gender essay macbeth

Cliff's Notes
How does Shakespeare play with gender roles in Macbeth ?
How can banks afford to lend out so much money?
What should I consider when deciding whether to invest in a company?
Who was the first female Senator in the United States?
What are the best courses to take if I want to end up doing research in metaphysics?
A friend of mine told me that my favorite TV show jumped the shark." What does that even mean?"
There is a new guy at my school and I think he's cute, funny, and sweet, but he's really shy. I want to ask him on a date, but I'm not sure if I should, and if I should, how?
How do you know a guy likes you?
How much outside class study time is recommended for every hour of class time for college freshmen?
Is it common for people to be scared to go into high school? Can you give me some tips to survive?
What is the easiest foreign language to learn? Which foreign language looks the best on college applications?
How do I get involved in classroom discussions without sounding stupid?
What is organizational design?
Will mentioning my race in my college essay increase my chances of getting in?
Is my summer vacation to Italy a good topic for my college essay? (I have pictures, too.)
How do I pull together all the notes I've taken to study for a test?
To study better, I want to get organized with some of the stuff I see advertised. What should be on my shopping list?
What does it mean to live in a credential society?
What kind of careers are available for someone with a degree in English?
What can I do if I think my teacher gave me the wrong grade?
How do I choose a college major?
I have too many projects and not enough hours in the day. Is 8 hours of sleep really that important?
How do I choose a topic for a personal essay?
What tips can you give me for studying for a test on something I've read?
How do I write a good research paper?
How can I highlight my textbooks efficiently?
How do I convince my parents to spend a few extra bucks to upgrade from a dial-up connection to broadband like a cable modem or DSL? They say I have to give some benefits for spending extra.
What do you do when you're lost; when you can't concentrate and have lost your will to succeed? How can you get back on track?
Is homework important?
What is your opinion of the rise of virtual actors and the fall of live ones, what do you think about virtual actors taking the place of live ones?
My mom and my friends say I should quit doing something [swimming, tennis, violin, honors classes], but I love all the things I do. What can I do?
I started my first job a couple weeks ago (just for the summer). Do you have any tips for getting along with everybody at work?
Is it still important for people who develop Web pages to know HTML? If so, why?
When I am making a speech or a presentation in front of the class, my face or body automatically shivers. My voice gets weird also. How can I stop it?
I want to finish high school in 3 years instead of 4, but I am not sure it is a good idea. What do you think?
What are some occupations involving astronomy?
If I'm going to college for a degree in art, are all of my other classes even worth taking?
Are your freshmen grades important to get into college?
Is Johns Hopkins University a medical school? How long do I have to spend in a medical school to become a doctor?
For Milton Friedman, what are the social responsibilities of business?
What is The Fed and is it good or bad?
What is a Ponzi scheme?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of Gross Domestic Product?
What is full employment and why is it difficult to measure?
What's a recession?
What is economics?
My parents and I are looking to buy a car for me I am 17 and I will be added to my parents insurance What cars have the lowest insurance rates but are still cool to drive
What is marketing?
Can you explain to me the impact money will have on the future (or my future. I am 16 years old)?
Are there any Spanish words bearing even a minute similarity to the name Peter? Not a name, but any word that is in any way similar to Peter.
Who led American efforts in Paris to gain French support during the American Revolution?
I need help locating a Web site that has pronunciation of the Spanish alphabet. For example, in English we sing", A, B, C, D, E, F, G . . .etc. Where can I find the Spanish alphabet?"
I know that there is no elision with French possessive adjectives. So what's the deal with: Qui est ton artiste favorite ?
Iâ€™m taking Spanish and need some good ways to study for tests. Do you have any tips?
In Spanish how do I know when to use de, del, a and al?
I'm going to be starting a new foreign language, and I'm not sure which language to take: French or Spanish. I know some French, but only greetings. Which do you think?
What is the term for when the Congressional majority represents the opposite party of the President?
Where in the U.S. Constitution are health and property mentioned?
To what extent did the Cold War shape the American domestic life of the 1950s?
The 10th Amendment does what?
How did the United States respond to Communist revolutions in Cuba and Nicaragua?
Which U.S. presidents also served in the House of Representatives?
What does the FCC regulate?
Who were the major political players during the Reagan Administration? Who helped shape President Reagan's legacy?
Who was the first Secretary of State for the United States?
Do prisoners deserve to be educated?
The death penalty has always interested me. What are the different ways you can execute someone without it being cruel or unusual?
Who were the major congressional participants in developing Social Security legislation?
With so many delegates speaking so many different languages, how does the United Nations get anything done?
I love watching TV court shows, and would enjoy them more if I understood some of the legal jargon, like ex post facto. What does that mean?
What is habeas corpus, and where is it guaranteed by law?
Where is the establishment of religion clause in the U.S. Constitution?
What's the point of making texting while driving illegal?
Have social conservatives captured the Republican Party?
Why are Republicans (or those who favor capitalism) called the right" or "right-wing" and Democrats (or those who favor social issues) called the "left?""
Who were the War Hawks?
What are the differences in the ways the House and the Senate conduct debates on a bill?
What is WikiLeaks?
How long do oral arguments last in Supreme Court cases?
What do you think are some reasons why the President was given almost unlimited military powers? What are some possible positive and negative effects resulting from the scope of the President's military power?
Why is the United States government so worried about North Korea?
Did Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation actually free any slaves?
How were U.S. Senators originally chosen?
What changes in American society have created new issues for the government to address?
What was the Tweed Ring?
What do you think secret service for the Obama girls is like? Is there a dude with a gun and stuff sitting next to them in class? Wouldn't that make it hard for them to concentrate?
How many representatives does each state have in the House of Representatives?
What is the difference between the Senate Majority/Minority leaders and the Senate Whip?
How are justices to the U.S. Supreme Court elected? Is this a good or a bad thing?
What type of education do you need to become Speaker of the House?
I heard a rumor that if you modify the photo by at least 10%, it doesn't matter if it's copyrighted and you can use it however. Is that true?
What do security and infringed mean in the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution?
What did Abraham Lincoln mean by A house divided against itself cannot stand"?"
Who is the only U.S. President who never won a nationwide election?
What is the current law on compulsory vaccinations in the U.S.? Are there any exceptions for people who don't want to get vaccinated?
After the stock market crash, how did President Hoover try to help the economy?
My economics teacher said something about stagflation , what is that, exactly?
How do interest groups play a role in American government?
Has Thanksgiving always been on the same day?
Can someone who's not a Republican or Democrat win an election?
What can you tell me about the 1976 presidential election?
The Electoral College — can anyone apply?
How do lobbyists influence public policy decisions?
What happens if the president doesn't like a piece of legislation?
What are the legal elements of a crime?
How did the Whiskey Rebellion change people's perception of federal laws in the United States?
How do federal judges get their jobs?
If you are dressed to conform to an informal, verbal dress code but a different, written dress code is enforced and you get in trouble, do you have a First Amendment right to challenge it? My teachers enforce the dress code inconsistently.
How does the CIA recruit people? What types of majors do they typically target?
What is the importance of the Declaration of Independence? Why would the founders of our country need to declare" their freedom? Why is it so important today?"
What is Presidential Veto Power?
What is the purpose of government, and how does a bill become law?
Is there a way, other than retiring, to get out of the Supreme Court (such as being dismissed)?
When did the pocket veto start?
Who would serve as the new president if both the president and vice president resigned?
What was the difference in history between the Middle Ages (Medieval Times) and the Renaissance?
What's a Congressional Page and how do you become one?
Differences Between Public Universities and Private Schools
Entering College Without a Major in Mind
Figure Out Your College Preference
Freshman Dorm Life: Choosing a Roommate
Gain an Edge with Community Service
Apply to College Online
Approach AP Essay Questions with Ease
Choose the Right Dorm
Choosing a College: The Importance of the Campus Tour
Choosing Between a Large or Small College
Get a Clue about Community College
The College Admissions Interview
Get College Info from People around You
Getting Into College: Letters of Recommendation
Getting the Most from Your High School Guidance Counselor
Going to College When You Have a Disability
How College Applications Are Reviewed to Determine Acceptance
How Many Colleges Should You Apply To?
Keep Track of Test Time: Exam Calendar
Know What Colleges Are Looking For
Know Which Exam's Right for You
Pack Your Bags for SAT* Exam Day
Plan Wisely for Campus Visits
Planning High School Summers with an Eye toward College Admissions
Prepare for the Revised SAT*
Put Together a College Admission Timeline
Read the Right Stuff for the AP* English Literature Exam
Save Yourself from Senioritis
Start Earning College Credit Early
Student Diversity as an Important Factor in Considering Colleges
Taking a Year Off between High School and College
Take the Right High School Classes to Get into College
Technology and the College Application Process
Understanding Subject Tests and College Admissions
Understanding Your Academic Average and Class Rank
Weighing One College's Degree Program against Another
Write a College Admissions Essay
What Are College Early Action Admissions Plans?
What Are College Early Decision and Regular Decision Admissions Plans?
What Are College Rolling Admissions Plans?
Where Can I Find Info to Compare Colleges?
Find Out about Federal Student Aid
Filling Out the FAFSA
Get to Know the CSS Profile Form
Getting Financial Aid Information at School
How to Consolidate Private Student Loans
Avoid Negotiating with Financial Aid Offers
Avoid Scholarship Scams
Borrow for College without Going Bust
Building a Budget after College with a Financial Diary
Consider the Federal Work-Study Program
Considering a PLUS Loan
Deal with the FAFSA
Dealing with Private Student Loans during Financial Hardship
Debunking Some Common Myths about Financial Aid
How to Gather Information on Your Private Student Loans
The Differences between Scholarship and Student Loan Payouts
The Federal Pell Grant System
Loan Forgiveness of Your Student Loans
Negotiating Rent on an Apartment
Organize Student Loans with a Private Loans Chart
Overpaying on Student Loans for Quicker Payoff
Places You Might Not Think to Look for Scholarships
Put "Sticker Price" in Perspective
Student Loan Deferments and Forbearance
Try to Sweeten Your Financial Aid Package
Transfer Private Student Loan Debt to Low-Rate Credit Cards
Understanding Repayment Periods on Private Student Loans
What Happens If You Miss a Student Loan Payment?
After the Rush: Pledging a Sorority
Avoid Alcohol and Drug Temptations
Back to School Considerations for Adult Learners
College Professors Appreciate Good Behavior
Consider Studying Abroad
Deal with the Roommate Experience
Decide if the Greek Life Is for You
Decide on a Major
Find Yourself a Used Car for College
Fit Sleep into Student Life
Freshman Year Extracurricular Goals
Get By on a Limited Cash Flow
Get Creative for Summer after College Freshman Year
Get the Hang of the Add/Drop Process
Get with the Program: Internships, Work-Study, and Service Learning
How to Evaluate Campus Life during a College Visit
Job Shadow to Explore Careers
Key In to Effective Study Habits
Maintain Your Mental Health
Make the Most of Taking Lecture Notes
Pack Up for College
Prepare for College Instructor/Student Expectations
Put Together a Bibliography or Works Cited
Research on the Internet
Rule Out Academic Dishonesty
Say No to Dating College Friends' Siblings or Exes
Student Teaching: Test Drive Your Career in Education
Taking a Gamble: Gaming on Campus
Transferring from Community College to Four-Year Institution
Understand Types of Research Material
What to Expect from Sorority Rush
Work at a Part-Time Job
Write a Top-Notch Research Paper
Why do some critics want the 22nd Amendment repealed?
What is guerrilla warfare?
Years ago I learned that our national highway system has built-in runways for emergency landing strips. Is this still true?
What newspapers did Frederick Douglass write for?
I know that the days of the week are all named after Norse or Roman gods or the sun and moon, but I can't figure out what Tuesday is named for. Do you know?
Can you give me a brief history of Prussia?
Who were the Ottomans?
Who discovered oxygen?
What have been the major Israel and Arab conflicts since World War II?
1What does the cormorant (bird) symbolize in mythology?
How did Peter I of Russia come to power?
What can you tell me about Kwanzaa?
What is the Alma-Ata declaration?
I've heard that in some countries, everyone has to sign up for the military between high school and college. Is that true?
How were women treated in Ancient Rome?
What is the history and meaning of Turkey's flag?
How are justices to the US Supreme Court elected Is this a good or a bad thing
How did ounce come to be abbreviated as oz.?
Why did Cromwell dissolve the first Protectorate parliament?
Why does The Great Depression end when the United States enters World War II?
What place did the underworld have in Egyptian mythology?
Can you explain Lincoln's Gettysburg Address in words that a teen can understand?
Who was the most famous mathematician?
Where did Christopher Columbus land when he reached the Americas?
Who had control of more states during the American Civil War, the North or the South?
How did Zeus become ruler of the Greek gods?
Why does Santa Claus have so many names â€” Santa Claus, Saint Nicholas, and Kris Kringle?
What is antidisestablishmentarianism?
What is Leningrad known as today?
Who were the leading figures in the Classical period of music?
Why didn't the Pope allow Henry VIII a divorce, and who was Catherine of Aragon's relative who came and held siege?
Who wrote, A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still"?"
Was the Spanish Armada large, and did its crews have notable sailing skill?
What was the cause of the War of Spanish Succession?
What is the song Yankee Doodle Dandy" really about?"
What's the story of the Roanoke colony?
How does history reflect what people were thinking at the time?
My teacher says there's more than one kind of history. How can that be?
What were the turning points in World War II?
We just started studying Spanish exploration in North America. What makes it so important today?
What was it like for women in the 1920s?
Have Americans always been big on sports?
Who invented baseball?
What did American Indians have to give up for pioneers?
How did imperialism spread around the world?
How did Imperialism in India come about?
What's the big deal about Manifest Destiny?
How did the Tet Offensive affect public opinion about the Vietnam War?
Why did Christian Lous Lange deserve the Nobel Peace Prize in 1921?
Where do the four suits in a deck of cards originate? What do they represent?
What was the Roe v. Wade trial?
Who is Constantine?
I need to know some info on the Monroe Doctrine. I have looked everywhere but I still can't find any information. Can you PLEASE help?
Where did the chair originate from? I was sitting on one the other day and it said Made in China," but where did it first come from?"
What kind of cash crops did they grow in the South in early America?
Everyone talks about how enlightened the Mayans were, but what did they really do?
What caused the fall of the Roman Empire? Did Christianity play a role?
What was the reason for the downfall of the Russian Empire in 1917?
What prompted slavery? Why were the Africans chosen for enslavement?
How did World War I start and end?
What is The Palestinian Conflict?
I don't really understand the French Revolution. What started it, and what stopped it?
What was the doctor's diagnosis of Helen Keller when she was a baby?
What is the Trail of Tears?
When speaking about Native Americans, what is the difference between an Indian tribe and an Indian Nation?
What happened during the Boston Massacre?
What was sectionalism in America before the Civil War?
How did the U.S. attempt to avoid involvement in World War II?
What is Ronald Reagan's Tear down this wall" speech about?"
Can you describe the United States policy of containment and show an example of an event when the policy was used and why?
How many countries are there in the world?
What did Columbus do besides sail to the New World?
My history teacher said that if your religious denomination isn't Catholic, than you are a Protestant. Is she right?
Do you think that Mormons are Christians? What is the full name of the Mormon Church?
What principles of the Belmont Report were violated in the Tuskegee Syphilis Study?
What is the size of Europe in square miles?
The United States was given the right to establish naval bases in the British West Indies during World War II by the British Government in exchange for what?
How were the Crusades a turning point in Western history?
10 Things You Need to Know about College (but Probably Don’t)
Top 7 Secrets of College Success
Heading Off for College? 10 Must-Do's
What does impertinent mean (from The American )?
I know that the verb pluck means to pull out or pull at, but what's the definition when used as a noun?
Which novels would you recommend to 15-year-olds on the theme of places and forms of power?
In The Pearl, why didn't John Steinbeck give the pearl buyers identifying names?
In the play, The Crucible , why would Arthur Miller include the Note on Historical Accuracy?
What is perfidy (from Sister Carrie, by Theodore Dreiser)?
Is being pedantic a good or bad thing?
Is a termagant a type of seabird?
What is ichor (from The Iliad )?
In The Hunger Games, why did Cinna choose to be the designer for District 12?
Is a rivulet really a river, only smaller?
Charles Dickens has this person called the beadle" in lots of his books. Is that like a nickname for a man with buggy eyes or something?"
In Brave New World, why are family words like father and mother viewed as obscene?
What is the main tenet of stoicism?
What's the meaning of obsequious (from Theodore Dreiser's urban novel Sister Carrie )?
Where are the Antipodes (from Much Ado about Nothing )?
What is a truckle bed (from Romeo and Juliet )?
What does truculent (from Great Expectations ) mean?
If someone inculcates you, should you feel insulted?
What does the phrase Ethiop words" mean in Shakespeare's As You Like It ?"
I was chatting with a neighbor who said I was quite garrulous . Nice or mean?
What does laconic mean?
At a restaurant famous for its rude servers, a waitress told me to lump it" when I asked for another napkin. Can you tell me about that phrase?"
What does urbane (from Daisy Miller ) mean?
I thought necro had something to do with being dead. So, what's a necromancer ? Sounds creepy.
In The House of Mirth, this guy named Gus Trenor is eating a jellied plover." Is that some kind of doughnut?"
What are some well-known novels whose titles are quotations from Shakespeare?
