Vaughn Feuer

Dr. Hile

Major Plays of Shakespeare

May 1, 2016

“Something Wicked This Way Comes:”

Powerful Women as a Source of Wickedness in Shakespeare’s Macbeth

The problem of Shakespeare’s treatment of women in the form of his female characters

has been one to plague scholarship throughout the study of Shakespeare’s copious works. In

many regards he can be seen as reflecting in his work the era in which he lived and that era’s

opinion of women in general. There are some cases in which the Bard was able to subvert the

popular opinion of what women are and should be, but this is not the case when it comes to the

female characters within one of his most popular and enduring works, Macbeth. The presence

and prominence of major female characters within Macbeth as forces that are either unnatural or

wicked is unique within Shakespeare, as there is no major female character present that

possesses power that is indicated to be virtuous or without some wickedness of spirit. In addition

to the wickedness of female characters that Shakespeare presents, he also presents a distinct level

of supernaturalism that is intrinsically tied to the essence of being a woman. This supernatural

and wicked nature inevitably affects the world around them, and most directly impacts the men

with whom these women have connections. The witches, one of the most intriguing groups of

characters within the Shakespearean corpus, are personifications of both the perceived
wickedness and supernatural power that was accessible to women at the time. Shakespeare also

presents wickedness as a characteristic of women who possess power in the earthly realm, most

damningly through the wicked and miserable acts of Lady Macbeth, which inevitably poisons

those virtuous men in contact with them by means of the inherently evil attributes that are

perceived to be innately present within them. Shakespeare further presents the nature of powerful

women to taint virtuous men by presenting the character of Macduff, who owes his power to

defeat Macbeth to the “unnatural” form of his birth that results in a separation from the influence

of women. Yet, though it seems that the supernaturally poisonous effects of powerful women in

this play can only be escaped by unnatural means such as that of Macduff’s birth, Shakespeare

also presents virtue in the form of Banquo, who despite being “of woman born” is shown to be

virtuous and righteous enough that his line is deserving of the title of king.

Many scholars throughout the history of Shakespearean scholarship have discussed the

characters of the witches and their role in Macbeth. A significant portion of any discussion of the

witches inevitably revolves around the prophesies that they grant to the play’s protagonist. In

order to understand these characters, one must consider the history of witches in western

imaginations. The culturally agreed upon perception of witches in the Elizabethan era is most

certainly what Shakespeare would have had in mind as he created these characters. The history

of the perceptions of witches and witchcraft is of upmost importance to an understanding of

Shakespeare’s development of these characters.

In the England Shakespeare was familiar with, witchcraft had been a felony since the

year before he was born, as “The Witchcraft Act was introduced in 1563 and it sentenced witches

to death for conjuring evil spirits and for killing” (Brînzeu 255). The enactment of this

parliamentary legislation the year before Shakespeare’s birth demonstrates the very real threat
that Elizabethan England found witchcraft to be. Witches were thought to be capable of

communing with demonic forces, killing people, causing impotency, and foretelling the future

(Brînzeu 255). This set of powers, found only in women, was perceived as unnatural and against

the cosmic order of things. The witch archetype was seen as outside of normal society, an other,

and as such was seen as something to fear. Throughout all of human history, the other has been

seen as a threat, and this was no different in Shakespeare’s England. This perception of

supernatural power housed within the female form was an obvious and dangerous threat to the

status quo of patriarchal power within Renaissance society, and the supernatural provenance of

these powers was seen as proof of their evil nature. Additionally, the perception of these powers

as a purely female attribute demonstrates further the need and desire of a patriarchal society to

explain away any shift in power that may favor women over men. Any outspoken, strong, or

powerful women could therefore be questioned in regards to their connection with otherworldly

power.

It is telling, in light of the list of possible powers, that Shakespeare wrote the Weird

Sisters in a way that they used only the last of the powers listed in their plot against Macbeth.

Their power was manifest simply as knowledge. This knowledge, of future events in this case,

depicts a direct threat to multiple forms of male power in the forms of Duncan’s kingship, the

Thane of Cawdor’s life and position, the life of Banquo, and eventually and inevitably the life

and kingship of Macbeth himself. Shakespeare excludes the litany of other possible powers that

were attributed to witches when conjuring up the characters of the witches, and includes simply

the power of prophecy. This is to Shakespeare’s credit, as this power alone was enough to set the

pieces on the board moving and to bring about the eventual downfall of Macbeth, and any further
demonstration of additional powers would have undermined the agency with which Macbeth

undertakes the murderous tasks before him.

