Krishna Baburaj

Ms. Kret Portrayal of Women in Macbeth

English Pd. 1
January 6, 2014
1

In many Shakespearean plays, Women are portrayed in many different ways. In Macbeth,
William Shakespeare women and mothers challenge the stereotypical ladies of the 17
th
century.
There are three different types of women found in the drama. One of them is Lady Macbeth, the
leading female role who challenges the stereotypical description of a lady, Lady Macduff who
served as an ideal lady and serves as a FOIL for Lady Macbeth, and the Weird Sisters who are
portrayed as supernatural beings who are not at all alike to women.
Lady Macbeth is the leading female role in the drama who challenges the traditional
portrayal of a lady as seen in many other female characters in many other Shakespearean plays.
The drama portrays her in a way that the reader feels like she is a very ruthless, unkind person in
the beginning. Even though, she dresses and acts like a normal lady in front of others, when
the reader see her in her soliloquies and in her scenes with Macbeth she brings forth a totally
different person inside her. The first Shakespeare introduces her in the play, she says, Hie thee
hither, / That I may pour my spirits in thine ear / And chastise with the valor of my tongue / All
that impedes from the golden round, (1.5.28-31). She is saying that Macbeth does not have the
darkness inside him that is needed to commit an act so brutal and ruthless but, she has the
darkness that is needed to commit this act, She wants to give Macbeth the darkness insides her so
that he could destroy all the barriers that stop him from doing what is necessary for him to
become a king and to fulfill his other ambitions.
Lady Macduff on the other hand is a totally different character than Lady Macbeth. She
represents the ideal lady of the tine. Even though, the reader only reads about for a very short
Krishna Baburaj
Ms. Kret Portrayal of Women in Macbeth
English Pd. 1
January 6, 2014
2

time, they can easily know that she is a FOIL character for Lady Macbeth. She cares for her son
as she criticizes Macduff for leaving her son and her alone to fight the tyrant or the owl. She
compares their life to a wrens as He wants the natural touch: for the poor wren / will fight/ her
young ones in her nest, against the owl (4.2.11-13) She compares Macduff to a wren and sates
that even a small animal like a wren will fight for its babies but Macduff leaves them and runs
away. She recognizes him as a coward and a weak human being who leaves his family to suffer.
She also says that even if his reason is to protect the country, how can a man protect his country
if he cannot protect his wife and his kids.
The three Weird Sisters on the other hand portray something totally different than Lady
Macbeth and Lady Macduff. They define darkness and witchcraft in the play. One of the witches
starts of the play by asking, When shall we three meet again? / In thunder, lightning, or in
rain? (1.1.1-2). Thunder, lightning and, rain are many a times used as omen of bad things about
to happen in many movies and books. By starting the book with this statement, Shakespeare
shows the reader how dark the three witches and the books will be. Also the next time they
would meet is, to meet with Macbeth (1.1.8) This shows the reader how they will influence
Macbeth a lot and is also the first time the author use Supernatural power in the story because
they are looking into the future. They are the ones that put the idea of Macbeth being the future
king of Scotland which led him to commit many murders and destroying himself in the end.
They led him to believe that he is immortal and that he should not scare anyone which in the end
turned out to be their way of tricking Macbeth into his final fall.
Krishna Baburaj
Ms. Kret Portrayal of Women in Macbeth
English Pd. 1
January 6, 2014
3

Women always seem to play a big role in most of the stories, movies, novels, plays, etc.
They also affect day to day life in a great extent. Women in the 17
th
century were characterized
as very civilized and innocent. They were thought to be the ones that stayed at home and did the
home chores looked after the babies. Women now a day are portrayed totally different than 4
centuries ago. They are characterized as very self-dependent, strong, self-sufficient, etc. they are
more self-reliant and can live on their own without the protection of a family or a man. They are
also much more women getting more education and working outside their houses as well.