In Orwell's 1984, what does the opening sentence suggest about the book?
Understanding the literary genre Magical Realism
What's a prig?
I asked my granddad if he liked his new apartment and he said, It's all hunky-dory, kiddo." What did he mean?"
What does mephitic (from Man and Superman ) mean?
I hate finding typos in books. Here's one I've seen several times: jalousies instead of jealousies.
On the second week of my summer job at a bookstore, my boss handed me an envelope with what she called my emoluments. Looked like a paycheck to me, though.
In To Kill a Mockingbird, what are some examples of the characters having courage?
What's cud? I was once told to stop chewing my cud and get back to work.
What can you tell me about the word patois from The Awakening ?
What are thews (from Ivanhoe )?
What does pot-shop (from The Pickwick Papers ) mean?
Are all dowagers women?
If someone is the titular head of a political party, does it mean they have all the power?
The word flummox confuses me. What does it mean?
Somebody told me I looked pasty. Does that mean I've eaten too many sweets?
I started taking private bassoon lessons. When I arrived at my teacherâ€™s house, he told me to wait in the anteroom. I wasnâ€™t sure where to go.
Is anomalous the same as anonymous ?
I know that a fathom is a unit of measure used by sailors, but how long is a fathom?
What is a joss (from Victory, by Joseph Conrad)?
What does eschew (from The Pickwick Papers ) mean?
What does excrescence (from The Call of the Wild ) mean?
What does the word covert mean?
In Shakespeare's Sonnet 125, what is an oblation ?
In Moby-Dick , what does vitiate mean?
In War and Peace , what does bane mean?
In Jane Eyre , what are chilblains ?
Does mendacious refer to something that is fixable (mendable)?
Is kickshawses one of those weird words that Shakespeare coined? What does it mean?
You say in CliffsNotes that In Cold Blood was Truman Capote's undoing. How?
What is renege , in Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra ?
What is maxim ? I think it's a female name but I'm not sure.
Last Valentine's Day, this guy I barely know gave me a rose and said something about ardent love. What does ardent mean?
In Act I, Scene 1, of King Lear, what does benison mean?
What kind of literature is a picaresque novel?
What does culpable mean?
What's a cenotaph ? Every Veterans Day, I hear about the Queen of England laying a wreath at the Cenotaph in London.
What does gallimaufry mean in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo ? My vocabulary is pretty good, but that one has me stumped!
What does it mean to genuflect ?
Someone told me I was looking wistful. What is wistful ?
In David Copperfield, what does superannuated mean?
Does the word syllogism have something to do with biology?
I see the word benefactor a lot in my reading assignments. Is that somebody who benefits from something?
I found a funny word in The Glass Castle. Where did skedaddle come from and what does it mean?
Does sinuous mean something like full of sin"? I saw the word in The Devil in the White City ."
In Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, what is the meaning of the word propaganda ?
What are characteristics of Modernist literature, fiction in particular?
What does my brother mean when he says he's too ensconced in his studies to look for a girlfriend?
My grandpa complained about a bunch of politicians making what he called chin music . Did he mean they were in a loud band?
What is melodrama?
In Dracula, what's a missal ?
In the terms abject poverty and abject misery, what does abject mean?
In Moby-Dick, what does craven mean?
What does cicatrize mean?
What is a noisome smell" in Tolstoy's War and Peace ?"
What is an apostasy, from the George Bernard Shaw play, Man and Superman ?
In Jane Eyre, what's syncope ?
I just read Dracula. What's the forcemeat in Jonathan Harker's journal?
Can the word stern mean more than one thing?
Where is Yoknapatawpha county?
What does smouch mean?
I'm supposed to write a comparison of Hektor and Achilles from Homer's The Iliad, but I don't know where to start.
How do you pronounce quay ? And what does it mean, anyway?
What are some examples of paradox in the novel Frankenstein ?
In Ivanhoe, what does mammock mean?
What does rummage mean?
Is a mummer some type of religious person?
Some guy I don't like told his friend I was acting all demure. What does that mean?
When I complained about our cafeteria food, my biology teacher told me he wished they'd serve agarics. Was he talking about some kind of dessert?
Where did the name Of Mice and Men come from?
What genre would you consider the book, The Outsiders ?
In Fahrenheit 451, why would a society make being a pedestrian a crime?
What does the phrase, a worn-out man of fashion" mean from Jane Eyre ?"
Is sagacity a medical condition?
My teacher told me I was being obdurate. Was that a compliment?
What motives inspired Iago to plot revenge against Othello?
Who was the first king of Rome?
What does enervate mean?
What is a parvenu ? I saw the word in William Makepeace Thackeray's book Vanity Fair.
Is salubrity somehow related to being famous?
Do capers have something to do with cops?
What's the difference between a soliloquy and a monologue?
In A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, James Joyce uses the word pandybat . What's a pandybat?
Does the word inexorable have something to do with driving demons out of a person?
Do people who prognosticate have some sort of special power?
What is a hegemony, from James Joyce's Ulysses ?
What are fallow fields ? I'm a city gal who heard the term at a 4-H fair and just read it in Anna Karenina.
What's the difference between parody and satire?
Lord of the Flies uses the word inimical. What does it mean?
What does dreadnaught mean, as itâ€™s used in Bleak House?
I saw vertiginous in Madame Bovary. What does mean the word mean?
What does overweening mean, in Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes?
Can you hear a dirge anyplace but a funeral?
Does imperturbable refer to something you can't break through?
What are the seven ages of man?
What is a chimera , in Jane Eyre by Charlotte BrontÃ«?
What's dross ?
What is an injunction ?
For school I had to make a Napoleon hat, which called for a cockade. What is that?
If someone studies assiduously, does it mean they're working really hard or really slowly?
Define mood as it relates to a work of fiction. Distinguish mood from effect.
My sister calls me the Princess of Prevarication." What's prevarication ?"
What's turpitude, as in moral turpitude"?"
What's the definition of tenebrous ?
This biography I'm reading about Queen Victoria says that she refused to remove the hatchment she had for her husband Prince Albert. What does that word mean?
What does sine qua non mean?
What's lugubrious mean?
What's impugn mean, from Ivanhoe?
What does postprandial mean?
I love reading fashion magazines and occasionally come across the word atelier. What is that?
What does King Lear mean when he says that ingratitude is a marble-hearted fiend"?"
What is celerity , from Ivanhoe ?
In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein , what are disquisitions ?
What's shrive ? My neighbor said she's been unshriven for years, but I think her skin looks quite shriveled.
What's a dobbin ?
What's polemic ? Over winter break, my uncle told me I was polemic and asked if I was on the debate team at school.
I came across a list of homonyms: mu, moo, moue . I know mu is Greek for the letter m , and moo is the sound cows make, but what's a moue ?
What does trow mean?
In Far from the Madding Crowd , what does cavil mean?
What does Charles Dickens mean when he says â€œtoadies and humbugsâ€ in his book, Great Expectations ?
Where can I find the word naught in The Scarlet Letter ?
I found an old diary from the 1800s where the writer describes how he almost died but was saved by a sinapism . What is that?
I know what mulch is, but what's mulct ?
When our teacher was introducing the next reading assignment, he said we'll be using the unexpurgated version. What did he mean?
For some reason, the word dingle sticks in my head after having read Treasure Island years ago. I never did discover what it meant. How about it, Cliff?
In Dracula , what's stertorous breathing?
What does philippic mean?
I'm usually pretty good at guessing what words mean, but have no clue about exigence . What is it?
What's doughty ? How do you pronounce it?
What's sharecropping? I'm kind of embarrassed to ask, because it's one of those words everyone assumes you know what it means.
I'm working on my summer reading list with Kafka's The Trial. The very first sentence uses traduce , and I don't know what that means.
What does the cormorant (bird) symbolize in mythology?
I saw the word badinage in the book Uncle Tom's Cabin . Do you think that's a typo that really should be bandage ?
On a TV modeling contest, a judge said, Her simian walk is unbelievable." Was that a good thing?"
What is the definition of adverbiously , from Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities ?
In Oliver Twist , Dodger refers to Oliver as flash companion . Can't find a definition of this anywhere. What does it mean?
Do elocutionists kill people?
For my English homework, I have to write a love poem. I'm only 13 and I haven't had my first love yet. How would I go about writing about feelings that I haven't felt yet?
Where on the body would I find my sarcophagus ?
What's stolid ? It sounds like someone who's stupid and built solid like a wall.
What's a wonton person?
In which play did William Shakespeare state that misery loves company?
What's comfit ? Is it a different way of saying comfort?
Where did the story Frankenstein by Mary Shelley take place?
What kind of person would a shallow-pate be?
What are myrmidons of Justice" in Great Expectations ?"
Faseeshis â€¦ no clue on the spelling, but I kind of got yelled at in school today for being that. What did I do?
In The Red Badge of Courage , what's an imprecation ?
The word portmanteau shows up in a lot of the literature I read for school assignments. It sounds French. What does it mean?
I did something really stupid yesterday, and my grandfather told me I was hoist with my own petard." What does that mean? And what's a petard ?"
How do you pronounce Cymbeline, one of Shakespeare's early comedies?
What's a bourse ? I read it in my finance class.
In The House of Mirth, what are oubliettes ?
In Tess of the d'Urbervilles, what are thimble-riggers ?
In Wuthering Heights , what's a thible ?
Which Hemingway story references the running of the bulls" in Spain?"
What's a clink? My dad mentioned that his granddad was there for a long time during World War I.
If somebody is toady," does it mean they're ugly?"
Who said all's fair in love and war" and where?"
Why is there so much talk about baseball, especially Joe DiMaggio, in The Old Man and the Sea ?
In the movie Failure to Launch , there's a line that goes, Well, she certainly is yar," in reference to a yacht. What's yar ?"
What does mangle mean in Charles Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities ?
I got detention because a teacher said I was being contumacious . What's that?
What are encomiums?
What are billets in The Three Musketeers ?
In Orwell's 1984 , what is doublethink ?
What are orts ? That's a weird word that reminds me of orcs from The Lord of the Rings .
What are alliteration and assonance?
How is John the Savage's name ironic in Brave New World ?
What's quinsy?
What is a doppelgÃ¤nger?
What is New Historicism?
I found the word unwonted in a book I'm reading. Is that a typo, you think?
In Heart of Darkness , what does cipher mean?
In the play The Glass Menagerie, would you describe Tom as selfish?
What does Kantian mean, from a philosophical perspective?
What's a colonnade ? My girlfriend is freaking me out with stories of her dream wedding where she walks down a colonnade. I know this is the least of my problems, but I'm curious.
My grandma says she knows how I feel when I knit my brows. Is she crazy?
Why is Shakespeare's play titled Julius Caesar , even though he is dead by Act III and plays a relatively small role?
I know bier has something to do with dead people, but what is it exactly?
My brainy brother owns a Harley and says his girlfriend is the pillion . Is he insulting her or just showing off?
I ran across the word mien in a book. Is it a typo?
Is a younker a person or a place?
Does precipitancy have something to do with the weather?
I'm writing a grade 12 comparative essay, and I need a book that I could compare with All Quiet on the Western Front. Any suggestions?
A friend says she suffers from ineffable sadness. What's ineffable ?
What's a scow ?
Is a maelstrom some kind of dangerous weather?
What is the meaning of this saying, The cat will mew and dog will have his day"?"
What is a paradox ?
The Picture of Dorian Gray mentions a panegyric on youth. What does that mean?
In Madame Bovary , what's a mairie?
In The Kite Runner, what's palliative mean?
So what's oligarchy ? In government class, my teacher mentioned that word when we were talking about the Blagojevich scandal in Illinois.
Is intrepidity a good thing or a bad thing?
My grandmother told me that she thinks grandpa should see an alienist. Does she think he's from another planet or what?
Do you have to have licentiousness to get your driver's license?
I ran across the word hardihood in something I read the other day. Is it some kind of clothing?
I saw mention of haversack in my history book. What does that word mean?
I'm guessing the word quadroon is four of something. But what's a roon?
I'm trying to understand Shakespeare's play, King Lear . Can you explain these quotes from Act 1, Scene 1?
In Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment , what's a samovar ?
I came across a music channel that featured tejano," and then I saw the same word when I was reading Bless Me, Ultima. What does it mean?"
In The Awakening , there's a term prunella gaiter." I'm guessing that gaiters are a type of covering for your legs, like the gaiters I use on my ski boots to keep snow out. But what the heck is prunella? Is it a purplish color like prunes?"
What's sedulous mean?
In Chapter 2 of Jane Eyre , what are divers parchments ?
A friend of mine said she hopes to get a counterpane for Christmas. What's that?
In Wuthering Heights, what does munificent mean?
The other day, my dad called my friends a motley crew. Is that his way of saying I should hang out with a different crowd?
Why is there an authorship problem with Shakespeare?
What is it called when something is out of place in time, like a jet stream in a movie about ancient Rome?
In 1984 , does Winston die from a bullet at the end of the book or is he in a dream-state?
I saw some old guy in a soldier's uniform selling fake red flowers. He said it was for Veterans Day. What's the connection?
I was kind of flirting with this really cute boy when my teacher told me to stop palavering. Did she want me to stop flirting or stop talking?
My grandmother says when she was a kid in China, she became Catholic because of the Mary Knows nuns. I tried to look that up on the Internet but couldn't find anything. Can you help?
In The Count of Monte Cristo , does cupidity mean love? I'm guessing that because of, you know, Cupid . . . Valentine's Day.
My theater teacher called me a name the other day. I don't think it was supposed to be a compliment. What's a somnambulist, anyway?
Why was Tartuffe such a jerk?
To Kill a Mockingbird has this word fey in it, but I don't know what it means. Does it mean short lived or fleeting?
In Pride and Prejudice , what's probity" &mdash
I never met my grandma, who my mom says lives in a hovel and wants her to move in with us. Then I saw that word in Frankenstein . What's a hovel? I thought it was like a place that had room service.
I have a friend who said something about phantasmagoric. That's not real, is it?
Which of the following literary devices is used in these poetic lines by John Milton?
In Faulkner's A Rose for Emily," what does noblesse oblige mean?"
What is love?
What is suggested by the coin image in Book II of A Tale of Two Cities ?
Why does Satan rebel against God?
I'm reading Candide, by Voltaire, and one of the dudes is an Anabaptist. What's that?
What does the poem Summer Sun" by Robert Louis Stevenson really mean?"
What did Shakespeare want to say about his beloved in Sonnet 18?
In Romeo and Juliet , who was the last person to see Juliet alive?
What is the Catechism?
What is the overall meaning of the poem Before The Sun," by Charles Mungoshi?"
What does ague mean?
Is there a reference to venereal disease in Romeo and Juliet ?
What is fantasy fiction?
What is the exposition in Othello ?
Who is the character Susan in Romeo and Juliet ?
What is a found poem?
What did Alice Walker mean in the essay Beauty"?"
Why did Dr. Frankenstein create his monster?
What is the name of the surgeon and the English ship he's on in Moby-Dick ?
What are the differences between an epic hero and a Romantic hero?
In Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead, does Gail Wynand commit suicide or only close The Banner at the end of the novel? I'm in a literary dispute over this!
What did W.E.B. Du Bois mean when he wrote of second-sight?
What is nihilism, and what should I read to get a better understanding of it?
What is the difference between an atheist and an agnostic?
What are intelligent design and creationism and how are they related?
What is misanthropy ?
I would like to understand the poem Blight" by Ralph Waldo Emerson. Please help."
Can you explain the significance of the question, Which came first, the chicken or the egg?""
In Little Lost Robot," by Isaac Asimov, why have some robots been impressioned with only part of the First Law of Robotics?"
Can you explain Cartesian Dualism and how Descartes' philosophical endeavors led him to dualism?
When reading Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice , what does entailment mean?
What does ignominy mean? (From Shelley's Frankenstein )
What does pecuniary mean? (From Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities )
How do I analyze Kant's philosophy?
What is an apostrophe in Macbeth ?
Is music a language?
Why should literature be studied?
In the book The Scarlet Letter , what is a vigil ?
The first week of school isn't even over yet and I'm already in trouble â€” I forgot my textbook at school and can't do my homework! What should I do now?!
What are the renaissance features/characteristics in Hamlet ?
What is the exact quote in Hamlet about something being wrong in Denmark? Something smells? Something is amiss?
What does Utilitarianism mean, from a philosophical perspective?
What was the form of English that Shakespeare used?
At the beginning of Act V, Scene 2 of Much Ado About Nothing, does Shakespeare insinuate that anything is going on between Margaret and Benedick?
What was the "final solution" in the book Night by Elie Wiesel?
With the many novels out there, is there a database of some sort that can narrow down your choices to a specific book of interest for pleasure reading? And if not, why hasn't there been?
How do you pronounce Houyhnhnms ? (From Swift's Gulliver's Travels )
I just took the quiz on The Great Gatsby on this site. How can Jordan Baker be described as a professional golfer? To my knowledge, the LPGA did not form until the mid-1950s. Shouldn't she be referred to as an amateur golfer instead?
What are the humanities?
If Father, Son, and Holy Ghost aren't names, what is God's name?
What classic novels take place in Florida?
In which Hemingway short story is the saying, "Children's shoes for sale"?
Who is the "lady" that Robert Plant speaks of in the song "Stairway to Heaven"?
Was Odysseus the one who planned the Trojan horse, in the Trojan War?
How do I get my smart-but-hates-to-read son interested in reading?
Poetry gives me problems. How can I figure out what poems are about?
How do you analyze a novel?
What does it mean to ululate ? (From Golding's Lord of the Flies )
Is ambrosia a salad? (From Homer's The Odyssey )
What is a harbinger ? (From Shakespeare's Macbeth )
What does it mean to be refractory ? (From Dickens' Great Expectations )
What is a querulous kid? (From Wharton's Ethan Frome )
What does the word runagate mean? (From Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet )
What is the word, imprimis ? (From Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew )
What does the word alchemy mean? (From Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter )
What is an estuary ? (From Conrad's Heart of Darkness )
What or who is a scullion ? (From Shakespeare's Hamlet )
What is a schism ? (From Swift's Gulliver's Travels )
What does it mean to be salubrious ? (From Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights )
What is a replication ? (From Shakespeare's Hamlet )
