Starting with this speech, explain how far you think Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth as a
powerful woman.
Extract from Act 1 scene 5 of Macbeth - as this point in the play Lady Macbeth is speaking. She has
just received the news that King Duncan will be spending the night at her castle.
Lines -The raven himself --------- To cry 'Hold, Hold!'
Write about:
- how Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth in this speech.
- how Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth in the play as a whole.
One could argue that Lady Macbeth is presented as a powerful woman by Shakespeare as an
antithesis to how women were portrayed by society during the Elizabethan era: subservient and
weak. He demonstrates that women have power, whether that be Lady Macbeth or the witches, the
great chain of being is severely disrupted.
During the extract where Lady Macbeth discovers that Macbeth has had an encounter with the
witches and knows of his prophecies, we see that she desires the power of a man and is willing to
seek the help of the spiritual world to help her husband succeed in his quest to become King. This is
the first time we hear her speak in the play and this monologue would prejudice a Christian, patriotic
audience against her as we see that she is willing to commit regicide.
They very first line of the monologue 'The raven himself is hoarse' implies dark and sinister
undertones to Lady Macbeth right from the offset. The noun 'raven' links to death and therefore it is
clear that this monologue is about claiming power by committing regicide. The semantic field of
death is further supported by references to 'fatal', 'murder', 'gall' and 'keen knife' which would leave
the audience certain that she plans to murder King Duncan. Murder both then and now is seen as a
criminal and sinful act. At the time Macbeth was written the Jacobean society were in shock at the
failed attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament by Guy Fawkes.
Lady Macbeth shows no signs of being subservient at all during this extract, which would be
contradictory to societal expectations at this time. The use of the first person possessive pronouns
such as 'me' and 'my' show that she desires to be in control and will not follow traditional society
expectations. She uses the pronouns in conjunction with imperatives when she demands that the
spirits 'unsex me here' where she is fundamentally, demanding to become more man-like, stripping
her of her femininity ergo what she deems her 'weakness' thereby becoming essentially cruel so that
she has the power to help dispatch the King. In addition, she orders the spirits to 'take my milk for
gall' which asserts that she wants to take the breast milk that she could use to nurture a child and
turn it into poison which further suggests that she wants the power of a man without having to
worry about having what she now sees as the weaknesses of a woman. It was not unusual for people
to believe in witches and spirits in this era and King James trialled many witches at this time. Lady
Macbeth seeking help from the spirits to gain power would be something that King James would be
interested to watch and again links to the failed gunpowder plot.
powerful woman.
Extract from Act 1 scene 5 of Macbeth - as this point in the play Lady Macbeth is speaking. She has
just received the news that King Duncan will be spending the night at her castle.
Lines -The raven himself --------- To cry 'Hold, Hold!'
Write about:
- how Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth in this speech.
- how Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth in the play as a whole.
One could argue that Lady Macbeth is presented as a powerful woman by Shakespeare as an
antithesis to how women were portrayed by society during the Elizabethan era: subservient and
weak. He demonstrates that women have power, whether that be Lady Macbeth or the witches, the
great chain of being is severely disrupted.
During the extract where Lady Macbeth discovers that Macbeth has had an encounter with the
witches and knows of his prophecies, we see that she desires the power of a man and is willing to
seek the help of the spiritual world to help her husband succeed in his quest to become King. This is
the first time we hear her speak in the play and this monologue would prejudice a Christian, patriotic
audience against her as we see that she is willing to commit regicide.
They very first line of the monologue 'The raven himself is hoarse' implies dark and sinister
undertones to Lady Macbeth right from the offset. The noun 'raven' links to death and therefore it is
clear that this monologue is about claiming power by committing regicide. The semantic field of
death is further supported by references to 'fatal', 'murder', 'gall' and 'keen knife' which would leave
the audience certain that she plans to murder King Duncan. Murder both then and now is seen as a
criminal and sinful act. At the time Macbeth was written the Jacobean society were in shock at the
failed attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament by Guy Fawkes.
Lady Macbeth shows no signs of being subservient at all during this extract, which would be
contradictory to societal expectations at this time. The use of the first person possessive pronouns
such as 'me' and 'my' show that she desires to be in control and will not follow traditional society
expectations. She uses the pronouns in conjunction with imperatives when she demands that the
spirits 'unsex me here' where she is fundamentally, demanding to become more man-like, stripping
her of her femininity ergo what she deems her 'weakness' thereby becoming essentially cruel so that
she has the power to help dispatch the King. In addition, she orders the spirits to 'take my milk for
gall' which asserts that she wants to take the breast milk that she could use to nurture a child and
turn it into poison which further suggests that she wants the power of a man without having to
worry about having what she now sees as the weaknesses of a woman. It was not unusual for people
to believe in witches and spirits in this era and King James trialled many witches at this time. Lady
Macbeth seeking help from the spirits to gain power would be something that King James would be
interested to watch and again links to the failed gunpowder plot.
