essay on masculinity in macbeth

Masculinity

Masculinity - macbeth.

At the beginning of the play, Macbeth is viewed as an honourable and masculine character. He starts to be viewed as evil when he goes against the idea of the honourable man and lets women control him.

Start - masculine

• Macbeth behaves like a fearless warrior at the start of the play. The Captain tells King Duncan about his bravery in battle.
• Macbeth acts how people expected men to act at the time. They expected men to behave with honour, which meant fighting for their king. It was their duty.
• Men were also supposed to be fearless.

Goes against the idea of an honourable man

• He lies to Banquo (his best friend), which is dishonourable.
• He brings his friend and leader (King Duncan) into his home and then kills him.
• He also goes against fighting rules when he kills Duncan. He waits for the king to fall asleep and kills him whilst he is defenceless. This also goes against honour because Duncan trusted Macbeth to keep him safe whilst he was a guest in his home, but Macbeth goes against this.

Controlled by women

• Macbeth also shows his lack of traditional masculinity when he allows women to control and manipulate him.
• The witches tell him he will be king, so he starts to plot against King Duncan.
• Lady Macbeth tells him he will be a coward and a weak man if he does not kill the king, and so he kills King Duncan.

Threatened by events

• The witches control and manipulate him – helps to cause his downfall.
• Lady Macbeth controls and manipulates him – encourages him to murder King Duncan, which helps to cause his downfall.
• He has visions of ghosts (Banquo) – shows his people that he is mentally unstable.
• His increasing mental instability (apparently feminine trait) causes him to murder more and more people – helps to cause his downfall.

Masculinity - Lady Macbeth

Lady Macbeth is a woman with masculine traits who wants to have her femininity removed. She attacks Macbeth's masculinity at various points in the play.

Wants to be more masculine

• Lady Macbeth wishes that she could be more masculine. She wants to be masculine to have the qualities that people thought belonged to men.
• These included strength, courage and ruthlessness: ‘Come you spirits / That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here / And fill me from the crown to the toe topfull / Of direst cruelty’ (1,5).
• She uses many imperative (ordering) verbs here to show she is in command.
• She orders the spirits to ‘unsex’ her because she wants to be less feminine. She wants to be cruel and feel no remorse (regret).

Attacks Macbeth's masculinity

• Lady Macbeth attacks Macbeth’s masculinity when he shows doubts about going through with the murder in Act 1, Scene 7.
• She calls him a coward, saying he is ‘pale and green’ . She asks him if he would rather live in fear than take action for the things he wants: ‘Art thou afeared / To be the same in thine own act and valour, / As thou art in desire?’
• By questioning his bravery, she suggests that he is weak. Men were supposed to be strong. She shames him by seeming stronger than he is.
• When Macbeth sees Banquo’s ghost, Lady Macbeth says: 'Are you a man?' (3,4). Madness was seen as a disorder that only affected women.

Has masculine traits

• Lady Macbeth persuades Macbeth to go ahead with the plan. When she does, he tells her: ‘Bring forth men-children only, / For thy undaunted mettle should compose / Nothing but males’ (1,7).
• This reflects the value of bravery at the time. He is saying that her bravery – ‘undaunted mettle’ – is so praiseworthy and masculine that the only children she will give birth to will be males.
• Again, this suggests that Lady Macbeth has some masculine traits in the play.

1 Literary & Cultural Context

1.1 Context

1.1.1 Tragedy

1.1.2 The Supernatural & Gender

1.1.3 Politics & Monarchy

1.1.4 End of Topic Test - Context

2 Plot Summary

2.1.1 Scenes 1 & 2

2.1.2 Scene 3

2.1.3 Scenes 4-5

2.1.4 Scenes 6-7

2.1.5 End of Topic Test - Act 1

2.2 Acts 2-4

2.2.1 Act 2

2.2.2 Act 3

2.2.3 Act 4

2.3.1 Scenes 1-3

2.3.2 Scenes 4-9

2.3.3 End of Topic Test - Acts 2-5

3 Characters

3.1 Macbeth

3.1.1 Hero vs Villain

3.1.2 Ambition & Fate

3.1.3 Relationship

3.1.4 Unstable

3.1.5 End of Topic Test - Macbeth

3.2 Lady Macbeth

3.2.1 Masculine & Ruthless

3.2.2 Manipulative & Disturbed

3.3 Other Characters

3.3.1 Banquo

3.3.2 The Witches

3.3.3 Exam-Style Questions - The Witches

3.3.4 King Duncan

3.3.5 Macduff

3.3.6 End of Topic Test - Lady Macbeth & Banquo

3.3.7 End of Topic Test - Witches, Duncan & Macduff

3.4 Grade 9 - Key Characters

3.4.1 Grade 9 - Lady Macbeth Questions

4.1.1 Power & Ambition

4.1.2 Power & Ambition HyperLearning

4.1.3 Violence

4.1.4 The Supernatural

4.1.5 Masculinity

4.1.6 Armour, Kingship & The Natural Order

4.1.7 Appearances & Deception

4.1.8 Madness & Blood

4.1.9 Women, Children & Sleep

4.1.10 End of Topic Test - Themes

4.1.11 End of Topic Test - Themes 2

4.2 Grade 9 - Themes

4.2.1 Grade 9 - Themes

4.2.2 Extract Analysis

5 Writer's Techniques

5.1 Structure, Meter & Other Literary Techniques

5.1.1 Structure, Meter & Dramatic Irony

5.1.2 Pathetic Fallacy & Symbolism

5.1.3 End of Topic Test - Writer's Techniques

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The Supernatural

Armour, Kingship & The Natural Order

Home — Essay Samples — Literature — Macbeth — Exploring Masculinity in Shakespeare’s Macbeth

Exploring Masculinity in Shakespeare's Macbeth

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Published: Jun 13, 2024

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