What is vicissitude ? (From Hawthorne's The House of Seven Gables )
Can you define indolent ? (From Wharton's House of Mirth )
What does the word replete mean? (From Shakespeare's Henry V )
What are orisons ? (From Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet )
What does it mean to be ephemeral ?
What does it mean to be placid ? (From Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre )
What is a paroxysm ? (From Stoker's Dracula )
My English teacher got really mad when I said I was nauseous . Why?
What does it mean to be farinaceous ? (From Tolstoy's Anna Karenina )
What does dejection mean? (From Shelley's Frankenstein )
What is animadversion ? (From Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter )
What does it mean to be timorous ? (From Shakespeare's Othello )
Someone called me erudite . Is that good?
What is a mountebank ? (From Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter )
What does incarnadine mean? (From Shakespeare's Macbeth )
What does it mean to be puissant? (From Shakespeare's Julius Caesar)
What is a purloiner? (From Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities)
What does it mean to be affable ? (From Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment )
What does it mean to be ostensible ? (From Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court )
What does compunction mean? (From Dickens's Bleak House )
What is behoveful ? (From Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet )
What is a precentor ? (From Golding's Lord of the Flies )
What does it mean to be loquacious ? (From Cervantes's Don Quixote )
What does imprudence mean? (From Ibsen's A Doll's House )
What is a conflagration ? (From Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde )
What does it mean to be spurious ? (From James' Daisy Miller )
What is a retinue ? (From Swift's Gulliver's Travels )
What does the word forsworn mean? (From Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet )
What does the word hauteur mean? (From Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby )
What are vituperations ? (From Jacobs' Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl )
What are ostents ? (From Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice )
What is a sockdolager ? (From Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn )
What does insuperable mean? (From Shelley's Frankenstein )
What is calumny ? (From Shakespeare's Hamlet )
What is an augury ? (From Sophocles' Antigone )
What does squally mean? (From Dickens' Great Expectations )
What does corporal mean? (From Shakespeare's Macbeth )
What does it mean to be plausible ? (From Sinclair's The Jungle )
What is a dearth ? (From Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre )
What does it mean to vacillate ? (From Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest )
What does it mean to obtrude someone? (From Dickens's Great Expectations )
What is a heterodox ? (From Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter )
What is felicity ? (From Austen's Emma )
What does it mean to be effacing ? (From Adams's The Education of Henry Adams )
What is a repast ? (From Chan Tsao's Dream of the Red Chamber )
What does insouciance mean? (From Sinclair's The Jungle )
What is a soliloquy ? (From Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn )
I was reading The Iliad and there's this word in it: greaves . What's that?
What does the word prodigality mean? (From Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby )
Is there an easy way to understand The Canterbury Tales ?
What does the scarlet letter symbolize?
What is the significance of Grendel's cave in Beowulf ?
How did Hawthorne show that Hester Prynne was a strong woman in The Scarlet Letter ?
What purpose do the three witches serve at the beginning of Macbeth ?
What can you tell me about Grendel from Beowulf ?
What figurative language does Stephen Crane use in The Red Badge of Courage ?
Why is Roger so mean in Lord of the Flies ?
How do Gene and Finny mirror each other in A Separate Peace ?
The old man and the young wife — what's up with story plots like this?
What part does vengeance play in The Odyssey ?
What kind of a woman is Penelope in The Odyssey ?
Do fate and fortune guide the actions in Macbeth ?
How does Frankenstein relate to Paradise Lost ?
How has the way people view Othello changed over time?
How does Henry change throughout The Red Badge of Courage ?
What's so great about Gatsby?
How is To Kill a Mockingbird a coming-of-age story?
Why did Ophelia commit suicide in Hamlet ?
What is the setting of The Scarlet Letter ?
What is a slave narrative?
What's an anachronism ?
Doesn't Raskolnikov contradict himself in Crime and Punishment ?
What is the main theme of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn ?
What does Shakespeare mean by memento mori ?
What are inductive and deductive arguments?
How does Alice Walker break the rules" of literature with The Color Purple ?"
What role does Friar Laurence play in Romeo and Juliet ?
Why did Elie Wiesel call his autobiography Night ?
Where did Dickens get the idea to write A Tale of Two Cities ?
What's the purpose of the preface to The Scarlet Letter ?
What role do women play in A Tale of Two Cities ?
Who are the heroes and villains in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn?
What are the ides of March?
Was Kate really a shrew in The Taming of the Shrew ?
What role does innocence play in The Catcher in the Rye ?
How are Tom and Huck different from each other in Huckleberry Finn ?
What is blank verse and how does Shakespeare use it?
How do the book and film versions of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest differ?
What is a satirical novel?
What is the role of censorship in Fahrenheit 451 ?
How can I keep myself on track to get through my summer reading list?
How does Jim fit into the overall theme of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn ?
What is a major theme of The Great Gatsby ?
How does Shakespeare use light and darkness in Romeo and Juliet ?
Who is the narrator in Faulkner's A Rose for Emily"?"
In Lord of the Flies , what statement is William Golding making about evil?
How is The Catcher in the Rye different from other coming-of-age novels?
How does Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird show two sides?
Was there supposed to be a nuclear war in The Handmaid's Tale ? I couldn't tell.
What is experimental theater"?"
Does Jonas die at the end of The Giver ?
What is an inciting incident, and how do I find one in Lord of the Flies ?
How does King Arthur die?
In Julius Caesar , what does this mean: Cowards die many times before their deaths
How do you write a paper on comparing a movie with the book?
Please explain this Kipling quote: Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind.""
What is a tragic flaw?
What is a motif, and how can I find them in Macbeth ?
Why didn't Socrates write any books? After all, he was supposed to be so intelligent and wise.
Why are there blanks in place of people's names and places in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice ?
Was Othello a king? A prince? He's referred to as My Lord" but I'm not sure of his actual title."
I need to download some pictures of Juliet. Where would I find these?
Why does Odysseus decide to listen to the Sirens, in The Odyssey , by Homer?
What does prose and poetry mean? What's the difference?
In The Scarlet Letter, why is the scaffold important and how does it change over the course of the novel?
Why does the legend of King Arthur hold such a powerful grip over us?
Do you like to read books?
What are the metrical features in poetry?
What are the riddles that Gollum asked Bilbo in The Hobbit ?
Can you tell me what these two quotes from Much Ado About Nothing mean?
What is connotation, and how do you find it in a poem?
What is a dramatic monologue?
What is formal fallacy?
In the movie Dead Poets Society, what are some themes and values that are relevant to Transcendentalism. What is Transcendentalism?
Why didn't Mina Harker realize she was under Dracula's spell when she witnessed her friend fall prey to him, too? Wasn't it obvious?
In The Three Musketeers by Dumas, Cardinal Richelieu is labeled as the villain. How could he be presented as a hero instead?
In Romeo and Juliet , what are the different types of irony used? Um, what's irony?
What is the main theme in Fahrenheit 451 ?
In Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities , what fact in Book the Second: Chapters 1-6, confirms Darnay's release?
Why is Invisible Man considered a bildungsroman?
In A Doll's House , what risqué item does Nora reveal to Dr. Rank that eventually prompts him to disclose his own secret?
What is a definition of short story?
What percentage of people are considered geniuses?
How do I write and publish my own novel?
Do I use the past or present tense to answer this question: What is this poem about?" "
A Closer Look at Internships
Consider Working for a Nonprofit Organization
Create a Top-Quality Cover Letter
Deciding Whether to Go for Your MBA
Dress the Part for a Job Interview
Appropriate Attire: Defining Business Casual
Famous Americans Who Started Out in the Military
The Benefits of Joining a Professional Organization
Five Job Interview Mistakes
Getting Good References for Your Job Hunt
Lying on Your Resume
Make the Most of Days between Jobs
Military Career Opportunity: Translators and Interpreters
Network Your Way into a Job
Prepare for a Job Interview
Preparing for Job Interview Questions
Putting Your English Degree to Work
Putting Your Education Degree to Work
Take Advantage of Job and Career Fairs
Tips for a Better Resume
Understand Negotiable Elements of a Job Offer
Visit the College Career Office
Write a Resume That Will Get Noticed
Write a Thank You Note after an Interview
Writing a Follow-Up Letter after Submitting Your Resume
Your Military Career: Basics of Officer Candidate School
Your Military Career: Requirements for Officer Candidate School
Know What to Expect in Graduate School
Paying for Graduate School
Plan for Graduate Education
Tackle the Graduate Record Exam (GRE)
What Does School Accreditation Mean?
Writing Essays for Your Business School Application
Apply to Graduate School
Basic Requirements for Grad School
Choose a Graduate School
Decide if Graduate School Is Right for You
English Majors: Selecting a Graduate School or Program
Getting Letters of Recommendation for Your Business School Application
Graduate School Application: Tips, Advice, and Warnings
Graduate School: Applying as a Returning Student
How to Find a Mentor for Graduate School
How to Prepare for Grad School as an Undergrad
How Work Experience Affects Your MBA Application
Master's Degree in Biology: Choosing a Grad School
In what countries does Toyota produce and market cars?
How would you use the PDSA cycle in your personal life?
I am confused about adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing negative numbers.
Who are some famous female mathematicians?
Given the set of numbers [7, 14, 21, 28, 35, 42], find a subset of these numbers that sums to 100.
The speed limit on a certain part of the highway is 65 miles per hour. What is this in feet per minute?
What is the sum of the angles of an octagon?
In math, what does reciprocal mean?
How many grams in an ounce?
A number is 20 less than its square. Find all answers.
How much is 1,000 thousands?
How do I find the angles of an isosceles triangle whose two base angles are equal and whose third angle is 10 less than three times a base angle?
Explain with words and an example how any number raised to the zero power is 1?
If I had 550 coins in a machine worth $456.25, what would be the denomination of each coin?
What three consecutive numbers add up to 417?
How many 100,000,000s in 50 billion?
Of 100 students asked if they like rock and roll or country music, 7 said they like neither, 90 said they like rock and roll, and 57 said they like country music. How many students like both?
What's the formula to convert square feet into square meters?
In math, what is the definition of order of operations?
What's the difference between digital and analog?
What is the square root of 523,457?
What are all of the prime numbers?
Our teacher told us to look for clues in math word problems. What did she mean?
How do I figure out math word problems (without going crazy)?
What good is geometry going to do me after I get out of school?
I keep forgetting how to add fractions. Can you remind me?
My teacher talks about the Greatest Common Factor. What's so great about it?
Got any tips on finding percentages of a number?
What does associative property mean when youâ€™re talking about adding numbers?
How do I use domain and range in functions?
How do I change percents to decimals and fractions? How about decimals and fractions to percents?
What should I do if my teacher wants me to solve an inequality on a number line?
What is a fast and easy way to work word problems?
How do you combine numbers and symbols in an algebraic equation?
How do I go about rounding off a number?
What is the First Derivative Test for Local Extrema?
Can you describe a prism for me?
How can I double-check my answers to math equations?
How do you factor a binomial?
I get the words mean , mode , median , and range mixed up in math. What do they all mean?
How do you combine like terms in algebra?
Can you make it easier for me to understand what makes a number a prime number?
Explain probability to me (and how about some examples)?
Solving story problems is, well, a problem for me. Can you help?
What's inferential statistics all about?
Finding percentages confuses me. Do you have any tips to make it simpler?
What's a quadratic equation, and how do I solve one?
How do you figure out probability?
How do you add integers?
How do you use factoring in quadratic equations?
What are limits in calculus?
I've looked everywhere to find the meaning of this word and I can't find it. What's the definition of tesseract ?
In geometry, how do you get the perimeters of a square and a rectangle?
What is the absolute value of a negative number?
A rectangle swimming pool is 24m longer than it is wide and is surrounded by a deck 3m wide. Find the area of the pool if the area of the deck is 324m 2 . Where do I even start to solve this problem?
How do you classify numbers, as in rational numbers, integers, whole numbers, natural numbers, and irrational numbers? I am mostly stuck on classifying fractions.
How do you convert a fraction to a decimal or change a decimal to a fraction?
I am trying to find all solutions to this algebra (factoring) problem, x 3 – 3x 2 – x + 3 = 0, and I keep getting the wrong answer. Please help!
Sometimes when I'm doing my pre-calculus homework I need help on some of the problems. Do you know where I can find help on the weekends or whenever?
How do you convert metric measurements?
I'm curious about converting Celsius to Fahrenheit, or Fahrenheit to Celsius. How do I convert from one to the other?
In basic math, the fraction bar shows division. So why does this equation show multiplication instead of division? 9/9 = 1 because 1 x 9 = 9.
I'm taking geometry and I'm having problem with the angles and the degree. Is there a way you can help me out?
The perimeter of a rectangle is 66m. The width is 9m less than the length. What is the length and width of the rectangle?
How many dollars are in 5,000 pesos?
How many ounces in a pound?
I'm having a hard time remembering percent of change. All I have is P (percent) = amount of change over original amount. Is there a better way of understanding it?
How do I figure out tangrams?
What are quadrilaterals?
What is the least common multiple of 8, 6, and 12?
How do you convert decimals to fractions?
How did the planet" Pluto get its name? I know it's named after the mythical god of the underworld, but why?"
What is the difference between the earth's core and its crust?
What does gender really mean?
What does plum pudding have to do with physics?
What is the functionalist perspective in sociology?
What does pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis mean?
Why aren't viruses considered living things?
Why does your breathing rate increase when you exercise?
Everyone says you shouldn't clean your ears with cotton swabs because you could break an eardrum. But if you do break your eardrum, will it grow back?
What is a mole?
How, and why, is body fat stored?
Where on the body do you find ciliated pseudostratified columnar epithelium?
Since she was only married for 72 days, does Kim Kardashian have to give back her wedding gifts?
In the United States, how can you get buried at sea?
What exactly is Salvia divinorum , and is it legal?
What is the composition and volume of whole blood?
Should I refer to a widow as Mrs., Miss, or Ms.?
Is it possible to catch more than one cold at a time?
Why does the Earth have more gravitational force than the moon or some other planet?
Did humans evolve from monkeys or apes?
What is the largest organ in the human body?
How did we end up with both Fahrenheit and Celsius scales?
What is absolute zero?
What is cell theory?
How come when humans flatulate, it smells bad?
How do I convert mL into µL, and vice versa?
What is the most abundant element in the earth's crust?
Is global warming man-made?
What exactly is wind? And why does it blow?
This sounds really disgusting, but I'm curious: Can humans drink animal blood, or any other kind of blood?
Why is space exploration important?
How is photosynthesis essential to life on earth?
What is the highest mountain in New Mexico?
What's the difference between a psychiatrist and a psychologist?
Who are the unbelievers" referred to in The Koran? What is it that they do not believe?"
What is the difference between Sunnis and Shi'ites?
What happens when you die?
Why is it important to memorize where the 50 states are on a map?
What kind of endangered species are there? Can you give me some examples, please?
It's impossible to sneeze with your eyes open, so when you drive a car, is it against the law to sneeze?
What are tectonic plates?
I have boy trouble. I want to ask out my friend, but I am not sure he is going to say yes. Plus, he said he had a girlfriend when we talked during school. Plus, my parents don't want me to date.
Why is the sky blue?
Do you really shrink at the end of the day and then grow in the morning?
What is the difference between matter" and "mass"?"
What does "nature versus nurture" mean?
What are closed contour lines?
What is homeostasis ?
What does the periodic table look like?
Do you know anything about the law of conservation of energy? Is it really a law?
I thought I knew what work means, but my physics teacher defines it differently. What's up with that?
How do plants know when to drop their leaves?
What's the surface of the moon like?
How does the number of neutrons in the nucleus of an atom differentiate it from another atom?
How do big rocks wear down over time?
What does genetic recombination mean?
How has DNA matching really made big difference in finding out who committed a crime?
What's the difference between the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems?
What is incomplete dominance?
Can hydrocarbons be considered compounds?
Can you explain what molar mass is?
Aren't fungi really plants?
What information is contained in a chemical equation?
What are the endocrine and exocrine systems?
How do electrical charges interact?
Are there more than three kingdoms of life? I can never remember.
What are the characteristics of electrically charged objects?
How does anomie theory explain deviant behavior?
Why would anybody think there might be life on another planet?
What are chemical solutions?
Do you know of any way to simplify the overall subject of biochemical genetics?
Can a loud noise really shatter glass?
How do magnetic fields work?
Did Clarence Darrow really call an animal in to testify at the famous monkey trial?
What role does the thyroid gland play in the human body?
What did Mendel discover about heredity when he was playing around with plants?
How many laws of motion did Newton come up with, and what are they?
What in the world is constructive and destructive interference?
How do viruses do their dirty work?
What do bones do, except give us a skeletal structure?
Do all viruses look alike?
My teacher keeps talking about solubility. What does that mean, anyway?
How do positive and negative reinforcement work?
How does nondisjunction relate to birth defects?
With all the germs in the world today, how come everybody's not sick all the time?
What is thermal equilibrium?
How are sound waves created?
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Clearly, gender is out of its traditional order. This disruption of gender roles is also presented through Lady Macbeth's usurpation of the dominant role in the Macbeth's marriage; on many occasions, she rules her husband and dictates his actions.