As Hebron notes, “witches have also been interpreted as fearful misogynist projections –

the female as dominant, disobedient, destructive, armed with knowledge” (78). This concept

plays interestingly into the perception of the witches by Banquo when he and Macbeth are

confronted with their presence on the heath. Their appearance, one of bearded and haggish

androgyny confuses Banquo when he says “you should be women, / And yet your beards forbid

me to interpret / That you are so” (Shakespeare 1.3.43-45; Brînzeu 256). This further confuses

the perceptions of how women and men should behave in Renaissance England. Not only are

Shakespeare’s witches breaking the societally accepted standards of female power, but they also

betray and blur the lines between what is male and female appearance. This calls into question

what, exactly, the witches are. Shakespeare gives no indication as to whether the witches are

simply women engaged in witchcraft, or if they are demonic entities themselves. This confusion

of roles and perceptions is part of what makes the role of the witches so compelling within this

story.

Furthermore, that the witches are presented as having the type power previously

mentioned yet only use the power of prophecy is compelling evidence in regards to the overall

perception of women at the time. Rather than overtly acting against any other character in the

play, the witches instead prefer to poison the mind of Macbeth with a prophecy that in turn

compels Macbeth to act it out on his own. The witches are passive antagonists in this case,

spurring the Thane of Glamis forward to his fate. Though the audience knows in advance of the

fall of the Thane of Cawdor, there is no way the witches could have known this without

supernatural means. The fall of the Thane of Cawdor is the only clause within the witches’ initial
prophecy that cannot be said to have been self-fulfilling. This small part of a larger prophecy is

the initial indication that the Weird Sisters are supernatural, and have power to match their

mysterious appearance. Being in possession of this “strange intelligence” that Macbeth almost

immediately finds to be true establishes the witches as not only mysterious and threatening but

supernaturally powerful within the reality of the play (Shakespeare 1.3.74). This power has the

ability to engender change within a man previously perceived by his fellows as “brave,” and

“noble” (Shakespeare 1.2.16, 67). This supernatural ability to change the balance of power was

the reason why witches and witchcraft were so feared in Elizabethan England. As Brînzeu writes,

“Shakespeare intends them to oppose male authority, domination, and courage” in a way that

was seen as unacceptable for women (256).

Another interesting aspect of the power dynamic within the characters of the Weird

Sisters is their lack of, and confusing physical manifestations, of sexuality. The witches are

presented as androgynous, sexually neutral manifestations of the fears of female power. This

characterization of the witches runs contradictory to the perception of the sexual provenance of

witches’ powers at the time. According to the Malleus Maleficarum, a 1487 treatise on witchcraft

by Heinrich Kramer and James Sprenger, a sexual genesis of these powers was required:

“Let us especially note too that in the practice of this abominable evil, four points

in particular are required. First, most profanely to renounce the Catholic Faith, or

at any rate to deny certain dogmas of the faith; secondly, to devote themselves

body and soul to all evil; thirdly, to offer up unbaptized children to Satan;

fourthly, to indulge in every kind of carnal lust with Incubi and Succubi and all

manner of filthy delights” (59)

It is therefore interesting that there is such distance between these witches and anything of that

nature, instead relying on the act of casting spells, or in the case of prophecy, simply having

innate power. Shakespeare’s exclusion of this standard part of Renaissance witchcraft lore in all

reality could simply be due to the ubiquitous knowledge of audiences at the time as to the nature

of witches and witchcraft. Nevertheless, by excluding this aspect of witchcraft, Shakespeare has

further established the witches as influencers, rather than direct actors upon the events that are to

transpire.

This removal of sexuality might also be argued to act as a removal of the witches further

from the archetypical witch, removing the feminine aspects of the archetype and therefore

undermining the argument that the witches are manifestations of the patriarchal fear of female

power. It has the opposite effect, however, by blurring the well-established gender traits and

roles of the time, creating characters that were ostensibly confusing, but at their core still women.

At the core of the fear of witches in the 16th century was the fear of women behaving in a way

contrary to that which was expected of their sex. The Renaissance standard for women is

summed up thusly by Brînzeu: “women’s supreme vocation was only to bear children; otherwise,

they had to be chaste, silent, obedient and patient, assuring a degree of comfort to the household

and not interfering in any way with their husband’s decisions” (255).

This fear of women acting in ways contrary to how society expected, especially in

regards to their sexuality, further manifests itself in the person of Lady Macbeth. This is

evidenced in her speech in act one, scene five:

The raven himself is hoarse

That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan

 Under my battlements. 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!' (Shakespeare 1.5.44-52)

Here she is speaking in sexual and maternal terms that relate directly to her power as a woman.

