Lady Macbeth

A FEMINIST ANALYSIS OF LADY MACBETH

Macbeth is a tragic play by William Shakespeare.

It's written in 1606. It's Shakespearean tragedy set of play is Scotland and England. 

(Source of photo : Google)

About William Shakespeare :

https://rajeshvaribarana.blogspot.com/2022/08/william-shakespeare.html

Many Shakespearean scholars have differing opinions of Lady Macbeth.

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These opinions range from viewing Lady Macbeth as evil and malicious to others who see her as a victim of her devotion to her husband. Any of these opinions must be closely examined and dissected in order to discover the truth behind Lady Macbeth's character and her motivations.

(Sleep Walking Scene of Lady Macebeth)

Lady Macbeth is the primary female character in the play, giving us insight into Shakespeare's intentions in his construction of the female gender. He imbues Lady Macbeth with not only feminine qualities but also with masculine qualities as well. Should we view her as a monster because she takes it upon herself to adopt a traditionally masculine role? Or should she be viewed as an exemplar of female agency by taking her and her husband's destiny into her own hands? These questions can be answered by closely evaluating Lady Macbeth's actions and statements.

(John singer sargent,
via wikimedia commons)

Another way to understand Shakespeare's construction of femininity in the play is to look closely at the role of the witches and their relation to Lady Macbeth. These two powerful female forces influence and sometimes control Macbeth's actions. Lady Macbeth "and the witches are indirectly identified with each other by their departures from prescribed female subordination, by their parallel role as catalysts to Macbeth's actions, and by the structure and symbolism of the play". By adopting male person as and even appearances in the case of the witches) the women escape their female roles while still remaining decidedly feminine, "still linked with gender and with humanity".

Without a thorough understanding of these women, we cannot fully comprehend the scope and intentions of the play. The central issue is how Shakespeare constructed these women and intended for them to be viewed and received not only by the audiences in his time but also by future generations.

Another view of Lady Macbeth is that of a woman who has gone completely insane upon realizing the amount of power that she could gain from her husband and, in turn, for herself. Immediately after reading the letter, Lady Macbeth begins to be consumed by the need to see her husband on the throne. 

She says:

Hie thee hither,

That I may pour my spirits in thine ear,

And chastise with the valor of my tongue

All that impedes thee from the golden round

Which fate and metaphysical aid doth seem

To have thee crowned withal.

She wishes that her husband would return quickly so that she can push him in the direction of power because she is immediately obsessed with it. She has a taste of power in dealing with her husband, as she can manipulate him to do whatever she asks of him. With this little taste of power, she is on the rampage for more. The quest for power then governs the rest of Lady Macbeth's actions throughout most of the play. As Anna Jameson states, "ambition is represented as the ruling motive, an intense overmastering passion, which is gratified at the expense of every just and generous principle, and every feminine feeling" This ambition for power causes her to speak and act in this manner.

Eventually, she loses any power that she may have begun with. She loses her intellectual control and the control she had over her husband. She has lost so much power that she takes her own life. This is not the only viewpoint of her quest for power. Others claim that she is so obsessed with seeing her husband on the throne because of her devotion to him.

For example, Catherine Boyd suggests that, "Her violation is inspired by human love, intense passionate love for her husband" . She believes that he wants to be king; therefore, as a loving and devoted wife, she must do everything in her power to give him the power he wants. In trying to attain this, she commits acts of cruelty to secure her husband's place on the throne.

The Duality of a Woman:

Shakespeare uses these female figures to show the duality of a woman: she can be feminine and loving but also vicious and wicked. Given the differing opinions of how we should view Lady Macbeth, what is the right way? All of these viewpoints are correct. Shakespeare wanted us to see every facet of Lady Macbeth's character. These viewpoints are not opposing, they work together. At one point, we sympathize with Lady Macbeth; at another, we despise her. Her character causes a tumultuous mixture of responses to her actions. While viewing or reading the play, one's sense of understanding Lady Macbeth and her motives are never quite fulfilled. She can be decidedly wicked, while at other times, she is just pitiable, and the audience can empathize with her. As Jameson states, "The crime of Lady Macbeth terrifies us in proportion as we sympathize with her; and that this sympathy is in proportion to the degree of pride, passion, and intellect we may ourselves possess.

It is good to behold and to tremble at the possible result of the noblest faculties uncontrolled or perverted". Lady Macbeth's character is constructed to elicit a multitude of emotional responses from the audience and to cause them to question the traditional boundaries of female and male roles. This play could be taken as somewhat of a feminist work. Both major female figures achieved their own personal goals by using masculine behaviors and by using the men around them.

However, Lady Macbeth could not handle the masculine role as she eventually goes insane and kills herself. The witches have no problem using their male personas to achieve their goals and are never punished for it. Shakespeare is showing both sides of the argument. First, it is not acceptable for women to take on masculine roles, and second, it is acceptable for women to act this way and get away with it. He leaves the decision up to the audience and actually to the individual so that this play will never become stale, as we continuously attempt to sort out its ambiguous statement about women.