The disruption of gender roles is also represented in the weird sisters. The trio is perceived as violating nature, and despite their designation as sisters, the gender of these characters is also ambiguous. Upon encountering them, Banquo says, "You should be women, / And yet your beards forbid me to interpret / That you are so" (I.2.45-47). Their facial hair symbolizes their influence in the affairs of the male-dominated warrior society of Scotland. Critics see the witches and the question of their gender as a device Shakespeare uses to criticize the male-dominated culture.

Role of Gender in Macbeth

by Guiding Literature
April 1, 2023 April 1, 2023

Gender plays a significant role in Shakespeare’s play “Macbeth.” The play presents a world where men and women are expected to behave in certain ways based on their gender, and characters who defy these gender roles often face consequences.

At the beginning of the play, Lady Macbeth is presented as a powerful and manipulative figure who is able to control her husband and influence his actions. She encourages Macbeth to pursue his ambitions and become king, and she is willing to use any means necessary to achieve this goal. However, as the play progresses, Lady Macbeth becomes increasingly consumed by guilt and eventually descends into madness. This suggests that while Lady Macbeth is able to wield power and influence, ultimately she is unable to escape the gender expectations of her time and is punished for her defiance.

Lady Macbeth: Warrior or Worrier? - Oxford Education Blog

Macbeth, on the other hand, is presented as a traditionally masculine figure. He is ambitious, brave, and willing to use violence to achieve his goals. However, as he becomes more ruthless and paranoid, he also becomes increasingly isolated and ultimately meets a tragic end. This suggests that while Macbeth is able to embody traditional masculine traits, he too is ultimately limited by his gender and is unable to achieve true success or happiness.

The play also presents a contrast between the masculine and feminine ideals of the time. The witches, who are traditionally seen as a feminine and subversive force, represent chaos and disorder. They are able to manipulate Macbeth and spur him towards violence, suggesting that they have a power that is beyond traditional masculine authority. However, the witches are ultimately punished for their defiance, suggesting that they too are limited by their gender and are unable to escape the consequences of their actions.

The portrayal of gender in “Macbeth” is also evident in the way that the female characters are treated by the male characters. Lady Macbeth is often belittled and dismissed by the male characters in the play, who see her as an overly ambitious and unnatural figure. Lady Macduff, another female character, is also presented as powerless and vulnerable, ultimately meeting a tragic end at the hands of Macbeth’s henchmen. This suggests that in the world of the play, women are viewed as inferior to men and are often victimized by their actions.

In conclusion, gender plays a significant role in Shakespeare’s “Macbeth.” The play presents a world where men and women are expected to behave in certain ways based on their gender, and characters who defy these gender roles often face consequences. Lady Macbeth is a powerful and manipulative figure who ultimately meets a tragic end, while Macbeth embodies traditional masculine traits but is ultimately limited by his gender. The play also presents a contrast between the masculine and feminine ideals of the time, and portrays female characters as often victimized by the actions of the male characters.

Gender Roles in Shakespeare's Macbeth

The delineation of gender roles in Shakespeare's Macbeth yields an array of critiques wrought with contention, most notable in the characterization of Lady Macbeth. While many critics argue that Lady Macbeth's quests for power are irrevocably masculinized, Stephanie Chamberlain claims in Fantasizing Infanticide: Lady Macbeth and the Murdering Mother in Early Modern England that this power is "conditioned on maternity." She argues that Lady Macbeth uses descriptions of infanticide and nursing to undermine the patrilineal order, "momentarily empowering the achievement of an illegitimate political goal." Though perhaps not adhering to traditional gender roles in her attempts to incite Duncan's murder, Chamberlain ultimately maintains that the dominant source of Lady Macbeth's power is poignantly female. While this criticism is certainly valid, the elemental aspects of the play can better be explained by viewing Lady Macbeth's momentary ascension to power as the product of a masculine invocation. In this analytical framework, her use of violent, unnatural images such as infanticide represent, not an attempt to gain power through a "maternal agency,"3 or a traditionally female channel, but a rejection of this channel altogether. Instead, Lady Macbeth attempts to gain power by invoking masculine violence and cold, male indifference. This notion is supported by and explains the unnatural tone that punctuates scenes involving Lady Macbeth and other female characters that threaten what a patrilineal society would deem the "natural gender order." This association between women with male qualities, or women trying to gain power and status through masculine channels (instead of patrilineage) and the "unnatural" provides a basis for Shakespeare to deliver consequences in congruence with the early modern English social context during which the play was written. A violation of the "natural" order, the consequence for Lady Macbeth's invocation of the masculine to access what was traditionally only available to women through their status as mothers, is madness. For the witches, it is alienation.

Related Papers

Saman A Mohammed

William Shakespeare‟s Macbeth was most likely written in 1606, three years into the reign of James I, James VI of Scotland since 1567 before he achieved the English throne in 1603. Macbeth is Shakespeare‟s shortest tragedy yet it is one of his most influential and emotionally intense plays. Macbeth portrays “the paralyzing, almost complete destruction of human spirit” (Shanley 307). Like most of Shakespeare‟s plays, Macbeth deals with the question of kingship and portrays the “problems of legitimacy and succession” surrounding serious political power that belonged to the monarch, the court and the royal councils (Hadfield 27). Numerous historical and literary studies have been conducted about various topics in Macbeth such as human desire, cruelty, and guilt. Gender role and its relation with power also have a great significance to the interpretation of the play. Shakespeare substantially emphasizes the male-female relationship and gender dynamic and does not seem to treat gender simply as binary example of male/female. Shakespeare shows the relationship between gender and power which can be related to the patriarchal discourse of early modern England. He portrays women as major determinants in men‟s actions but “their function varies throughout the canon” and also in distinct categories of either “good or evil, victims or monsters” (Berggren 18, 11). Men are portrayed as strong willed and courageous, but female character like Lady Macbeth is also given a ruthless, power-hungry personality, which is typically, in the period, more associated with masculinity. Lady Macbeth, one of the main characters in Macbeth, is deeply ambitious and her role is essentially important to further understanding Shakespeare‟s presentation of female characters. In this paper, I will provide a brief context of Macbeth in terms of contemporary issues about sovereignty. I will closely examine the role of women in Macbeth, precisely Lady Macbeth, in Macbeth‟s downfall, particularly focusing on how and why Lady Macbeth is an unsettling and disruptive force to the order of the sovereignty. The paper will cover the contemporary issue of witchcraft, to suggest that Lady Macbeth‟s gender can be associated with supernatural subversion, as well as sexual temptation and the period‟s perspective about it. The paper discusses masculinity in relation to Lady Macbeth and the relationship between the plays actions and the natural order to suggest that natural order better reveals Lady Macbeth‟s disruption as well as the notion of monster in Macbeth. This essay will end by discussing the significance of the events that happen to both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth after the murder act and a conclusion.

Alec Leibsohn

Mohammad Jashim Uddin

Feminism is the most common term nowadays as since the 19th century women have been struggling for their rights and for banishing the patriarchal dominance. Women are more united and aware to establish the equity and equality in society, but men in the name of social and religious behaviour always try to enchain women and use how they wish. For these, they change their strategies frequently. As feminism is a discourse and academic discipline, people have attempted to know why and how men have started dominating women. Consequently, reading Shakespeare is important as he creates a lot of women characters in his tragedies. And a deep reading of Shakespeare's Macbeth from a feminist perspective shows how technically Shakespeare introduces Lady Macbeth as a criminal and the so-called fourth witch. Even nowhere does Shakespeare mention what Lady Macbeth's real identity is. That's why, the paper aims at reading the text from a feminist perspective to search the treatment of Shakespeare towards Macbeth and Lady Macbeth and to know why Lady Macbeth's identity is ignored here. To fulfil these, the paper briefly describes the nature of patriarchy and feminism, then the textual analysis critically with these features. Finally, it shows its findings and proves that Shakespeare is not also free from patriarchal tendency.

Vaughn Feuer

Sophia-Maria Nicolopoulos

The aim of the paper is to address instances of violence in William Shakespeare's masterpiece Macbeth (1606) and in Rupert Goold's 2010 TV adaptation, starring Sir Patrick Stewart and Kate Fleetwood. Set in an unidentified Soviet regime, the director ingeniously represents on and offstage violence by placing emphasis on gruesome details and raw animalistic instincts. Firstly, I will shortly elaborate on the nature of violence in Elizabethan drama and then, I will extensively discuss specific instances of violence in Shakespeare's tragedy by referring to scholarly works on the topic. Finally, based on the key terms of film analysis, I will provide my own interpretation of Goold's TV film.

