The Thin Gender Line in Macbeth Essay -- Macbeth essays

The Thin Gender Line in Macbeth Some people would do anything to get what they want. The characters of Macbeth are no exception. Shakespeare creates people who either strive for, or abuse authority. The men and women in Macbeth have varying degrees of guilt, power, and integrity. In order to comparability the genders in Macbeth, one must understand how women were treated in Shakespeares time. The great Queen Elizabeth I died three years prior to the writing of Macbeth, and yet her influence made little difference on the matter of womens rights. At the time of Queen Elizabeths death, almost everyone of both sexes agreed that the fe manlike intelligence was less than that of the male (Fraser 4). Women were considered to be the weaker vessel (Fraser 4). A woman was forced to marry a man of her fathers choosing and then was under the complete control of her husband (Fraser 5). When Macbeth was written, women were supposed to be virtuous, submissive, maternal, and nonviolent. Howev er, men also saw women as temptresses and felt that they were more susceptible to the devils influence (Fraser 5). Most women of that time had little control over their own lives. madam Macbeth is the antithesis of what a woman was supposed to be. She is ruthless, bloodthirsty, and non-maternal. She would have dashed the brains out of her own child to suit her ambitions (1.7.64). Lady Macbeth is not content with a bit classify in the drama she wants center stage. She seems almost ashamed of her frail sex. Come, you spirits, that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, and fill me from the crown to the toe, top-full of direst cruelty (1.5.44-47). Lady Macbeth has very much in common with the weird sisters. Th... ... their gender and those who are the total opposite. He proves that both sexes can be ruthless, and do anything to achieve their objective. The line between genders is thin, and is cross in Macbeth quite often. Works Cited Fraser, Antonia. The Weaker Vessel. New Yo rk Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. 1984. Mahood, M.M. Shakespeares Wordplay. Shakespeare Macbeth. Ed. John Wain. Nashville Aurora Publishers Inc. 1970. Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. Folger Library General Readers Shakespeare. New York Washington Sq. Press. 1959. Waith, Eugene. Manhood and Valor in Macbeth. Twentieth Century Interpretations of Macbeth. Ed. Terence Hawkes. Englewood Cliffs, NJ Prentice-Hall Inc. 1977. Wills, Garry. Witches and Jesuits Shakespeares Macbeth. New York Oxford University Press, 1995.