Lady Macbeth – grade 9 character analysis and quotes
Lady Macbeth:
Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth as:
- Divergent of societal gender roles of the time (during the Jacobean era)
“Come Spirits”, “unsex me here”
Through the use of the imperative verbs “come” and “unsex”, Lady Macbeth is
immediately presented as a dominant and commanding character who
appears to hold a lot of authority. This may be surprising to a Jacobean
audience due to the fact that at the time, women were expected to act in a
reserved manner for their husbands who would hold most if not all of the
authority within the relationship. Despite this, Lady Macbeth is portrayed as
authoritative and powerful, showing the audience that she is character that
subverts from typical gender roles at the time. Because of this, Shakespeare
could potentially be considered a proto-feminist as he gives Lady Macbeth an
authoritative role within her relationship at a time of a prominent patriarchy.
However, it could also be argued that Shakespeare is not necessarily an
advocate for feminism as although he gives Lady Macbeth this powerful role,
later on in the play she is seen to mentally deteriorate, ultimately leading to
her committing suicide. In this way, it can be viewed that Shakespeare’s true
intention is perhaps to discourage the disruption of typical gender roles and to
maintain what would have been viewed as the “right”/ “correct” order of
nature.
- Manipulative of other characters in the play (especially her husband
Macbeth) + duplicitous
“look like the innocent flower but be the serpent underneath”
Here Shakespeare employs a dichotomy of two juxtaposing ideas; the
phrase “innocent flower” which has connotations with purity and
righteousness juxtaposing with the creature “serpent” which connotes
deceit and evil. Through the use of this juxtaposition, Shakespeare
emphasises just how duplicitous Lady Macbeth is as a character as she is
Lady Macbeth:
Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth as:
- Divergent of societal gender roles of the time (during the Jacobean era)
“Come Spirits”, “unsex me here”
Through the use of the imperative verbs “come” and “unsex”, Lady Macbeth is
immediately presented as a dominant and commanding character who
appears to hold a lot of authority. This may be surprising to a Jacobean
audience due to the fact that at the time, women were expected to act in a
reserved manner for their husbands who would hold most if not all of the
authority within the relationship. Despite this, Lady Macbeth is portrayed as
authoritative and powerful, showing the audience that she is character that
subverts from typical gender roles at the time. Because of this, Shakespeare
could potentially be considered a proto-feminist as he gives Lady Macbeth an
authoritative role within her relationship at a time of a prominent patriarchy.
However, it could also be argued that Shakespeare is not necessarily an
advocate for feminism as although he gives Lady Macbeth this powerful role,
later on in the play she is seen to mentally deteriorate, ultimately leading to
her committing suicide. In this way, it can be viewed that Shakespeare’s true
intention is perhaps to discourage the disruption of typical gender roles and to
maintain what would have been viewed as the “right”/ “correct” order of
nature.
- Manipulative of other characters in the play (especially her husband
Macbeth) + duplicitous
“look like the innocent flower but be the serpent underneath”
Here Shakespeare employs a dichotomy of two juxtaposing ideas; the
phrase “innocent flower” which has connotations with purity and
righteousness juxtaposing with the creature “serpent” which connotes
deceit and evil. Through the use of this juxtaposition, Shakespeare
emphasises just how duplicitous Lady Macbeth is as a character as she is
