Essay Sample About Lady Macbeth As A Powerful Woman

In act 1 scene 5 Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth as a powerful woman through her matriarchal relationship with Macbeth. This can be seen through Lady Macbeth expressing her feelings towards Macbeth “Yet I do fear thy nature; It is too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness.” The use of personification implies how Lady Macbeth expresses her concern that her husband lacked the necessary ruthlessness to kill King Duncan and seize the throne; she is also saying he doesn't have enough ambition to complete the task. This shows her power because she is pointing out all of Macbeths flaws that she could do herself because she has the ambition and ruthlessness to kill King Ducan if she was a man. “Milk of human kindness” suggests that Lady Macbeth is giving Macbeth female qualities and putting him down; “Milk” can suggest that Lady Macbeth has been corrupted by the power of the throne and it has made her sour also, Lady Macbeth is referring to breast milk and a child because Macbeth is not as ruthless and is too kind. Furthermore, the juxtaposition of “fear” and “Kindness” can imply that Lady Macbeth is acting like the witches because she is scared of Macbeth's  good characteristics (kindness,bravery). During the jacobean era men were superior and women weren’t part of the great chain of being so their relationship is matriarchal because lady macbeth was superior because she manipulates Macbeth and commands him to do things she wants to be done. A jacobean audience would be shocked by such portrayal of womanhood.

Another way Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth as a powerful woman in act 1 scene 5 is as a woman who is trapped in a patriarchal society. The verb “unsex me here” conveys that Lady Macbeth wants all her femine characteristics stripped from her. Lady Macbeth doesn't have a desire to become masculine but to have her excessively “womanly” attributes such as compassion, so that she is able to act without guilt she would need this because she would have no emotion and would be powerful enough to commit evil. We can also learn from this that Lady macbeth is willing to anything to seize the throne for her husband and she is prepared to commit murder herself. During the Jocobean era it was a patriarchal society so Lady Macbeth couldn't gain any power from being a woman. A Jacobean audience wouldn’t have accepted Lady Macbeth's opinions because she didn't fit the stereotypical women of that era. Lady Macbeth manipulates Macbeth with remarkable effectiveness she makes him question his manliness and to prove himself he has to commit murder.

In addition, Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth as a powerful woman as a woman who is trapped in a patriarchal society by Lady Macbeth saying “Come you spirits That tend on my  mortal thoughts”. The use of the imperative suggests she is calling on the spirits that tend on her evil thoughts to come forward and fill her body with manly cruelty. She wants the spirits to remove her lady-like features she owns such as the motherly instincts and the supposedly very femine setbacks she insists she has, and fill her courage and manly strength that will allow her to commit the cruel and unspeakable act that she plans to commit.she is very much like the Witches casting a spell to summon up evil spirits. Furthermore this shows her ambition and power to try and kill King Duncan. In the jacobean era supernatural was feared and people were very superstitious therefore a Jacobean audience would be uncomfortable that a woman was saying this but also intrigued.