Ramona Rizescu

Journal of Educational and Social Research

Amir Hossain , Arburim ISENI

In this paper, our purpose is to depict the feminist message as articulated in Shakespeare’s Macbeth and Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler by portraying Lady Macbeth and Hedda Gabler who are representatives of Elizabethan England and the 19th century Scandinavian Bourgeois society and culture respectively. Through these female protagonists, both dramatists wanted to expose their contemporary situation of the female community. Both Hedda and Lady Macbeth have raised a fiery voice or initiated a dreadful revolution against the patriarchal rule, power, and domination with a view to attaining self-pelf, self-power, and self-domination. In these two plays, both Shakespeare and Ibsen have prioritized the female identity, revolt, and dominance more than the male order and custom. This paper also aims to discuss the character of Lady Macbeth as the matriarchal influence upon the patriarchy, the ambitious crime, woman’s idea upon masculinity, Lady Macbeth’s effort to repudiate womanhood, her femininity versus her unnatural resolve, her fear and remorse, her sleep-walking; Hedda is also viewed as a maladjusted, neurotic, unfulfilled, unnatural woman, full of nervous energy and longings-gliding to irresistible selfdestruction. Here, I have tried to highlight the critical judgments of several critics based on the character-analysis of the two powerful female protagonists. Considering the femme fatale characters of Shakespeare and Ibsen, the most renowned and powerful playwrights writing in English and Norwegian language respectively, especially the powerful and domineering female protagonists cum heroines, Lady Macbeth and Hedda Gabler, this paper proposes to draw attention to the play-texts of both dramatists as the embodiment of the 21st century radical feminism as well. Keywords: "Lady Macbeth", "Hedda Gabler", Shakespeare, Ibsen, and Post-Feminism

Macbeth: New Critical Essays

Julie Barmazel Stiebritz

Published at the conference proceedings of The Kristeva 2017, University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

Amir M Andwari

Journal of The American Chemical Society

rashmi gupta

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Lady Macbeth

Ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

History, Memory, and Storytelling Theme Icon

Gruadh (Lady Macbeth) lives in a world strictly segregated by gender. Women in the eleventh-century Scotland of the novel are expected to be quiet and domestic, to either be wives and mothers or to pursue some female-dominated occupation like midwifery. Their lives are dedicated to running a household and to producing and raising babies. Everything outside of the walls of the home, meanwhile, is the domain of men. Gruadh, too, is burdened by expectations that she will act like a “lady”—that is, that she will be docile and subservient, content to do little more than sew and rear children. However, Gruadh is not satisfied with being boxed in, and in the end, this trait serves her well. As a queen, she is required to be both traditionally masculine and feminine, soft and maternal yet unsentimental and brave. Gender roles are more flexible than they appear, and it is only by incorporating aspects of masculinity and femininity into her identity is Gruadh able to be a successful ruler and equal partner to second husband, and eventual king, Macbeth .

Gruadh is constantly pressured to be more lady-like and stick to women’s work. Early in the novel, her father, Bodhe , rejects her request to learn sword craft. He points out that she knows how to read and run a household, and suggests this, and the knowledge she will once day have a powerful husband, is enough. He sees being a woman, even a powerful woman, as antithetical to being a warrior. Gruadh learns how to run a household (a woman’s traditional job) from Dolina , her stepmother, and runs the households of both her first husband, Gilcomgan , and her second. Although sometimes when Gilcomgan is gone she is able to practice sword fighting, he discourages her, saying, “I want sons of you […] not wounds.” He only wants her in one role—that of a wife and mother.

Catriona , a medicine woman, argues that men “understand life and death differently than women. Ours it to give birth, life, and comfort. We cannot bring ourselves to take life, knowing its struggle and value.” Gruadh resents this “saintly show of opinion,” and, indeed, the novel ultimately presents such expectations of femininity to be dangerously restrictive. Gruadh argues that she would kill if she had to, and later makes good on that promise, killing a soldier who attacks her and Lulach .

Gruadh is aware of how a woman should comport herself but finds it difficult to act in the way expected of her and often directly chooses not to. Maeve , Gruadh’s nursemaid and friend, tells Gruadh that she is infertile because “willfulness and old grief” are “poisoning your womb. You want to be a warrior, and you want to be a mother.” Her suggestion is that not only are Gruadh’s masculine attitudes unladylike, they’re literally changing her body so she cannot perform the duties expect of a contemporary wife.

After her husband is killed by Macbeth, who then comes to her castle to forcibly wed her, Gruadh does her best to show him that she is not frightened and refuses to run. Instead, although many months pregnant, she chooses to confront Macbeth herself. Maeve warns that “a woman will not dissuade men intent on mayhem,” but Gruadh is not deterred, grabbing a sword to defend herself and her home, reasoning that she could “let the edge of my blade turn them away.” Upon seeing her, Macbeth similarly notes, “It is not seemly for a woman to be warlike, especially one in your state,” but Gruadh doesn’t care what is seemly when she is protecting her family. Although Gruadh understands how a woman “should” act, when it goes against her priorities or principles she ignores societal pressure to be feminine.

In the end, Gruadh’s refusal to follow strict guidelines of femininity serves her well. As Macbeth’s wife, Gruadh understands that she must maintain the domestic sphere but also that she must learn more about traditionally “masculine” areas of politics and the military. She notes, “I knew that a mormaer ’s wife must be aware of such issues, and the wider scope of the world beyond her household.” When Macbeth prepares to meet Duncan in battle, Gruadh insists on coming with him. She tells her husband “I will not wait in the hall with my needlework to hear word of your fate,” explaining, “You are Moray , and I am the lady here. Our region, and your very life are threatened this day. If the people see both of us riding at the head of our army, I believe they will rally behind Macbeth with greater loyalty than before.” Although he tries to resist Gruadh will not be dissuaded and the pair march together.

Graudh’s estimation proves correct: Macbeth observes, “Your presence is attracting more to our army, just as you thought,” and Gruadh even inspires other women to take up arms and join the attack. Although not quite yet a queen, she demonstrates that she has the intelligence, strategy, and bravery required.

As a mormaer’s wife and as queen of Scotland, Gruadh is required to be both hard and soft, to understand motherhood and the creation of life as well as war and the destruction of it. Although the binary of masculinity and femininity is reductive (men can and should be interested in domestic affairs and parenthood, women can and should be interested in politics), Gruadh manages to inhabit the best characteristics of both halves of this binary, and this helps her become a successful and powerful queen. What she understands, and what few others manage to grasp, is that the role of a queen requires strength and independence generally not expected from women. After Maeve argues that a woman “tends to matters inside the home” while a man “tends to matters outside,” Gruadh thinks to herself, “ A queen tends to both .”

Gender Roles ThemeTracker

Gender Roles Quotes in Lady Macbeth

Drostan, who has long known me, has a fine hand with a pen and hopes to write a chronicle about me. This would be an encomium, a book of praise, for his queen. I told him it was a silly notion. […] From what my advisors say, Malcolm Canmore— ceann mór in Gaelic, or big head, two words that suit him—will order his clerics to record Macbeth’s life. Within those pages, they will seek to ruin his deeds and his name. My husband cannot fight for his reputation now. But I am here, and I know what is true.

“A princess of Scotland has no use of those skills.” “Scathach was also a princess,” I pointed out. “Scathach of the old legends, who had a school for fighting on the Isle of Skye and taught the heroes of the Fianna their skills—”

“I know the tale,” he said curtly. “Those were older days. It is not your place to fight, but ours to defend you, if need be.” […]

“I am your direct heir now,” I reminded Bodhe. “I must be prepared, since you say I could be a queen one day, and my husband a king. So men will always argue over me, and more deaths will occur on my account.” […]

“You have a warrior spirit,” he admitted, “for a gently raised daughter.”

“Scathach of Skye,” I reminded. “No one would have stolen her away.”

Magic, Tradition, and Religion Theme Icon

“The truth is in what Moray offers,” [Bodhe] said. “Every mormaer of that region has an ancient right tot be called Rí a Moreb, king of Moray. His wife can be called ban-rí, queen. Just now, Gilcomgan and King Malcolm support one another. But if the Rí a Moreb ever summoned men to revolt, the strength of that army would be such that the mormaer of Moray could himself be king over all Scotland.”

“And marriage to me could ensure that for Gilcomgan. Or for our son,” I added. […] He looked hard at me. “Even carrying the blood of Celtic kings, you cannot rule alone. You need a strong and ambitious husband. “Our blood needs one,” I corrected bitterly.

In the afternoon I looked up toward the ridge of a hill and saw a stand of tall pikes thrusting up like slender trees. The point of each carried a decapitated head, black and gruesome, pitch-soaked to preserve them a long while, until they decayed to skulls […] Aella gasped, near to retching, and hid her eyes with her hand. Bethoc looked away. But I stared, horrified and transfixed, even when Ruari and Conn drew their horses alongside to urge us onward. I remembered that my guard and my only brother had been beheaded but […] never piked.

I would not shrink form the grim display Someday I might have to show toughness for such things, even if I quailed within. As wife to Scotland’s most powerful mormaer, it was in my interest to understand the ways of men and warfare. My own life might turn on that knowledge one day.

Together they had conspired to kill Gilcomgan and wrest Moray from him. Macbeth had overtaken my future, and my child’s, out of his own ambition and desire for revenge. My fingers let go the clutched yarn, red strands unraveling like blood to pool on the floor. I turned to leave, to suppress my anger, as Bodhe might have done. But I was not my father.

Swords sparked bright against the wall, where a few of them leaned, unused. One of them was my own. I snatched it up and turned back to face the men. “Upon this sword, which Bodhe gave to me,” I said, “I swear to protect my child from all your cold scheming. Listen to me,” I said through my teeth when Macbeth stepped forward. “No more of Bodhe’s blood shall suffer for your ambitions!”

They stood still, king, husband, and housecarls. An oath made on a blade was a fierce thing and never taken lightly. I wanted them to understand that I was not helpless, no pawn to stand by while their plans destroyed by father’s proud line. Wild Celtic blood ran strong in me, a legacy of warriors, warrior queens, and sword oaths. It was not the wisest thing I have done; it was something foolish, something brave.

Peace and acceptance were not pretty threads in my wool basket that winter. I realized that I was alone in my resentment and anger. Others readily accepted Macbeth as the new mormaer, soon calling him Moray when they addressed him. […]

One day Maeve pulled me aside. “Find some peace for yourself,” she said. “This grief and torment will poison your babe.”

That night I sought out Elgin’s little wooden chapel, intending to pray for serenity and forgiveness. When I pushed open the door, I saw that Macbeth was already there, on his knees before the alter. He wore only a simple long shirt and trews, and for a moment I did not know him. His head was bowed, glinting dark gold in the light of candles. I saw him cover his face, and then he prostrated himself on the worn planks of the floor like a suffering pilgrim. Faith is a private thing to my thinking, and here I witnessed an intimate side of the man. He appeared contrite, even tormented. I guessed at his sin, the murder of his first cousin Gilcomgan. By the teaching of the Church, it could blacken his soul and affect him for all eternity come judgment Day, if not expunged.

Backing away, I closed the door. I felt a stir of sympathy for a man who felt such clear anguish within himself. When I wanted to hate him most, I could not. By inches and breaths, my resentments faded, much as I strived to stoke them.

“I hear,” Macbeth said, “that wives of other mormaers, even kings, stay at home where they are safe, and keep mute about steel-games unless asked for their opinion.”

“I am none of that cloth.” […]

Walking through dry sand to meet my friends, having witnessed by husband do cold murder, I yet felt a stirring admiration for him as a capable warlord. That day, as at other times, he had demonstrated uncompromising will, as well as physical ability and courage. He revealed a strong sense of what was right and what was not, and what was possible between those points—and he took steps to achieve it.

Whether or not he knew it, I considered myself his capable equal, not a subservient wife. Raised by a warlord in a nest of warriors, I would not be regarded as significant in my small household circle, only to be dismissed beyond its boundaries.

“Men,” Catriona said, “understand life and death differently than women. Ours is to give birth, life, and comfort. We cannot bring ourselves to take life, knowing its struggle and value.”

Somehow this saintly show of opinion irritated me. “If I had to kill to save a life, mine or my son’s,” I said, “I would do it.”

“Rue is trained at arms,” Bethoc said proudly.

“Lady Gruadh has a stiffer backbone than I do,” Catriona said. “It is my work to bring life into this world. My heart is far too tender to destroy it.”

“That is not my intent,” I defended. “The lady of a powerful region must have a martial spirit as well as a virtuous one. I would not hesitate to put on armor and take up a sword, if such was needed for the good of all.”

“There must be some kind of justice and recompense for these deaths!” “Justice will be brought,” Macbeth said low.

“When?” I asked, splaying my hands, slim fingered and beringed, on the table. Such feminine hands for such hard masculine thoughts. The urge sprang in me like a dark wolf within. I did not like it, but fed it nonetheless. It is the way of things, Bodhe would have said. “When will you avenge my kinsmen? Tomorrow? A year from now?” […]

“If one of Bodhe’s bloodline held the throne someday,” my husband then said, “it would be far more lasting revenge than bloodshed now.”

“The old legends are filled with such women—the great Irish queen, Macha, and Princess Scathach of Skye, who trained warriors in her fighting school, and also her sister Aoife, who bested Cu Chulainn and bore his son […] Celtic women have fought beside their men since before the names of kings were remembered. And even though Rome forbids Gaelic women to fight, it is rightful enough according to our customs.”

“They forbid with good reason,” Maeve said, bouncing Lulach on her lap. “Women have enough to do and should not have to go out and fight men’s battles, too.” […]

“The eyes of the Church cannot easily see beyond the mountains of the Gaels,” I said, “where warlike behavior in a woman is not sinful heresy, and is sometimes even necessary.” And I remembered my early vows—as a girl taking up a sword to defend herself, as a woman swearing on a sword to defend her own. Another facet of my obligation to my long legacy came clear: if others were so set on eliminating my line, and I and Lulach the last of it, then I would be steadfast as any warrior.

“Your weapons practice and your desire for vengeance,” Maeve told me one day, “are hardening you, dulling the bed of your womb. How can you expect to conceive a child when you feed yourself on spite and anger? Those are poisons for the body.”

She made me think, I admit, and she made me wonder. But I did not stop, not then. […]

“Your wish for vengeance is sinful,” [Father Osgar] told me one day after confession, when we walked a little. “But it is understandable. Let prayer and faith heal you.” “I cannot give it up,” I said. “I am not yet done with this.”

“Give it up or keep it close,” he answered, “but know that until you find some peace in your heart, I will pray on your behalf. Grief is sometimes like a sharp-toothed demon that gets hold of our hearts. But its grip weakens with time, and one day you will be free of it.”

“Your husband Macbeth will be remembered among the greatest of his ilk, the kings of Scotland,” she said. “One of your sons will be a warrior. Not the others.”

“Others,” I repeated, pleased. “Monks, then, or abbots? Bards, perhaps.”

“They will not be,” she murmured slowly, eyes very dark, “warriors.”

A shiver slipped down my spine. […]

“Carry this warning to your husband. I have told him the same, but tell him again from me. Beware the son of the warrior whose spilled blood will make him a king.”

I stared. Her cloak, when she turned, was a swirl of utter blackness, so that I stepped back for fear the portal to the other side, open that night, might overtake me.

I did not repeat her message to Macbeth.

Although I had a place on his war council, lately he had not included me, claiming I needed rest. I did not. I needed something more to do, for my household was smoothly run, and my son was finding his way in the world more and more without his mother. With no other little ones to fill my arms, as I should have had by then, I lacked enough to do. […] I watched carefully as I could over Macbeth’s Moray in his absence, and the responsibly was no chore. Later I realized that in small and large ways, I had begun to prepare myself for what might come. Queenship in its many aspects was not a teachable thing, yet instinctively I tutored myself with charitable works and sword training. Inch by ell, I became the small queen of Moray in more than name alone.

I brought my dilemma to Macbeth, too. “What if God is punishing me for grievances and ambitions, for sometimes wanting you to be king, no mater the cost?”

“Be patient,” he said, as he often did. “What will we give our children without the kingdom that is our lineage, and theirs? All will come to us in time, including sons.”