Not only is she attempting to talk herself into the strength of mind to commit horrifying acts, she

is also crossing a line that is dangerously close to the witchcraft previously discussed. She asks

spirits to “unsex” her, removing those traits that were considered innately female, such as
delicacy, frailty, kindness, reproductive capabilities, and maternal instincts. This could be read as

a desire for more masculine traits in order to pursue the dark path that Lady Macbeth has set

forth before her. As Chamberlain writes, ‘scholars have traditionally read […] her earlier “unsex

me here” (1.5.39) invocation as evidence of Lady Macbeth’s attempt to seize a masculine power

to further Macbeth’s political goals’ (72). This is contradictory, however, to the characterization

of Macbeth in regards to the murder of Duncan. Though his characterization as resistant to the

murder may be seen as feminine, it is in truth a manifestation of the virtuous nature of Macbeth

at the story’s outset. Instead, Lady Macbeth is asking some supernatural force to strip her of

what makes her a virtuous woman, which would in turn transform her into something more

closely representing the weird sisters. This plea for a transformation displays the inherent fear in

regards to women taking charge and acting, once again, contrary to how they ought to.

This blurring of lines between Lady Macbeth and the witches is the source of a possible

claim that Lady Macbeth is the fourth witch of the play. She is the only other major female

character in the play aside from the witches, and her descent into darkness and what seems to be

witchcraft is damning evidence that supports even further the intention, whether consciously or

subconsciously, of Shakespeare to establish female characters that go against the standards of the

time as evil beings. However, these women such as Lady Macbeth and the witches are not only

evil and unnatural, but they are a direct threat that influences the men in the play. Lady Macbeth

says as much when she professes her desire to “pour my spirits in thine (Macbeth’s) ear”

(Shakespeare 1.5.24). Her abandonment of those traits which made her a virtuous woman lead to

the destruction of Macbeth, not through any direct action of her own, but simply through the

influence, and the power of that influence, that she has over her husband.
 The power that Lady Macbeth bears throughout the play is undeniable in light of the acts

that she spurs Macbeth to do. Once again, this character is behaving contrary to the way in which

she was expected to behave. Women, and especially wives, in the early modern England were

expect to be obedient and subordinate to men, yet it seems that Lady Macbeth is in the driver’s

seat in the initial act of this play in regards to the fate of Duncan. Her use of maternal imagery

brings to mind the contrast that she presents with the standard image of the wife and mother

within the public’s mind. Women in the roles of mother and wife were supposed to be

stabilizing, comforting presences, yet the character of Lady Macbeth is “one whose studied

cruelty nurtures social and political chaos” (Chamberlain 79). This power, which exists in

opposition to the power that she should possess as a woman, the play demonstrates, is dangerous

and irresponsibly placed. With women, both in the person of Lady Macbeth and the witches, in

possession of such power of influence over a man such as Macbeth, the commentary to be

gleaned from this is that women are not capable of simultaneously being good and possessing

this sort of power. It could very well be argued that the only female characters in the play that

could be considered good are Lady Macduff, who is present only in the scene in which she is

murdered, and the unnamed character of the Gentlewoman, whose lack of significant power is

the only indication of her goodness.

Just as with the witches, Lady Macbeth does not force Macbeth into action. Macbeth

himself chooses to complete each of his terrible deeds. The influence of both the witches’

prophecy and the urgings of his wife are the driving force that influences Macbeth towards his

murderous future. This is the lot of women who are in possession of power in the world of

Macbeth. Their power is not direct, but is instead the ability to influence and lead men astray. As

before mentioned, Macbeth was considered a good and decent man, who was loyal to his king
and virtuous in his duty. Yet two separate entities in the form of women, the witches and his

wife, influence him to action in murderous, treasonous, and eventually tyrannical ways. The

implication presented here is that the power that these women, and possibly all powerful women

possess, is that to run men from the virtuous path.

This presentation of female characters as treacherous and misleading reflects the

Elizabethan paranoia surrounding women and their role in society. This paranoia was present

because of the threat that female agency presented to the “patrilineal order” that Elizabethan

society was so invested in protecting (Chamberlain 79). Women who had the agency to act of

their own free will without the consideration of what their male counterparts expected of them

would threaten the power balance of society, as well as the power of the connection between a

man and his son. This threat is realized and manifested in this play when Lady Macbeth confirms

her desire to fulfill the prophecy of the witches by saying that she would commit infanticide in

order to bring about the results she desires:

I have given suck, and know

How tender 'tis to love the babe that milks me.

I would, while it was smiling in my face,

Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums

And dashed the brains out, had I so sworn as you

Have done to this. (Shakespeare 1.7.54-59)

This line presents Lady Macbeth as a motherly figure and then immediately turns that image on

its side with horrifying imagery of infanticide. The female agency required to commit such an
act, and therefore female agency as a whole, was a threat to the patrilineal system that the

patriarchy at the time relied on (Chamberlain 79). There was a culturally pervasive fear of

infanticide, and by extension, female agency.

