Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Gender Issues in William Shakespeares Macbeth Essay

Gender Issues in William Shakespeares Macbeth In Macbeth there are some issues that show us that at the time William Shakespeare wrote, women were treated in a much inferior way than men. For brave Macbeth- well he deserves that name- disdaining fortune, with his brandish steel, which smoked bloody execution (I.2.16) This quote proves that men are seen as more important than women. Its taken from the start of the play, said by the captain at the battle. The captain is talking about Macbeth and he points out that Macbeth is brave, strong, and not afraid to fight. These are just some of the characteristics men were supposed to posses in the times of William Shakespeare. So well they†¦show more content†¦Macbeth tells his wife he will not do the job because of all the praise Duncan has given him recently, and thus can not kill him. He hath honoured me of late (I.7.31) But Macbeth ends up having to commit the crime in order to prove his masculinity to his wife. The morning after the murder, we see Macbeth is very nervous, on edge and he has a very guilty conscience. We can see his nerves in the way he speaks, with short sharp sentences. Twas a rough night ==================== Macbeth regrets the murder and nearly admits to his crime, but Lady Macbeth pretends to faint to create a diversion from Macbeth to herself. This idea that society depicted is no place for traditional female values is something we can develop by looking at Lady Macbeth. We can see through the play that Lady Macbeth changes personality; she goes from being the dominant male character of the marriage at the beginning of the play to being the female of the marriage where she should have always of been. Lady Macbeth has power at the beginning of the play over Macbeth and she uses this power to her advantage. After receiving a letter from her husband, Lady Macbeth is willing to do anything to help her husband become king. 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