposite of
femininity​. Shakespeare either
associates it with being
genderless ​or being​ masculine​.
By linking being ​“unsex[ed]”​ with
“spirits”​, Shakespeare suggests
you lose your humanity if you
defy your gender roles​.

Manipulation
The play centralises around Lady
Macbeth’s manipulation of her
husband. She frequently ​questions his masculinity​ and uses this as leverage to get him to
do what she wants.. When she sees him afraid, she asks, ​“Are you a man?” (3.4) ​and
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“What, quite unmanned in folly?” (3.4)​ which ​perpetuates ​the idea that a man must
always put on a brave face and not be​ emotionally sensitive​. Although it is Lady Macbeth
who convinces him, it is only possible for her to do so because Macbeth’s masculinity is so
fragile​.

Another way Lady Macbeth manipulates Macbeth is through their marriage. When she
learns that he has gone against his promise she implies that she is breaking their wedding
vows. She asks,​ “What beast was’t then / That made you break this enterprise to me? /
When you durst do it, then you were a man. / And to be more than what you were, you
would / Be so much more the man,” (1.7)​. By accusing him of ​“break[ing] this
enterprise” ​to her, she accuses him of being a ​bad husband​ and breaking the ​Code of
Chivalry​. She implies she will only deem him a ​“man” i​ f he kills Duncan, linking the
validation of his manhood with the fulfillment of her own desires​. In contrast, she calls
him a ​“beast”​ for betraying her, ​dehumanising ​him and calling him a ​villain ​for denying her
what she wants.

The Witches
A lot of the ​conflict and tension surrounding gender​ in the play is ​concentrated ​in the
characters of the Witches. Typically, witches were known to be women, but in Macbeth, it is
unclear if the Witches are female or even human​. Though their characters are certainly
linked to the presentation of femininity because of the​ historical association between
witchcraft and women​, it is debatable whether Shakespeare intends them to be female
characters or ​symbols of ambiguous gender​.

The Witches are an ​archetype ​of

‘ugly’ femininity. They represent the
classic ​old hag trope​, and they
occupy the very​ isolated edges of
society​, meeting on heaths and in
caves. Shakespeare supports the
common notion that women who
refused to meet the expectations of
femininity would be rejected by society
and punished for their actions.

There are three of them, perhaps symbolising an ​anti-holy trinity​. Their ambiguous
femininity contrasts with the masculinity of the Holy Trinity. Their prophecies are the ​catalyst
(cause) for the murder of Duncan and the following chaos. Therefore, like Lady Macbeth,
they seem to be ‘Eve’ figures, ​temptresses ​who lead men to their downfalls.

The Witches’ appearances are presented as ​grotesque ​and ​revolting ​because they aren’t
purely feminine​. Banquo provides a description of them, saying they are ​“so withered and
so wild in their attire”​, with ​“choppy finger[s]”​ and​ “skinny lips” (1.3)​. They ​personify
the typical ​Jacobean perception of witches​.

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Development of the Theme

The presentation of gender​ varies greatly​ throughout the play. Different characters have
their ​own opinions ​about what it means to be a man, to be a woman, or to be neither. What
is obvious, though, is that ​gender can’t be avoided​. It comes up time and time again as
characters try to ​define themselves, define others, or understand what is happening to
them​. Gender was viewed as a sign of​ order and logic​, which is why ​subverting ​these
gender norms was so disturbing to audiences.

‘Macbeth’ is arguably Shakespeare’s most ​misogynistic ​play. All of the women, except for
the supernatural witches, are dead by the end. The women are either ​manipulative
conspirers​ who call upon spirits to ​“unsex” ​them, ​hags ​who talk directly to those spirits, or
helpless mothers ​who are pointlessly slaughtered. Moreover, the main female characters
all contribute to Macbeth’s downfall, tempting him with power or persuading him to commit
murder. If Macbeth is a retelling of the ​Garden of Eden​, the Witches is the serpent and Lady
Macbeth is Eve.

Furthermore, the death of Lady Macbeth and Lady Macduff suggests ​women suffer from
the sinful deeds of men​. Lady Macbeth is driven to madness partly by Macbeth’s murder
spree. At the same time, her death (or suicide) seems to signify ​her feminine kindness
winning over her masculine or genderless wickedness​. Similarly, Macduff’s sensitivity
encourages the same compassion in Malcolm, and so ​these feminine qualities take the
throne​.

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