Macbeth

In Shakespeare’s era, women possessed few political and private rights. Renaissance women were expected to remain silent, avoid political discussions, and stick to the duties of their husbands’ households. Men were considered higher morally, intellectually, and physically, and women were subjugated to the will of men. Men were also considered more ambitious, firm, decisive, lucid, and refined than women of the time. In Macbeth, this world of male-dominance is both displayed and challenged through …

…wife and children to rid the “fiend of Scotland” (4.3.236) and save his nation. For the most part, the characters in Macbeth do not fit the clear-cut gender roles that fit Shakespeare’s world. Instead, the characters each displayed traits of the opposite sex. Lady Macbeth’s and the witches’ masculinity conquered that of Macbeth’s, which led to the murder of Duncan and ultimately the fall of Macbeth himself. This was written by Devon Hunerdosse