Maeve, who wanted me to produce another babe so that she could knee-nurse again before she was too old, said she knew what was wrong. “It is willfulness and old grief, poisoning your womb. You want to be a warrior, and you want to be a mother. A woman keeps to home and family, and tends to matters inside the home. A man keeps to war games an tends to matters outside.”

A queen tends to both, I wanted to say, but did not. She would not understand.

“I made a sword vow years ago to protect my own, and I will keep it. I have a home and a son to protect, and I have a husband to support as best I can. All my life I have lived a female among Celtic warriors. My sword arm is trained, my bow and arrow are swift, and I have already bloodied the blade. Know this—my determination is in place. I will go with you.”

Macbeth took my horse’s bridle. “Each one who rides with me contributes to the whole. Your skill I will not argue, but your fortitude is little tested. You would require guards to protect you, and that detracts from the whole.”

“Have you not made it your purpose to uphold the old ways, the ancient ways, of the Gaels and the Celts?” The horse shifted under me, and I pulled the reins. Macbeth still held the bridle. “Celtic women have always fought beside their men.”

Watching the prow of the boat surge through lapping waves, I knew that I had protected Malcolm from retaliation. By honoring my promise to his mother and following my own heart as a mother, I had prevented his murder as a boy. And he had returned, just as the mormaers had warned. I had brought this tragedy about.

But if that chance came again, I could not order the deaths of children. A devil’s bargain, that, to choose sin or grief. Closing my eyes, I rested my face in my hands and struggled, overcame a weeping urge. What I had done had been most rightful, though it came with a hard price. It was the way of things.

Gender in Macbeth

There were few social codes that were more important to people in jacobean england than the codes of conduct for how men and women should behave. our gender assigned us the role that we should play in society and breaking or bending them would have been frowned upon by anyone in the mainstream., but at the heart of macbeth is a couple who break the traditional gender roles, and in doing so flip the entire kingdom on its head., most modern writers tend to focus on how lady macbeth challenges the traditional gender role by being a woman who desired political power, though i'd argue that this misses the real core of the play which was macbeth wrestling with his masculinity., in a post feminist world, it's easy to look at historic men as having freedoms that women didn't have, and although this was true, it didn't mean that men weren't also shaped by powerful expectations on how to behave., the unwritten codes of masculinity and femininity were powerful. macbeth and his wife break them, seize power and bring havoc on the kingdom..

Masculinity in Macbeth

Given how many men would have seen battle, it's no surprise that a lot of masculinity has its roots in the army: you remain loyal to your brotherhood; you don't flinch at the sight of blood; you shouldn't feel emotions like fear or sadness; you should be brave and honourable; you remain true to your word, and maintain a sense of honour and dignity, protecting both with your life., in fact, it wasn't uncommon for men during elizabethan or jacobean england to fight to the death if they were accused of lacking honour, or breaking their word. you can see some of the 'best' of jacobean masculinity by looking at the codes of chivalry that medieval knights used to live by., however, there's also a strange irony here: a lot of the old codes of masculinity were also rooted in protecting women, and as times have gone by the idea of protecting women started to change until it became oppressing them. when you think about the outcomes, it's no surprise that 'protecting' and 'oppressing' end up being so similar, though the initial desire is very different. whichever way you look at it, by jacobean england - and for many centuries afterwards - women were kept locked up at home and were actively discouraged from seeking any role in public life., as a play macbeth encourages this attitude by presented the horrors that come about when masculinity is tempted and led astray by a woman (in many respects it's really just a re-telling of the story of adam and eve. ), on these terms the plot is quite simple:, macbeth is a good man - heroic, brave, loyal, etc... but he cannot stand up to the women in his life (either his wife or the witches) and so he breaks one of the most fundamental codes of masculinity and betrays and murders a man who is his friend, his family member, and his king - while the man was visiting his house macbeth explores what happens when a man chooses his loyalty to his wife over his loyalty to his masculine code of honour. in the end, as was to be expected ends up breaking even more codes of honour: he kills his best friend; he kills macduff's wife and child; and, in the end, he can't even save his wife., one of the most telling features of macbeth, however, is the role of the play's hero: macduff. firstly, macduff chooses his loyalty to the kingdom over his wife (which is why his wife gets killed without his protection); and secondly he is, quite literally, the furthest any man can be from womanhood: he is not even of woman born. and, in fact, to look at the actual language being used, macduff wasn't just 'not born of woman' his birth was an act of violence against women because he was from his "mother's womb untimely ripped.", key quotes:, the sergeant's speech during a1 s2 - so much of this speech is setup to establish macbeth as a heroic, brave and honourable man. the fact that he has earned " brave macbeth " as his name - and remember how important names were to jacobean men; the fact that his sword " smoked with bloody execution " confirms that he is killing with duncan's law on his side; and the fact that he " carved his passage ," while " disdaining fortune " suggests that he makes his own rules and doesn't worry about money or fate to guide him., my thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical, / shakes so my single state of man that function / is smother'd - here, m a cbeth is arguing that the thought of killing duncan is so abhorr e nt to his masculin ity (his "state of man") that "function is smothered" which means he won't be able to act on it. there's a really interesting extension thought here which argues that the "state of man" is actually the patriarchy itself - the "state" by which "man" governs. and in this respect, you could argue that the way he's influenced by the witches and his wife is actually a threat to the patriarchy itself., he's here in double trust - this comes from the speech macbeth delivers in a1 s7 where he lists a whole host of reasons why killing duncan is an affront to his masculinity, not least the fact that duncan trusts him and macbeth is about to break his word and betray and murder a family member, a friend and an honourable king., to show an unfelt sorrow is an office / which the false man does easy. - malcolm says this after his father's dead body is discovered. essentially, malcolm doesn't trust those around him because he knows that they lie. the key here is that a "false man" can lie and cheat, things which were traditionally considered to be more feminine traits - though when women did them they were considered to be sly and cunning, both of which were considered more feminine., when you durst do it, then you were a man, i dare do all that may become a man; / who dares do more is none., macbeth spends quite a lot of the play trying to prove that he's a man. during the opening he single-handedly fights off the norwegians to prove his masculinity. his wife, however, has different ideas of what constitutes a man and she wants to see him take the throne. in order to do this, she challenges him by claiming that he's not a real man unless he kills duncan. this puts macbeth in a difficult situation, as if he betrays duncan then he's betraying his masculine loyalty, but if he doesn't his wife will think him less masculine and he'll feel the shame from that. in the end he kills duncan, and suffers the consequences., killing banquo and macduff's wife and children - having first betrayed his masculinity by siding with his wife's vision of it and killing duncan, macbeth does two of the worst things a man can do: he kills his best friend, a defenceless woman and a child. and if that wasn't bad enough, in both of these cases he went one step worse and arranged for someone else to actually carry out the murders. before she's murdered though lady macduff launches into an attack against her husband for leaving them defenceless. in the play this serves two purposes: on one level it makes her death seem less tragic, as she clearly didn't understand why it was more important for macduff to stay with his king rather than defend his family; and on another level it emphasises how little either she or lady macbeth really understand about the roles and responsibilities of men - and remember that the two of them are the only female characters in the play who were even given names, so it's really a comment about women in general., feel it as a man - when macduff hears that his wife and children are dead malcolm tells him to "dispute it like a man." malcolm is both encouraging macduff to join him in his battle against macbeth, and he is reminding him that it is his male duty to avenge himself. macduff says he will but first he must "feel it as a man." this is really telling, as it shows that macduff can transcend genders. but he's not like lady macbeth who wants to be rid of gender, macduff will revenge himself like a man, but first he will feel it - which means embracing what is considered more feminine., from my mother's womb untimely ripped - the more i read macbeth the more misogynist i find it - which means that the play seems to be quite insulting to women. this isn't to say that shakespeare was a misogynist, but this is definitely a misogynist play, and this fact is never better highlighted than remembering the fact that macduff - the hero of the play - was as far as it is possible to be from womanhood. bear in mind that shakespeare could have chosen anything unique about macduff to give us that great twist at the end, but he chose to use someone whose main feature is that they are not, in any way, associated with women. and not only that, this man is so far from women that he was created from an act of violence against women. this is pretty horrific to think about, but perhaps more understandable when you reflect on the fact that this was written to please king james who lost his mother when he was less than one-year-old and who, quite possibly, could have related to someone who was from their mother "untimely ripped.", femininity in macbeth, one of the first things to reflect on in macbeth is that there are only a few female characters in the play: the three witches, hecate, lady macbeth, lady macduff and a servant of lady macbeth's. that's it. and from that list, the three witches, hecate and lady macbeth are all pretty evil characters, while lady macduff only really appears briefly before being killed., this play is not shakespeare's finest moment when it comes to female parts., having said that, by modern terms, lady macbeth is a pretty rockingly good part to play - she's got some amazing lines, and really runs the show... right up to the point when she gets killed / kills herself for reasons that remain a little unclear. you can read more about this when i looked at guilt ., but the fact is that the female characters in this play are almost all evil, corrupting influences; and the only one that isn't is lady macduff whose only real job is to die. this isn't a surprise though, because, as a play, macbeth is just very misogynist. this doesn't mean that shakespeare was a misogynist, though this particular play probably is; and it doesn't mean that interpreting the play this way makes me - or you - a misogynist, since calling out misogyny where you see it is a feminist act, not a misogynist one., it's actually quite hard to look at the feminine in macbeth though - the witches are clearly evil, and are described almost straight away as looking like men; lady macbeth is also evil, and almost straight away she casts a magic spell to remove gender from her. so really, even the female characters have their genders quite muddled., what there is in this play, however, is a group of women who desire power - the witches like causing havoc and control macbeth to bring that, while lady macbeth is clearly the ambitious one in her relationship. in this respect, the play itself is a warning against allowing women too much power. when women try to seize power, the natural order collapses. to get another view on this, it's worth checking out this page that looks at the play as being a reworking of the story of adam and eve ., as a final point about this, it's worth bearing something important in mind:, shakespeare wrote this play to please king james, and king james had quite a troubled upbringing: his dad was killed, then his mum married the man who'd killed him; then she was exiled from scotland, and then jailed in england - and all that happened before james was one year old. in the end, james was brought up by his uncle, a man who'd openly said that he didn't think women should ever sit on the throne. james's mum was eventually beheaded by queen elizabeth when james was 21-years-old., given his quite tumultuous upbringing, it's not a surprise that james had some clear issues with women. issues that eventually led him to write a book that justified his fear of witches, and led him to try, torture and then burn at the stake a woman called agnes sampson , who'd apparently drowned a cat in order to invoke a storm that made james's wife a little seasick., anyway, the net result is that although this play is very misogynist, that's not necessarily shakespeare's fault because he wrote this play to impress the new king, who probably was really quite misogynist. in fact, there is some evidence to suggest that shakespeare didn't even like this play very much, evidence to suggest he thought it was a " tale, told by an idiot, full of sound and fury and signifying nothing. " and that's the kind of line that makes me wonder what he'd think about us all teaching it 400 years later....

Macbeth and Oedipus

This is a bit of a weird one, so hold onto your hats before you go down the rabbit-hole....

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2 Femme Fatale: Exploring the Dangers of the Gender Binary in Macbeth

Alyssa Mendonca

William Shakespeare’s Macbeth explores the link between gender and power, often associating callousness and brutality with ‘true’ masculinity. The catalyst of the tragedy lies in the Macbeths’, especially Lady Macbeth’s, view of manliness as an internal essential while antithetically insisting on outward acts as ‘proof’ of it. I suggest that the reason for their downfall is due to this irreconcilable view of gender. My adaptation of act 1 scene 5 highlights the inherent performativity of gender by portraying Lady Macbeth as a faceless drag queen being stripped of her external feminizing garments by the non-binary witches. Thus, the “unsexing” scene in Macbeth illustrates Shakespeare’s emphasis on the performance of gender and the existential dangers of viewing it as an essence rather than a projected exteriority.

I chose to represent Lady Macbeth as a faceless drag queen because the drag industry emphasizes gender performativity, she is reminiscent of Shakespearean cross-gendered casting, and it highlights the loss of identity as a consequence of gender essentialism. Naomi Jacobsen reminds us that Shakespearean theatre began as a “cross-gender form” (“Women Merely Players” 00:15:25-00:15:30); young boys in feminine costumes appeared on stage because it was one of the few places one could “discuss a woman having power because in fact she didn’t really have [it]” (00:08:18-00:08:23). Lady Macbeth seems the play’s catalytic female powerhouse however Shakespeare reminds us that her gender is performative: “Come, you spirits / That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here” (1.5.47-48). This passage is traditionally understood to be Lady Macbeth’s invitation to be stripped of her feminine weakness however, considering the role’s being originally played by a male, the line linguistically emphasizes gender as an illusory representation rather than a concrete reality. My adaptation of this scene as a drag performance echoes the sentiment that Shakespeare “writes people [not…] gender” (“Women Merely Players” 00:07:57-00:07:59) because his poetry calls attention to the performance of gender both on and off the stage. This aspect of Shakespeare’s poetry powerfully illustrates the danger of adhering to binary thinking as a society in which theatrical displays of gender performativity—and therefore fluidity—are ‘acceptable’ only because “the various conventions which announce that ‘this is only a play’ allows strict lines to be drawn between performance and life” (Butler 527). When gender fluidity is witnessed off-stage, it is met punitively (522) because it contests society’s gender essentialism that insists men and women are fundamentally different due to biological make up. Lady Macbeth’s personal tragedy stems from the fact that she views masculinity as biological, attempting to make it run in her blood (1.5.50) while telling her husband that his masculinity can only be achieved by performing ‘masculine’ acts like ambition-motivated murder. Because she acts gender herself, swapping between “actual performances” (5.1.13) of feminine hostess and masculine master, but only accepts gender as essential, she finds herself in an irreconcilable dilemma that erases her identity and confines her to the silent suffering woman trope by the end of the play.

In terms of dress, I decided that key garments—the breastplate, corset, and skirt—should be made separately, deliberately put onto the model after the body was painted to creatively embody the process of what feminist scholar Judith Butler calls “the crafting of gender.” Drag Lady Macbeth’s male body is made to be perceived as feminine via garments which produce a visual metaphor of womanliness. I painted the breastplate on a separate piece of paper and carefully cut out the gap for the neck to highlight its removability and its ability to portray a woman only if it is put on. This garment is reminiscent of Lady Macbeth’s metaphorical transformation of Macbeth’s “milk of human kindness” (1.5.17), a compassion just as nourishing as a mother’s milk, into the “gall” (1.5.55) of her female breasts. Next, I cut the corset out of a magazine cover and drew the ribbing onto it before pasting it on; this garment represents the suffocating restrictions of adhering to strict gender binaries which are “put on […] under constant constraint, daily and incessantly, with anxiety and pleasure” (Butler 531). This kind of breath-restricting anxiety can be seen in Macbeth’s alliterative response to his failed execution order of Banquo and his offspring, an act that would ‘prove’ his masculine ambition to his wife: “Then comes my fit again. I had else been perfect, / …. / But now I am cabined, cribbed, confined, bound in / To saucy doubts and fears” (3.4.23-27; emphasis mine). These fits of weakness provoke Lady Macbeth’s degrading taunts towards his masculinity, which ultimately results in Macbeth restricting himself to the extreme masculine archetype of cruel tyrant, callously saying that returning to morality is “as tedious as” (3.4.170) continuing his murder spree. The confining structure of the corset on drag Lady Macbeth represents the imposed gender restrictions which ultimately cause the Macbeths’ tragic downfall. Lastly, the hoop skirt—called a farthingale—was constructed by threading embroidery floss through the paper, tying each line segment individually on the back. This underskirt was significant in Elizabethan dress because it feminized one’s outward appearance by emphasizing the lower half of the body (Bendall 712, 716); I included it because it was the most intensive and exhausting to construct, emphasizing the laborious “stylization of the body” (Butler 519) necessary for upholding the punitive binary gender system.

