Changing Gender Roles in William Shakespeares Macbeth Essay -- Macbet

Changing Gender Roles in William Shakespeares Macbeth Much attention has been paid to the theme of manliness as it appears without Macbeth. In his introduction to Macbeth in The riverside Shakespeare, Frank Kermode contends that the play is about the eclipse of civility and manhood, and the temporary triumph of evil (1307). Stephen Greenblatt emphasizes the same idea in The Norton Shakespeare, crediting Lady Macbeth for encouraging her husband through both sexual taunting and the terrible force of her determination (2557-58). Macbeth responds to his wife with a clear sense of the proper boundaries of his identity as a manful and as a human being, telling her I dare do all that may become a man/Who dares do more is none (I.7.46-47) (2558). Both Kermodes and Greenblatts notions focus upon how Macbeths maleness is recognized and defined -- by Macbeth himself as well as by the potentially influential people who surround him. The critics who introduce the play in these study antholog ies perceive the same weakness in Macbeths character as the apparently evil forces who play upon it do Macbeths masculinity becomes the psychological vehicle through which he becomes incensed, inspired, and finally incited to action. If Macbeths manliness is to be questioned, it is not likely to occur within the male-dominated world of battlefields and military victories which Shakespeare introduces in Act I, Scene 2. In this passage, the bleeding superior praises Macbeths heroism, contending . . . brave Macbeth--well he deserves that name--Disdaining fortune, with his brandished steelWhich smoked with bloody execution,Like valours minionCarved out his passage till he faced the slave,Which ne... ... Universities Modern expression Association 70 (Nov. 1988) 366-85. Dolan, Frances. The Taming of the Shrew Texts and Contexts. Boston Bedford, 1996. Greenblatt, Stephen. Introduction to Macbeth. The Norton Shakespeare. New York Norton, 1997. 2555-63. Hawkins, Michael. History, pol itics, and Macbeth. Focus on Macbeth. Ed. John Russell Brown. London Routledge, 1982. 155-88. Kermode, Frank. Introduction to Macbeth. The Riverside Shakespeare. Boston Houghton, 1974. 1307-11. Stallybrass, Peter. Macbeth and Witchcraft. Focus on Macbeth. Ed. John Russell Brown. London Routledge, 1982. 189-209. Williamson, Marily L. Violence and Gender Ideology. Shakespeare Left and Right. Ed. Ivo Kamps et al. New York Routledge, 1991. 157-66. Winstanley, Lilian. Macbeth, King Lear, and Contemporary History. Cambridge Cambridge UP, 1922.