Men (and Women) in Macbeth
...only a man can commit acts of violence whereas a woman cannot. In response to Lady Macbeth’s persuasion and calculated plans, Macbeth says, “Bring forth men-children only,/ For thy undaunted mettle should compose/ Nothing but males” (I, vii, 83-85). He is obviously suggesting that her assertiveness can only be the traits of a man, as the idea of possibly having daughters with such qualities is non-existent. Yet even with all this natural aggressiveness in Lady Macbeth, she still feels the need to summon supernatural forces to expel her feminine characteristics so that she could have the courage to murder Duncan herself. “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” (I, v, 47-50). Only once she is rid of her female sexuality can it be filled with cruelty, cruelty being not femininity, therefore obviously symbolizing masculinity. She also asks for the spirits to “[c]ome to [her] woman’s breasts/ And take [her] milk for gall”, once again trading in her feminine attributes for masculine ones. Another character that also has a perverted concept of manhood is Malcolm who, upon hearing about the murder of Macduff’s family, spurs him to “[d]ispute it like a man” (IV, iii, 259), implying that Macduff taking violent measures to settle the wrong done to him would be acting as a man. Therefore, the insinuation of the male gender being the cruel one is obvious throughout the play. However, despite the fact that the women are never actively violent, they are nonetheless a strong source of it and represent a great deal of evil. This representation can be seen in Lady Macbeth, the three witches and Hecate, the goddess of witchcraft. From the moment that Macbeth informs his wife of the prophecy, she has been the driving force behind his brutal actions. Whenever he would show any signs of uncertainty towards murdering the king, she would push and persuade until he agrees to do it. In fact, not only is she a source of encouragement, she is the one who plots the entire scheme for Macbeth to merely follow. Therefore, essentially, she is the brain behind the regicide whereas Macbeth is only a means to an end. Even when he falters, she remains firmly rooted in evil, not allowing him to fail. When he sees the ghost of Banquo at the feast, he speaks aloud to him, sounding insane. Lady Macbeth immediately draws him aside and asks, “Are you a man?” (III, iv, 70) and when he continues speaking to the ghost, she exclaims, “What, quite unmanned in folly?” (III, iv, 88). She scolds him by challenging his manhood, a technique that she has used before with success. She may truly believe it to be unmanly to be wavering, yet she is nonetheless being manipulative. (It is only towards the end that she begins to feel tremendous guilt for the wrongs that they have committed and commits suicide.) Lady Macbeth represents an enormous amount of ambition and cruelty, as much as any man, yet she simply exercises it by deception and manipulation rather than physical aggression. However, without the prophecy of the witches, Lady Macbeth would not even have the chance to show her true malevolence. The root of all evil provoking the chain of events throughout the play is the prophecy without which Macbeth may very well not even think of the crown ever being his own. Therefore, the witches represent the first evil source in the play. Finally, the only divine being in the play is Hecate, who is also female and oversees the three witches, which may presumably mean even more evil. Therefore, the representation of violence within the female characters of the play cannot be overlooked despite their lack of direct physical cruelty as, without them, the series of tragic events would never unfold. Ultimately, the play demonstrates a revised representation of manhood, one that is not simply cruelty and brutality, but also emotion and reflection. As mentioned before, when Macduff learns that his family is killed, Malcolm tells him to “[d]ispute it like a man”, to which Macduff responds, ...