Ess? Part B

Is Shakespeare progressive or misogynistic in his portrayal of Lady Macbeth?


Lady Macbeth is often considered the to be the most disturbing female character that Shakespeare ever created. It is for this fact that many believe Shakespeare's portrayal of Lady Macbeth to be misogynistic, or contain a hatred of women. However, if one were to examine the character of Lady Macbeth more carefully, they would find that her gender had little to nothing to do with her reprehensible personality. Lady Macbeth's largest crime was bringing about the assassination of King Duncan, which she had been planning even before the start of the play. While this is indeed a wicked and sinful act, it did not come easy to her by any means. Even in the early stages of her plan, Lady Macbeth felt conflicted. She knew that she did not have it in her to commit regicide, and thus goads her husband into doing the deed for her. She blames her sentimentality on the fact that she is a woman, and believes that if she were a man she would be able to kill King Duncan herself. Lady Macbeth was not acting in any way natural to women, but rather in a way that she believed to be natural for a man. This shows that Lady Macbeth's character is not misogynistic, but is rather progressive. Mind you, her decisions may have been founded on evil and selfishness, but she is progressive none the less. She demonstrated her intelligence through her careful planning and ability to manipulate her husband. This is unlike the portrayal of most women during that time, who were all thought to be unintelligent and inferior to a man. Lady Macbeth was trying to be like a man through her actions. It is understandable that Lady Macbeth would want to elevate her position, as women were treated as second-class citizens during her time. The fact that she chose to elevate her position through means of actions that she attributed to man shows that not only did she want to be treated like a man, but she wanted to feel like a man. Lady Macbeth knew ho much better life was for men during her time, and thus wanted to experience ever aspect of it. Unfortunately, she was ignorant to the fact that murder does not come easy to a man, either, as demonstrated by Macbeth's reluctance to kill King Duncan. Those her claim that the character of Lady Macbeth was a misogynistic allegory ignore the fact that Lady Macbeth felt deep remorse for her actions later in the play, even going so far as to kill herself rather than live with her guilt. Is she had been a true misogynistic portrayal of women, she would have been delighted with the chaos she caused, like most man villains that Shakespeare created. Her character should not be thought of as a critique of women, but rather as a critique of people who strive for something that they know nothing about.