Lady Macbeth and Gender Roles

Lady Macbeth and Gender Roles

Lady Macbeth

Act V, Scene I

Macbeth: Feminist Critic

- Feeling insane and guilty

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Who is Lady Macbeth now?

What does Lady Macbeth say about gender stereotypes at the time?

• At the end, Lady Macbeth is insane
• Driven to insanity by guilt

Out, damned spot! out, I say!--One: two: why,

then, 'tis time to do't.--Hell is murky!--Fie, my

lord, fie! a soldier, and afeard? What need we

fear who knows it, when none can call our power to

account?--Yet who would have thought the old man

to have had so much blood in him.

Feminist Critic

So what if you can see the darkest side of me

No one will ever change this animal I have become

Help me believe it's not the real me

Somebody help me tame this animal I have become

Help me believe it's not the real me

Somebody help me tame this animal

Somebody help me through this nightmare

I can't control myself

Somebody wake me from this nightmare

I can't escape this hell

This animal, this animal

This animal, this animal

This animal, this animal

This animal

So what if you can see the darkest side of me

No one will ever change this animal I have become

Help me believe it's not the real me

Somebody help me tame this animal I have become

Help me believe it's not the real me

Somebody help me tame this animal! ( animal , animal )

This animal I have become

I can't escape this hell

So many times I've tried

But I'm still caged inside

Somebody get me through this nightmare

I can't control myself

So what if you can see the darkest side of me

No one will ever change this animal I have become

Help me believe it's not the real me

Somebody help me tame this animal!

This animal, this animal

I can't escape myself

So many times I've lied

But there's still rage inside

Somebody get me through this nightmare

I can't control myself

seeks to describe and analyze the ways in which literature portrays the narrative of male domination in regard to female bodies by exploring the economic, social, political, and psychological forces embedded within literature.

Act II, Scene II

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- Feeling powerful

Who is Lady Macbeth now?

Historical Context

• After Killing, Lady Macbeth is joyous.
• Trying to cover up her involvement so that she can become queen

My hands are of your colour; but I shame

To wear a heart so white.

Knocking within

I hear a knocking

At the south entry: retire we to our chamber;

A little water clears us of this deed:

How easy is it, then!

• Macbeth was written during King James VI's reign

• The play tried to better King James's reputation by downplaying Queen Elizabeth's.

Chorus

The essence the basics / Without did you make it

Allow me to make this / Child-like in nature

Rhythm / You have it or you don't that's a fallacy / I'm in them

Every sprouting tree / Every child of peace / Every cloud and sea

You see with your eyes / I see destruction and demise (that's right)

Corruption in disguise / From this fuckin' enterprise

Now I'm sucked into your lies

Through Russel, though not his muscles but the percussion he provides

For me as a guide / Y'all can see me now 'cause you don't see with your eye

You perceive with your mind

That's the inner / So I'mma stick around with Russ and be a mentor

Bust a few rhymes so motherfuckers remember where the thought is

I brought all this / So you can survive when law is lawless (right here)

Feelings, sensations that you thought was dead

No squealing, remember that it's all in your head

Chorus

I ain't happy, I'm feeling glad

I got sunshine in a bag

I'm useless but not for long

The future is coming on

I ain't happy, I'm feeling glad

I got sunshine in a bag

I'm useless but not for long

The future is coming on

It's coming on

It's coming on

It's coming on

Yeah... Ha Ha!

Finally someone let me out of my cage

Now, time for me is nothing cause I'm counting no age

Now I couldn't be there / Now you shouldn't be scared

I'm good at repairs / And I'm under each snare

Intangible

Bet you didn't think so I command you to

Panoramic view / Look I'll make it all manageable

Pick and choose / Sit and lose / All you different crews

Chicks and dudes / Who you think is really kickin' tunes?

Picture you gettin' down in a picture tube

Like you lit the fuse

You think it's fictional? / Mystical? Maybe.

Spiritual

Hero who appears in you to clear your view when you're too crazy

Lifeless / To those the definition for what life is

Priceless / To you because I put you on the high shit

You like it? / Gun smokin' righteous with one toke

You're psychic among those / Possess you with one go

Photos

Act I, Scene V

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- Feeling power hungry

Who is Lady Macbeth now?

• Already power hungry
• Lady Macbeth is trying to build confidence
• She is trying to become a man

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! make thick my blood;

Stop up the access and passage to remorse,

That no compunctious visitings of nature

Shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between

The effect and it! Come to my woman's breasts,

And take my milk for gall, you murdering ministers,

Wherever in your sightless substances

You wait on nature's mischief! Come, thick night,

And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell,

That my keen knife see not the wound it makes,

Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark,

To cry 'Hold, hold!'

(To Be a man)

We must be swift as the coursing river

(Be a man)

With all the force of a great typhoon

( To Be a man)

With all the strength of a raging fire

Mysterious as the dark side of the moon

Time is racing toward us till the Huns arrive

Heed my every order and you might survive

You're unsuited for the rage of war

So pack up, go home you're through

How could I make a man out of you?

( To Be a man)

We must be swift as the coursing river

( To Be a man)

With all the force of a great typhoon

( To Be a man)

With all the strength of a raging fire

Mysterious as the dark side of the moon

( To Be a man)

We must be swift as the Coursing river

( To Be a man)

With all the force of a great typhoon

( To Be a man)

With all the strength of a raging fire

Mysterious as the dark side of the moon

Let's get down to business / To defeat the Huns

Did they send me daughters / When I asked for sons?

You're the saddest bunch / I ever met

But you can bet / Before we're through

Mister, I'll make a man / out of you

Tranquil as a forest / But on fire within

Once you find your center / you are sure to win

You're a spineless, pale / pathetic lot

And you haven't got a clue / Somehow I'll make a man

out of you

I'm never gonna catch my breath

Say goodbye to those who knew me

Boy, was I a fool in school for cutting gym

This guy's got 'em scared to death

Hope he doesn't see right through me

Now I really wish that I knew how to swim

Kenna's Korner

How would a woman react to Macbeth?

• Lady Macbeth is trying to make a statement in all the wrong ways
• As a female I relate to her struggles to not only gain power but also earn respect
• After further analysis I agree that Lady MacBeth was insane, but she was only portrayed this way through a male's viewpoint
• Lady Macbeth was built from the foundation of King James VI belief that women cannot hold power successfully