One of Shakespeare’s most notable female
characters is Lady Macbeth, whose first appearance reveals her to be intense,
ambitious, and perhaps most importantly, more masculine than her husband! Throughout the play, Lady Macbeth displays
characteristics that are generally associated with masculine characters, namely
her unhindered ambition, her ability to think with her head, not with her heart,
and the violent acts she commits. When
Macbeth writes to his wife about what the three witches have predicted, sharing
with her how part of what they foresaw has already happened, namely the
acquiring of the title Thane of Cawdor, Lady Macbeth reveals her lack of faith
in her husband. She does not feel he is
capable of doing what is necessary in order for him to eventually become king,
thus fulfilling the three witches’ prophecy.
She states that, while Macbeth may have ambition his nature “. . . is
too full of o’th’ milk of human kindness / To catch the nearest [most
expedient] way” (1.5.15, 16). She argues
that Macbeth’s lack of wickedness will impede his ambition, and reveals her
hastiness for his arrival so that she can “take the bull by the horns,” so to
speak – help him carry out the necessary means of attaining the crown as
quickly as possible. Her masculinity
skyrockets when she makes her famous speech:
Come, you spirits
That
tend on mortal [attend deadly] thoughts, unsex
me here,
And fill me from the
crown to the toe top-full
Of direst cruelty. Make thick my blood,
Stop up th’access and
passage to remorse [pity],
That no compunctious visitings
of nature
Shake my fell [cruel]
purpose, nor keep
peace [intervene] between
Th’effect and it [My
purpose and its accomplishment].
(1.5.38,
39-44, 45)
Her
ordering of the spirits to “unsex” her, to take away all of the qualities (emotions,
namely) that would make her more womanlike is a powerful declaration, and
asserts her masculinity absolutely. She
is relinquishing the qualities of her sex, remorse, compassion, gentleness, in
exchange for the wickedness necessary to help her husband take the crown.
When her husband enters, Lady
Macbeth tells him to “look like the innocent flower, / But be the serpent under’t”
(1.5.63, 64) and insists that she will manage the plotting that will be used to
ensure him the crown. This is where it
is clear that Macbeth is not “wearing the pants” in their relationship. His wife is the one planning the conspiracy when
he’s the one who will be reaping the benefit of it!
Later on, Macbeth tries to convince
Lady Macbeth that they should hold off on killing King Duncan, but she becomes
angry with him. She exclaims that his
hesitation and refusal to take what is his makes him less of a man and more of
a coward. His lack of intensity and zeal
to attain the crown makes him less of a man, and her ambition and passion in
obtaining it makes ever the manlier! Macbeth’s
response to her claim that he is a coward who is allowing “I dare not” to wait
upon “I would” replies by saying “I dare do all that may become a man; / Who
dares do more is none” (1.7.43-44, 46-47).
While Macbeth stews over the idea of murdering King Duncan, Lady Macbeth
is mastermind behind the whole scheme.
She has the intelligence and deviousness that the men are generally
portrayed possessing, but it is clear that it is not Macbeth who is the brains
behind the operation.
Once the actual murdering of the
king has taken place, Macbeth is traumatized by the acts of violence he has
committed. While he is lamenting over
the people’s last words they cried out, Lady Macbeth remains completely
composed. While looking at his
bloodstained hands Macbeth comments on them as being a “sorry sight,” to which
his wife replies “A foolish thought, to say a sorry sight” (2.2.18-19). Macbeth is so deeply affected by the atrocity
he has committed that he forgets to smear the blood on the servants in Duncan’s
room to make it look like they were the ones to have murdered him. Lady Macbeth tells her husband to wash the
blood off his hands as she proceeds to cover the tracks he left unhidden.
Lady Macbeth truly demonstrates the
more masculine characteristics, while Macbeth seems to portray the more
feminine role. She plans the assassination
all by herself, keeps her husband on track and prevents him from abandoning his
desire for the crown, and carries out the work he neglects in the end. She remains composed while Macbeth reveals
much internal struggle that makes him come across as being wishy-washy and
ineffective. Her ingeniousness, paired
off with her ability to carry out her wills unimpeded and the violent acts she
commits to help her husband definitely seems to suggest that she’s the man.
3 comments:
It's interesting how you make Lady Macbeth look so manly. I've never looked at her in that perspective before. But now that you talk about Lady Macbeth wanted the spirits to "unsex" her and take away anything that would make her woman like, the manliness in her comes out. She desire and craves power more than her husband does, which is odd because most of Shakespeare's plays, the men are the one who killing to get to power.
Lady Macbeth is by far one of my favorite characters in all of Shakespeare. She is cunning and powerful, which is not something we usually see in Shakespeare's plays, although we have seen two cunning and powerful women in Goneril and Regan. I think the main difference in Lady Macbeth is that she does not let anything distract her, whereas Goneril and Regan get caught up in thier love triangle. Lady Macbeth is ready and willing to do the dirty work while Regan is content to just watch while her husband blinds Gloucester. Lady Macbeth is the one who is obviously in charge of Duncan's murder. She is the one who masterminds it and makes sure the Macbeth's actions are covered up. But I disagree with the fact that she is asking the spirits to "unsex" her so she will be able to carry out her plans. I think she is quite capable of murder all on her own, she doesn't need any help. I think Shakespeare is using that powerful speech to draw even more attention to the fact that she is a female. By asking the audience to "unsex" her he is really highlighting the fact that it is a woman who is deviously planning a brutal murder for her husband's (so ultimately her own) gain.
This is great commentary on Lady Macbeth, Brittany, and I particularly appreciate your attention to her masculinity. There is a way in which she is a more threatening female figure than even the witches in this play, and in part because she is willing to challenge these normative ideas about gender.
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