The androgynous hands in my adaptation represent the non-binary witches in Macbeth, placed deliberately to illustrate the subversive power that can be harnessed when gender is understood as performative. Butler re-contextualizes gender as a scripted “act that has been going on before one arrived on the scene” (526) meaning that existing cultural understandings of gender expression are projected onto the body by others before its birth. This, in turn, informs its future gender act. I included the disembodied witch hands because I believe that the spirits Lady Macbeth invokes are the witches she has just read about in Macbeth’s letter. These androgynous witches, who appear prior to the “unsexing,” prompt Banquo to question which gender they represent based on their exterior: “You should be women, / And yet your beards forbid me to interpret / That you are so” (1.3.47-49). Banquo encounters the irreconcilable dilemma of gender essentialism being contested by the subversive genderless state that the witches inhabit, struggling to fit them into traditional categories. Two scenes later, Lady Macbeth is metaphorically influenced by the acting of gender that precedes her arrival on stage; she seems to invoke the subversive power of the witches asking them to “unsex” (1.5.48) her but cannot harness it because she continues to mistake gender “for a natural or linguistic given” (Butler 531) when she asks the spirits to rearrange her biological—essential— make-up (1.5.48, 50, 54-55) and assert her masculinity “with the valor of [her] tongue” (1.5.30). Thus, the hands in my adaptation exclusively manipulate external garments; one androgynous hand unties the corset—undoing the restrictive, feminizing garment—while others weave through the threads of the skirt in a ‘snipping’ gesture, emphasizing that the illusion of a ‘natural’ gender binary falls apart when its manufactured performance is highlighted. The placement of these hands demonstrates the wearing of gender by removing the gender costume from drag Lady Macbeth and suggest that the witches in the play provide the alternative reality to the (ultimately fatal) gendered world of Scotland.

The structural elements of my drag queen adaptation of Lady Macbeth offer insight into the construction, the putting on and performing of gender, by linking Shakespearean cross-gender theatre traditions to the contemporary drag industry. Simultaneously, the problem that arises when one essentializes and rigidifies gender rather than viewing it as a fluid exteriority— the dilemma which arguably proves fatal to the Macbeths and those around them—is illustrated as a loss of identity that strips a person of flexibility and thus the ability to thrive in changing conditions. The presence of the androgynous, aloof witches sits in contrast with the punitively gendered world of the Macbeths, suggesting that a world which exists beyond gender is one that fosters a sustainable and complete human existence.

Works Cited

Bendall, Sarah A. “‘Take Measure of Your Wide and Flaunting Garments’: The Farthingale, Gender and the Consumption of Space in Elizabethan and Jacobean England.” Renaissance Studies , vol. 33, no. 5, Nov. 2018, pp. 712–737, https://doi.org/10.1111/rest.12537 .

Butler, Judith. “Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory.” Theatre Journal , vol. 40, no. 4, 1988, pp. 519–531, https://doi.org/10.2307/3207893 .

Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Macbeth . Edited by Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine, Simon and Schuster Paperbacks, 2013.

Jacobsen, Naomi, et al. “Women Merely Players.” Shakespeare Unlimited , episode 2, The Folger Shakespeare Library, 15 March, 2017, www.folger.edu/shakespeare-unlimited/actresses-on-shakespeare .

Femme Fatale: Exploring the Dangers of the Gender Binary in Macbeth Copyright © 2022 by Alyssa Mendonca is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Gender Roles In Macbeth

Lady Macbeth is one of Shakespeare’s most famous female characters. She is strong, ambitious, and cruel. Lady Macbeth is often seen as a symbol of power and gender roles. Lady Macbeth challenges traditional gender roles by being more aggressive and ambitious than her husband. She also shows her power by convincing her husband to kill Duncan. Lady Macbeth is a complex character who represents the dangers of ambition and power.

Macbeth is a play written by Shakespeare that explores the gender roles of men and women in society during the Elizabethan era. Lady Macbeth is an ambitious woman who wants to achieve power and status within her society. However, because she is a woman, she is limited in what she can do. Lady Macbeth must rely on her husband to help her gain power, and when he fails her, she turns to violence and murder.

Lady Macbeth’s story shows us the limitations that women faced during the Elizabethan era, and how they had to use cunning and manipulation to get ahead. Lady Macbeth is a powerful example of a woman who refused to be limited by her gender, and she remains an iconic figure in Shakespearean literature.

The majority of Shakespeare’s plays contain important roles for women, who express his ideas on women’s place during the period. Women in Shakespeare’s era were required to conceal their views and lose rights that contemporary females enjoy. They were expected to run the house, rather than males, who were tasked with making decisions. Virtue and beauty were also valued above all else as traits of an ideal woman.

Lady Macbeth, though not the typical Shakespearean woman, defies these expectations and boldly takes charge in order to fulfill her ambitions. Lady Macbeth is an interesting case because she challenges gender roles within the play while also reinforcing traditional values of femininity.

In Lady Macbeth, Shakespeare presents a powerful female character who bucks against feminine norms. Lady Macbeth is able to use her rhetoric and cunning to manipulate those around her and achieve her goals. For example, when Lady Macbeth learns that Duncan will be visiting her castle, she says “I have given suck, and know How tender ‘tis to love the babe that milks me: I would, while it was smiling in my face, Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums, And dashed the brains out, had I so sworn as you Have done to this.”

Lady Macbeth is not afraid to use violence to get what she wants and shows no remorse for her actions. Additionally, Lady Macbeth is not submissive towards her husband; she regularly challenges him and even goes so far as to call him a coward. Lady Macbeth is an independent woman who does not rely on men for her power or validation.

While Lady Macbeth defies traditional feminine norms, she also reinforces values of femininity that were popular during the Shakespearean time period. For example, Lady Macbeth is very concerned with her appearance and takes great care in her physical appearance. Lady Macbeth is also very emotional and is not afraid to express her feelings. When Lady Macbeth is feeling guilty about her role in Duncan’s murder, she has a mental breakdown and sleepwalks around her castle. Lady Macbeth’s emotions are so strong that they cause her to lose touch with reality.

Lady Macbeth is a complex character who challenges traditional gender roles while also reinforcing popular values of femininity. Lady Macbeth’s boldness and independence are atypical for a woman during the Shakespearean time period. However, Lady Macbeth’s concern with her appearance and emotional nature are typical feminine qualities. Lady Macbeth is an interesting case study because she embodies both traditional and non-traditional female qualities.

In the third act, Lady Macbeth resists gender roles by castrating her husband and threatening him with simulatory violence, but she does not go as far as to kill him herself.

Lady Macbeth also conforms to gender roles by her overwhelming desire for a son, and seeming lack of interest in having a daughter. Lady Macbeth is the perfect Shakespearean tragedy figure because she embodies both traditional and subversive gender roles. She resists the dominant cultural discourse that prescribed women certain behaviors, but ultimately succumbs to it. Lady Macbeth’s journey is a representation of the instability of gender roles in Shakespearean England.

Lady Macbeth is one of the most interesting and complex characters in William Shakespeare’s play “Macbeth”. She is a strong-willed woman who Manipulates her husband into committing regicide, but she also suffers from guilt and madness as a result of her crimes. Lady Macbeth is an excellent example of how gender roles were both traditional and subversive in Shakespearean England.

On the one hand, Lady Macbeth conforms to traditional gender roles by being an obedient wife to her husband. She encourages him to kill Duncan so that he can become king, even though she knows that it is wrong. Lady Macbeth also demonstrates traditional gender roles by her overwhelming desire for a son. In Shakespeare’s time, it was considered very important for a woman to have a son, since he would carry on her family name and inherit her property. Lady Macbeth is also interested in power and status, which are traditionally masculine qualities.

On the other hand, Lady Macbeth resists traditional gender roles by insulting her husband, emasculating him, and using hypothetical violence. She does this in order to motivate him to reach the position they feel he deserves. Lady Macbeth also does not hesitate to commit murder herself, which was considered to be a very dangerous and challenging thing for a woman to do at that time.

Lady Macbeth is the perfect Shakespearean tragedy figure because she embodies both traditional and subversive gender roles. She resists the dominant cultural discourse that prescribed women certain behaviors, but ultimately succumbs to it. Lady Macbeth’s journey is a representation of the instability of gender roles in Shakespearean England.

In this play, Lady Macbeth directly challenges the submissive and domestic role that was expected of a woman during the early 1600s.

Lady Macbeth’s power hungry quest for control often leads her to exhibit masculine qualities, which are traditionally associated with being aggressive, violent and unemotional. In one scene, Lady Macbeth is trying to convince her husband to kill Duncan, and in order to do so she says “look like th’ innocent flower / But be the serpent under’t” (I.v.67-68).

Lady Macbeth is telling Macbeth to hide his feelings and motives, as men were thought to do, in order to appear trustworthy. Furthermore, Lady Macbeth is also relentless in her pursuit for power. After Macbeth kills Duncan, Lady Macbeth says “What, canst thou not?” (III.iv.139), in an attempt to motivate her husband to commit more murders. Lady Macbeth is essentially trying to get her husband to take on the traditionally male trait of being aggressive and unafraid of violence.

In addition to exhibiting masculine qualities, Lady Macbeth also takes on traditional female roles such as being emotional and nurturing. For example, after Lady Macduff and her children have been killed, Lady Macbeth says “I have given suck, and know / How tender ’tis to love the babe that milks me: / I would, while it was smiling in my face, / Have pluck’d my nipple from his boneless gums, / And dash’d the brains out, had I so sworn as you / Have done to this” (IV.iii.170-174).

Lady Macbeth is expressing her intense maternal love for her dead children, and she is also showing her willingness to commit violence in order to protect them. This combination of traditionally masculine and feminine traits makes Lady Macbeth a unique and complex character.

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Gender Stereotypes in Macbeth by William Shakespeare

Categories: Gender Stereotypes Macbeth

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Published: Feb 8, 2022

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Polman, R., & De Castro, J. (2019). E-sports and gaming disorder: The new frontier. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 21(8), e14729.
Radesky, J., Christakis, D., Hill, D., Mendelsohn, A., & Barr, R. (2020). Media and young minds. Pediatrics, 146(5), e2020026205.
Rehbein, F., Kleimann, M., Mößle, T., & Preuße, M. (2016). Assessing Internet gaming disorder: II. A standardized clinical interview to assess gaming addiction. Communication Research Reports, 33(1), 37-46.
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Guest Essay

The Problem With Saying ‘Sex Assigned at Birth’

A black and white photo of newborns in bassinets in the hospital.

By Alex Byrne and Carole K. Hooven

Mr. Byrne is a philosopher and the author of “Trouble With Gender: Sex Facts, Gender Fictions.” Ms. Hooven is an evolutionary biologist and the author of “T: The Story of Testosterone, the Hormone That Dominates and Divides Us.”

As you may have noticed, “sex” is out, and “sex assigned at birth” is in. Instead of asking for a person’s sex, some medical and camp forms these days ask for “sex assigned at birth” or “assigned sex” (often in addition to gender identity). The American Medical Association and the American Psychological Association endorse this terminology; its use has also exploded in academic articles. The Cleveland Clinic’s online glossary of diseases and conditions tells us that the “inability to achieve or maintain an erection” is a symptom of sexual dysfunction, not in “males,” but in “people assigned male at birth.”

This trend began around a decade ago, part of an increasing emphasis in society on emotional comfort and insulation from offense — what some have called “ safetyism .” “Sex” is now often seen as a biased or insensitive word because it may fail to reflect how people identify themselves. One reason for the adoption of “assigned sex,” therefore, is that it supplies respectful euphemisms, softening what to some nonbinary and transgender people, among others, can feel like a harsh biological reality. Saying that someone was “assigned female at birth” is taken to be an indirect and more polite way of communicating that the person is biologically female. The terminology can also function to signal solidarity with trans and nonbinary people, as well as convey the radical idea that our traditional understanding of sex is outdated.

The shift to “sex assigned at birth” may be well intentioned, but it is not progress. We are not against politeness or expressions of solidarity, but “sex assigned at birth” can confuse people and creates doubt about a biological fact when there shouldn’t be any. Nor is the phrase called for because our traditional understanding of sex needs correcting — it doesn’t.

This matters because sex matters. Sex is a fundamental biological feature with significant consequences for our species, so there are costs to encouraging misconceptions about it.

Sex matters for health, safety and social policy and interacts in complicated ways with culture. Women are nearly twice as likely as men to experience harmful side effects from drugs, a problem that may be ameliorated by reducing drug doses for females. Males, meanwhile, are more likely to die from Covid-19 and cancer, and commit the vast majority of homicides and sexual assaults . We aren’t suggesting that “assigned sex” will increase the death toll. However, terminology about important matters should be as clear as possible.

More generally, the interaction between sex and human culture is crucial to understanding psychological and physical differences between boys and girls, men and women. We cannot have such understanding unless we know what sex is, which means having the linguistic tools necessary to discuss it. The Associated Press cautions journalists that describing women as “female” may be objectionable because “it can be seen as emphasizing biology,” but sometimes biology is highly relevant. The heated debate about transgender women participating in female sports is an example ; whatever view one takes on the matter, biologically driven athletic differences between the sexes are real.

When influential organizations and individuals promote “sex assigned at birth,” they are encouraging a culture in which citizens can be shamed for using words like “sex,” “male” and “female” that are familiar to everyone in society, as well as necessary to discuss the implications of sex. This is not the usual kind of censoriousness, which discourages the public endorsement of certain opinions. It is more subtle, repressing the very vocabulary needed to discuss the opinions in the first place.

A proponent of the new language may object, arguing that sex is not being avoided, but merely addressed and described with greater empathy. The introduction of euphemisms to ease uncomfortable associations with old words happens all the time — for instance “plus sized” as a replacement for “overweight.” Admittedly, the effects may be short-lived , because euphemisms themselves often become offensive, and indeed “larger-bodied” is now often preferred to “plus sized.” But what’s the harm? No one gets confused, and the euphemisms allow us to express extra sensitivity. Some see “sex assigned at birth” in the same positive light: It’s a way of talking about sex that is gender-affirming and inclusive .

The problem is that “sex assigned at birth”— unlike “larger-bodied”— is very misleading. Saying that someone was “assigned female at birth” suggests that the person’s sex is at best a matter of educated guesswork. “Assigned” can connote arbitrariness — as in “assigned classroom seating” — and so “sex assigned at birth” can also suggest that there is no objective reality behind “male” and “female,” no biological categories to which the words refer.

Contrary to what we might assume, avoiding “sex” doesn’t serve the cause of inclusivity: not speaking plainly about males and females is patronizing. We sometimes sugarcoat the biological facts for children, but competent adults deserve straight talk. Nor are circumlocutions needed to secure personal protections and rights, including transgender rights. In the Supreme Court’s Bostock v. Clayton County decision in 2020, which outlawed workplace discrimination against gay and transgender people, Justice Neil Gorsuch used “sex,” not “sex assigned at birth.”

