Feminism In Macbeth

Words: 600
Pages: 3

In Shakespeare's play Macbeth, one of the main characters Lady Macbeth goes through a mental breakdown. This scene carries a great amount of imagery; this stimulated a distasteful series of event. This imagery from Shakespeare creates an emotional reaction because lady Macbeth kills King Duncan. She believes that if she kills Duncan, then Macbeth will become King and she will become queen. Lady Macbeth’s need for power manipulates her husband and even her self to strive for this silly need; she tells herself and her husband to not let anything get in the way of them collecting this high status. Shakespeare uses literal imagery to portray how lady Macbeth feels after Duncan. This is because it is a mental expression from lady Macbeth’s perspective …show more content…
In the words of a feminist- Barbara Hendershott- “Lady Macbeth is the primary female character in the play, giving us insight into Shakespeare's intentions in his construction of the female gender. He imbues Lady Macbeth with not only feminine qualities but also with masculine qualities as well”. Typically, when a female character is brought in they are innocent, caring and welcoming. Now, Lady Macbeth may put up a front with these characteristics but, she embodies the six characteristics of a strong female- according to Amanda Patterson. These characteristics are: she has a story goal, she is flawed, she captures our attention, she changes over the course of the story, she does not exist as a supporting character and, she has the ability to stand up to the antagonist. Shakespeare does not depict Lady Macbeth as a typical female character. When looking at the symbol of red with feminism, Color-meanings, says “red radiates a strong and powerful masculine energy”. Even though Shakespeare shows Lady Macbeth as a strong female, he still makes her have more masculine qualities then feminine when it comes to the little things like the colour red. In this scene Lady Macbeth also embodies the stages of a tragic hero. Normally a tragic hero is a male character but, Lady Macbeth has an obsession with power, she makes a discovery on how to get royal, has excessive pride in herself, a reversal of fortune, downfall and finally leaves