Example ‘Macbeth’ essay 1

Starting with this conversation [taken from Act 1 Scene 7], explore how far Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth as a strong female character.

In this extract and in ‘Macbeth’ as a whole, Shakespeare portrays Lady Macbeth as a strong female in order to suggest that a woman’s power only manifests itself when she becomes less feminine. Femininity in Macbeth is displayed as innocence and kindness. Furthermore, Shakespeare also suggests that a woman’s true power lies within her words and, therefore, a loss of power is displayed through a degradation in speech.

In ‘Macbeth’, Shakespeare suggests that for females, true power to corrupt others can only manifest itself when they lose their traditional sense of femininity. In Act 1, when Lady Macbeth hears of the witches’ prophecies, she says that Macbeth is “too full of the milk of human kindness.” The use of milk symbolises femininity, as many women can breastfeed, which suggests that Lady Macbeth feels Macbeth is not manly enough. Furthermore, the use of the intensifier “full” emphasises this argument. Altogether, this suggests that to Lady Macbeth, femininity is associated with weakness and kindness, which she feels she must rid herself of in order to secure the throne for Macbeth. This leads Lady Macbeth to ask the spirits to “unsex” her and “make thick [her] blood.” Here, Shakespeare uses phrases associated with womanhood such as “blood” alludes to menstrual blood. Furthermore, in the 17th century when the play was written, women as witches were stereotyped as old women who had most likely been through menopause. This suggests that Lady Macbeth desires to become more masculine like the witches in order to commit the evil deed of murdering Duncan. This suggests that women did not have true power in their traditional form, and that they could only gain power through becoming more masculine. Shakespeare poignantly conveys this idea through Lady Macbeth’s continued corruption of Macbeth throughout the play once she has been “unsex[ed].” In Act 1 Scene 7, when Macbeth says that he is no longer prepared to kill Duncan, Lady Macbeth emasculates him by saying “when you durst do it, then you were a man.” This clearly portrays Lady Macbeth as a strong female as her emasculation of “brave Macbeth” caused the seed of darkness in his heart due to his “vaulting ambition” to grow, which he was prepared to commit the evil act of regicide. Through this, Shakespeare implies that deceit and corruption are inherently masculine powers that women can only possess once they forgo their traditional role. Furthermore, Lady Macbeth’s claim that she would “dash the brains out” of a “babe” demonstrates that she has clearly forsaken her womanhood, as newborns were generally symbols of innocence and motherhood. This suggests that a woman’s strength comes from her masculine side embedded within her heart.

Shakespeare also suggests that whilst a woman gains power when she forsakes her feminine side, this power is demonstrated through her words. In Act 1Scene 4, after hearing about the witches’ prophecies, Lady Macbeth claims that she will “pour [her] spirits in [Macbeth’s] ear.” Here, Shakespeare uses the metaphor of spirits to suggest that Lady Macbeth will put her soul or essence in Macbeth, which is evocative of the supernatural. This conveys the idea that a woman’s power is within her words, and it could also suggest that power comes from supernatural influence, as Lady Macbeth called on the “seeling night” to rid herself of her womanhood. Moreover, the noun “spirits” evokes an idea of alcohol, which conveys the idea that Lady Macbeth will intoxicate Macbeth with her words. Altogether, the use of the powerful imagery of the supernatural and alcohol conjures a sense that for females like Lady Macbeth, their strength comes from their words which can be particularly potent, as exemplified by Lady Macbeth’s ability to convince Macbeth to kill Duncan despite his deep-rooted fear, as displayed by him saying “Stars, hide your fires, / Let not light see my black and deep desires.” Here, Shakespeare uses the motifs of light and dark to connote good and evil. Moreover, the use of the imperative clause implies Macbeth’s desire to conceal his desires and his deep-rooted shame. It was also revealed in an aside which reveals the inner thoughts of a character. This only magnifies the portrayal of females: they have the gift of words as Lady Macbeth’s words caused Macbeth to betray his own desires and fear not to kill the king. However, all of this changes as the play continues and Lady Macbeth becomes more and more consumed with guilt. “What’s done is done” revealing her desire to ignore her part in the regicide – and finally comes to a head in Act 5 Scene 1 when she is sleepwalking and says “All the perfumes of Arabia shall not sweeten this little hand.” Here, Shakespeare clearly uses prose rather than the perfect iambic pentameter Lady Macbeth used to speak in to display her mental decline and loss of power through her words. The use of the imagery of scent clearly establishes the magnitude of Lady Macbeth’s guilt, as the scent lingers and remains much longer than a visual stain. Furthermore, scent can be a powerful sense as it can transport a person back to a memory, which suggests that Lady Macbeth is constantly reminded of her guilt due to the regicide. Finally, Shakespeare uses more feminine imagery with “perfume” and “little hand” to display Lady Macbeth’s weakness and fragility, as she has reverted back to her traditional female role – her wish to “stop up the passage to remorse” had not succeeded. Shakespeare uses this to display to his audience the grave consequences of regicide, as this play was performed a year after the Gunpowder Plot against King James I. Altogether, the characterisation of Lady Macbeth suggests that once a woman has lost her strength, it is clearly displayed through a degradation in speech, which suggests that women can only exert power on men through their intoxicating speech.

In ‘Macbeth’, Shakespeare suggests that, especially in the 17th century, the strength of a woman was confined to her influence on a man such as her husband, which is demonstrated through her words. Shakespeare exemplifies through Lady Macbeth’s weakness as she lost her gift of words in Act 5. Through this, Shakespeare warns his 1606 audience against the deceitful nature of women in a time where witchcraft was seen as predominantly a feminine attribute.