A more radical proponent of “assigned sex” will object that the very idea of sex as a biological fact is suspect. According to this view — associated with the French philosopher Michel Foucault and, more recently, the American philosopher Judith Butler — sex is somehow a cultural production, the result of labeling babies male or female. “Sex assigned at birth” should therefore be preferred over “sex,” not because it is more polite, but because it is more accurate.

This position tacitly assumes that humans are exempt from the natural order. If only! Alas, we are animals. Sexed organisms were present on Earth at least a billion years ago, and males and females would have been around even if humans had never evolved. Sex is not in any sense the result of linguistic ceremonies in the delivery room or other cultural practices. Lonesome George, the long-lived Galápagos giant tortoise , was male. He was not assigned male at birth — or rather, in George’s case, at hatching. A baby abandoned at birth may not have been assigned male or female by anyone, yet the baby still has a sex. Despite the confusion sown by some scholars, we can be confident that the sex binary is not a human invention.

Another downside of “assigned sex” is that it biases the conversation away from established biological facts and infuses it with a sociopolitical agenda, which only serves to intensify social and political divisions. We need shared language that can help us clearly state opinions and develop the best policies on medical, social and legal issues. That shared language is the starting point for mutual understanding and democratic deliberation, even if strong disagreement remains.

What can be done? The ascendance of “sex assigned at birth” is not an example of unhurried and organic linguistic change. As recently as 2012 The New York Times reported on the new fashion for gender-reveal parties, “during which expectant parents share the moment they discover their baby’s sex.” In the intervening decade, sex has gone from being “discovered” to “assigned” because so many authorities insisted on the new usage. In the face of organic change, resistance is usually futile. Fortunately, a trend that is imposed top-down is often easier to reverse.

Admittedly, no one individual, or even a small group, can turn the lumbering ship of English around. But if professional organizations change their style guides and glossaries, we can expect that their members will largely follow suit. And organizations in turn respond to lobbying from their members. Journalists, medical professionals, academics and others have the collective power to restore language that more faithfully reflects reality. We will have to wait for them to do that.

Meanwhile, we can each apply Strunk and White’s famous advice in “The Elements of Style” to “sex assigned at birth”: omit needless words.

Alex Byrne is a professor of philosophy at M.I.T. and the author of “Trouble With Gender: Sex Facts, Gender Fictions.” Carole K. Hooven is an evolutionary biologist, a nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, an associate in the Harvard psychology department, and the author of “T: The Story of Testosterone, the Hormone That Dominates and Divides Us.”

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

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The Cass review: an...

The Cass review: an opportunity to unite behind evidence informed care in gender medicine

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Peer review
Kamran Abbasi , editor in chief
kabbasi{at}bmj.com
Follow Kamran on Twitter @KamranAbbasi

At the heart of Hilary Cass’s review of gender identity services in the NHS is a concern for the welfare of “children and young people” (doi: 10.1136/bmj.q820 ). 1 Her stated ambition is to ensure that those experiencing gender dysphoria receive a high standard of care. This will be disputed, of course, by people and lobbying groups angered by her recommendations, but it is a theme running through the review. Cass, a past president of the UK’s Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, seeks to provide better care for children and adolescents on one of the defining issues of our age. Her conclusion is alarming for anybody who genuinely cares for child welfare: gender medicine is “built on shaky foundations” (doi: 10.1136/bmj.q814 ). 2

That verdict is supported by a series of review papers published in Archives of Disease in Childhood , a journal published by BMJ and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (doi: 10.1136/archdischild-2023-326669 doi: 10.1136/archdischild-2023-326670 doi: 10.1136/archdischild-2023-326499 doi: 10.1136/archdischild-2023-326500 ). 3 4 5 6 The evidence base for interventions in gender medicine is threadbare, whichever research question you wish to consider—from social transition to hormone treatment.

For example, of more than 100 studies examining the role of puberty blockers and hormone treatment for gender transition only two were of passable quality. To be clear, intervention studies—particularly of drug and surgical interventions—should include an appropriate control group, ideally be randomised, ensure concealment of treatment allocation (although open label studies are sometimes acceptable), and be designed to evaluate relevant outcomes with adequate follow-up.

One emerging criticism of the Cass review is that it set the methodological bar too high for research to be included in its analysis and discarded too many studies on the basis of quality. In fact, the reality is different: studies in gender medicine fall woefully short in terms of methodological rigour; the methodological bar for gender medicine studies was set too low, generating research findings that are therefore hard to interpret. The methodological quality of research matters because a drug efficacy study in humans with an inappropriate or no control group is a potential breach of research ethics. Offering treatments without an adequate understanding of benefits and harms is unethical. All of this matters even more when the treatments are not trivial; puberty blockers and hormone therapies are major, life altering interventions. Yet this inconclusive and unacceptable evidence base was used to inform influential clinical guidelines, such as those of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), which themselves were cascaded into the development of subsequent guidelines internationally (doi: 10.1136/bmj.q794 ). 7

The Cass review attempted to work with the Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) and the NHS adult gender services to “fill some of the gaps in follow-up data for the approximately 9000 young people who have been through GIDS to develop a stronger evidence base.” However, despite encouragement from NHS England, “the necessary cooperation was not forthcoming.” Professionals withholding data from a national inquiry seems hard to imagine, but it is what happened.

A spiralling interventionist approach, in the context of an evidence void, amounted to overmedicalising care for vulnerable young people. A too narrow focus on gender dysphoria, says Cass, neglected other presenting features and failed to provide a holistic model of care. Gender care became superspecialised when a more general, multidisciplinary approach was required. In a broader sense, this failure is indicative of a societal failure in child and adolescent health (doi: 10.1136/bmj.q802 doi: 10.1136/bmj-2022-073448 ). 8 9 The review’s recommendations, which include confining prescription of puberty blockers and hormonal treatments to a research setting (doi: 10.1136/bmj.q660 ), now place the NHS firmly in line with emerging practice internationally, such as in Scandinavia (doi: 10.1136/bmj.p553 ). 10 11

Cass proposes a future model of regional multidisciplinary centres that provide better access and, importantly, standardised care for gender dysphoria, including a smoother transition between adolescent and adult services. Staff will need training. All children and young people embarking on a care pathway will be included in research to begin to rectify the problems with the evidence base, with long term outcomes being an important area of focus. An already stretched workforce will need to extend itself further (doi: 10.1136/bmj.q795 doi: 10.1136/bmj-2024-079474 ). 12 13 In the meantime, some children and young people will turn to the private sector or online providers to meet their needs. The dangers in this moment of service transition are apparent.

But it’s also a moment of opportunity. Families, carers, advocates, and clinicians—acting in the best interests of children and adolescents—face a clear choice whether to allow the Cass review to deepen division or use it as a driver of better care. The message from the evidence reviews in Archives of Disease in Childhood is as unequivocal as it could be. Cass’s review is independent and listened to people with lived experience. Without doubt, the advocacy and clinical practice for medical treatment of gender dysphoria had moved ahead of the evidence—a recipe for harm.

People who are gender non-conforming experience stigmatisation, marginalisation, and harassment in every society. They are vulnerable, particularly during childhood and adolescence. The best way to support them, however, is not with advocacy and activism based on substandard evidence. The Cass review is an opportunity to pause, recalibrate, and place evidence informed care at the heart of gender medicine. It is an opportunity not to be missed for the sake of the health of children and young people. It is an opportunity for unity.

Mitchell A ,
Langton T ,
Heathcote C ,
Hewitt CE ,
Hardiman L ,
Wilkinson E
Dixon-Woods M ,
Summers C ,

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Gender Roles in Shakespeare's Macbeth
Macbeth Essay
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Gender Roles in Macbeth
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Lady Macbeth and gender expectations
Heavenly Delusion: Body Horror, Gender, & Transformation
Use This Sentence To Start ANY Lady Macbeth GCSE Essay!
Discourse on Misogyny
Gender Roles: Should Women Go Out to Work?
Essay on Gender Equality in English // लैंगिक_समता_पर_निबंध // gender equality paragraph in english

COMMENTS

How does Shakespeare play with gender roles in Macbeth?
Her most famous speech addresses this issue. In Act I, Scene 5, after reading Macbeth's letter in which he details the witches' prophecy and informs her of Duncan's impending visit to their castle, Lady Macbeth indicates her desire to lose her feminine qualities and gain masculine ones. She cries, "Come, you spirits / That tend on mortal ...
The Gender Role In Macbeth: [Essay Example], 1090 words
The essay on gender roles in Macbeth provides a comprehensive analysis of the play's portrayal of gender and power. The essay is well-organized and maintains a clear focus throughout. The writer's use of sentence structure and grammar is generally strong, with few errors detracting from the overall clarity of the writing. ...
Essay on Gender Roles in Macbeth
Published: Mar 5, 2024. Gender roles are a significant theme in Shakespeare's play, Macbeth, and they are explored through the characters of Lady Macbeth and Macbeth himself. The play presents a complex and nuanced view of gender roles and their impact on individuals. At the beginning of the play, Lady Macbeth is portrayed as a strong and ...
AQA English Revision
In your answer you should: · Look at gender in the extract above and. · Look at gender in the play as a whole. Plan: P1: Introduction about gender and outline brief argument. P2: Focus on Lady Macbeth and her deceptive ways. P3: Focus on Macbeth and his role as victim. P4: Conclusion of argument, and modern vs Jacobean context.
Gender Roles and Lady Macbeth: [Essay Example], 1185 words
Lady Macbeth's first mental gender transformation occurs after she reads the letter sent to her from Macbeth and hears of King Duncan's intended visit. She pleads to spirits in Act 1, Scene 5, "Come, you spirits // that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, // And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full // Of direst cruelty!
Gender Roles in Macbeth
In many cases, gender roles are subverted in Macbeth. Only one woman, Lady Macduff, exemplifies traditional gender roles for women. The male characters in Macbeth are sometimes presented as crying ...
The Subversion of Gender Roles in Macbeth
The Subversion of Gender Roles in Macbeth. William Shakespeare's story of Macbeth is about a war hero, mesmerized by prophecies and delusions of grandeur, who seeks power and stability in a sea of blood. The play challenges traditional gender norms surrounding masculinity and femininity with the two anti-protagonists, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth ...
PDF Macbeth: Gender and Gender Authority
Macbeth: Gender and Gender Authority Curriculum Unit 16.01.05 ... (the students' ﬁnal assignment is an argumentative essay.) After these "warming-up" activities, the teacher will assign the reading of Macbeth . While they read Shakespeare's text, the students have to: 1. Take notes on the main characters and events in every act
Role of Gender in Macbeth
by Guiding Literature. April 1, 2023. Gender plays a significant role in Shakespeare's play "Macbeth.". The play presents a world where men and women are expected to behave in certain ways based on their gender, and characters who defy these gender roles often face consequences. At the beginning of the play, Lady Macbeth is presented as a ...
(PDF) Gender Roles in Shakespeare's Macbeth
The delineation of gender roles in Shakespeare's Macbeth yields an array of critiques wrought with contention, most notable in the characterization of Lady Macbeth. ... order to suggest that natural order better reveals Lady Macbeth‟s disruption as well as the notion of monster in Macbeth. This essay will end by discussing the significance of ...
Gender Roles in Macbeth Essay Topics
Gender is one of the major themes in Shakespeare's ~'Macbeth.~' This lesson offers some essay topics that will help your students zero in on gender once they have finished the play. Create an account
PDF Gender
Gender. The concept of gender, and the roles the characters are confined to because of it, come up throughout the play. Masculinity is seen as the desired trait and the male characters are often offended if someone questions their manhood. Lady Macbeth, for example, asks if Macbeth is a "man" (3.4) and Macduff explains he must feel his ...
What are some essay topics on gender and power themes in Macbeth
Here are some possibilities: Images of the unnatural reflect the state of gender roles and power in Macbeth. The theme of "Fair is foul and foul is fair" reflects (or is reflected by) gender roles ...
Gender Roles Theme in Lady Macbeth
Gruadh (Lady Macbeth) lives in a world strictly segregated by gender. Women in the eleventh-century Scotland of the novel are expected to be quiet and domestic, to either be wives and mothers or to pursue some female-dominated occupation like midwifery. Their lives are dedicated to running a household and to producing and raising babies.
Gender Roles in Macbeth and What It Means to Be a Man
A great theme of the play is ambition, and it is what spurs on practically everything that takes place. Of course, the ambition is overzealous and fueled by greed, but nonetheless, it is what Shakespeare uses to examine gender roles in Macbeth.From the moment the Witches tell Macbeth that he is to be King, he cannot shake the idea from his head.
Macbeth Gender Roles Essay
807 Words. 4 Pages. Open Document. William Shakespeare's tragedy "Macbeth" completely challenges the idea of traditional gender roles and social norms during the renaissance period. The male characters have many feminine traits while the female characters have many more masculine and manlier traits. This was going entirely against the ...
AQA English Revision
Gender in Macbeth. There were few social codes that were more important to people in Jacobean England than the codes of conduct for how men and women should behave. Our gender assigned us the role that we should play in society and breaking or bending them would have been frowned upon by anyone in the mainstream. But at the heart of Macbeth is ...
Femme Fatale: Exploring the Dangers of the Gender Binary in Macbeth
Two scenes later, Lady Macbeth is metaphorically influenced by the acting of gender that precedes her arrival on stage; she seems to invoke the subversive power of the witches asking them to "unsex" (1.5.48) her but cannot harness it because she continues to mistake gender "for a natural or linguistic given" (Butler 531) when she asks ...
Gender Roles In Macbeth Essay
Macbeth is a play written by Shakespeare that explores the gender roles of men and women in society during the Elizabethan era. Lady Macbeth is an ambitious woman who wants to achieve power and status within her society. However, because she is a woman, she is limited in what she can do. Lady Macbeth must rely on her husband to help her gain ...
Gender Roles In Macbeth
As Macbeth and Banquo run into the three witches, Banquo asks them, "You should be women, /And yet your beards forbid me to interpret/ That you are so" (1.3.45). The confusion of the gender of witches shows that there is something sinister about them that …show more content…
Macbeth Gender Roles Essay
Macbeth Gender Roles Essay. 1291 Words6 Pages. Zadie L. Besev Mr. Schlegelmilch Honors 2/29/24. Gender Roles and Why We Should Not Roll With Them Anymore Gender roles play a huge part in the way that Macbeth by William Shakespeare evolves into the madness it inevitably ends with. Gender roles have been oppressing women for all of time and the ...
Gender Stereotypes in Macbeth by William Shakespeare
Shakespeare interferes with gender stereotypes in the play Macbeth by attributing masculine qualities to female characters by giving them authoritative roles which would not have been expected in the male-dominated culture of Shakespeare's time. This is evident in Lady Macbeth's renowned "unsex me here" soliloquy.
Gender Roles in Macbeth Essay
In the Elizabethan Era, gender set both restrictions and standards that people had to 'supposedly' follow. Shakespeare's play 'Macbeth' has its characters free of such constraints, letting them defy what it means to be a man or woman. The theme of gender roles and ideals of masculinity in the play 'Macbeth' are crucial to the plot ...
Gender Role Reversals In Macbeth Free Essay Example
You won't be charged yet! " (1.5. 57-60). This is an example of how the gender roles are reversed as the men/husbands of our society are usually portrayed as being assertive or dominant to handling situations, not the women/wives. Macbeth and his wife also switch roles in terms of the amount of ambition they show.
Opinion
Alex Byrne is a professor of philosophy at M.I.T. and the author of "Trouble With Gender: Sex Facts, Gender Fictions." Carole K. Hooven is an evolutionary biologist, a nonresident senior ...
The Cass review: an opportunity to unite behind evidence ...
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