This scene of brutality that Lady Macbeth conjures up is not intended to show her

murderous and cruel spirit, or the demonic state of her soul, but instead to clarify the depths of

her dedication to the ambitions and possibilities that were present in Macbeth himself. She is

presenting this scenario to Macbeth not because “Lady Macbeth despises the child she murders

in fantasy. On the contrary, her empowerment is crucially dependent on a loving relationship

with the one she will shortly slaughter; it must be a blood sacrifice” (Chamberlain 82). Her

power lies in the influence that this metaphor has on Macbeth.

Lady Macbeth’s fantasy of infanticide demonstrates that Lady Macbeth was seeking, and

in possession of, some sort of dangerous power. Lady Macbeth does not seek to possess the same

type of power and authority that men possess. As Chamberlain further clarifies that “while she

makes a case for killing Duncan, even declaring that ‘had he not resembled/ My father as he

slept, I had done’t” (2.2.12-13), Lady Macbeth ultimately refuses masculine authority” (80). The

realm of action belongs to men in Macbeth’s world, and the power of women lies in their ability

to spur men towards the actions that achieve the ends that these powerful women desire. Her

previous fantasy of killing as sacrifice falls down when confronted with the prospect of action

itself, further demonstrating the existence of female power within Macbeth’s world as one of

influence and suggestion, rather than one of action.

Though Lady Macbeth calls upon the supernatural to give her power, there is no

indication in the text that her power is supernatural. This makes her character all the more

fearsome from the viewpoint of Shakespeare’s audience. Her power is mortal, and gained
through nothing but her own means. It is a cruel power, and a power gained on her own and

therefore a threat to the patriarchal system that was being upheld at the time. However, the

supernatural was influential in the spurring on of Lady Macbeth in her attempts to gain and wield

this power, just as it was for Macbeth in his pursuit of the ambitions planted in his mind by the

witches. Once again, without the prophetic interference of the witches, those women firmly

intertwined with the supernatural, Lady Macbeth would never have been spurred to her own

unnatural (in societal terms) power.

Unnatural power does not apply to male characters throughout this play. Though the

inciting incident that leads Macbeth to his ambition and in turn to great power comes from a

supernatural source, the means by which Macbeth achieves these things is entirely within the

realm of natural abilities. After all, murder is a natural piece in the puzzle of the human

condition, as are the acts of a tyrant as Macbeth becomes. His natural inclinations toward

violence bring about the action of the play. The supernatural exists throughout as an inciting or

guiding force, made apparent through the eventual downfall of the titular character. Macbeth’s

brashness throughout the play is spurred forth by his perception of himself as undefeatable due to

his particular reading of supernatural prophecy. Macbeth’s understanding of both the world he

lives in and the prophecy provided to him leads him to believe that he had nothing to fear from

any man living.

The process by which this prophecy is given to Macbeth differs from the initial prophecy

because it is directly supernatural. The witches conjure apparitions, who then supply the unstable

king with a trio of prophecies that leads to his direct downfall. These three apparitions provide

separate prophetic statements that are all connected to the fate of Macbeth, saying “beware

Macduff” (Shakespeare 4.1.87), “none of woman born/ Shall harm Macbeth” (Shakespeare
4.1.96-97), and “Macbeth shall never vanquish'd be until/ Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane

hill/ Shall come against him” (Shakespeare 4.1.108-10). Although there is much to be said of the

final prophecy given by the third apparition, the first and second directly contribute to the

problem of women and power in Macbeth. Macbeth’s hasty conclusion about the birth process

leads him to believe there is no one alive that can harm him. This assumption proves to be a fatal

mistake for the king.

When he is confronted by the grieving Macduff on the battlefield, he shows possible

signs of regret, as Favila writes “upon meeting Macduff, he is jolted by the memory of what he

once was” (24), saying “Of all men else I have avoided thee:/ But get thee back; my soul is too

much charged/ With blood of thine already” (Shakespeare 5.10.4-6). Macbeth’s regret is quickly

forgotten in the ensuing battle with Macduff, where Macbeth shows unwavering faith in his

perception of the prophecies that have been provided to him throughout the action of the play.

He retreats to the poisoned and poisonous version of himself that has developed out of the

actions he has taken on the advice of the witches. He mocks Macduff with the words of the

prophecy to which Macduff replies with a startling revelation to both audience and Macbeth:

MACBETH

Thou losest labour:

As easy mayst thou the intrenchant air

With thy keen sword impress as make me bleed:

Let fall thy blade on vulnerable crests;

I bear a charmed life, which must not yield,

 To one of woman born.

MACDUFF

Despair thy charm;

And let the angel whom thou still hast served

Tell thee, Macduff was from his mother's womb

Untimely ripp'd. (Shakespeare 5.7.8-16)

Macduff, in the final battle scene between himself and Macbeth, reveals to both Macbeth

and the audience that Macduff was not “of woman born” in the natural way, but came into this

world in an unnatural way. Though it can be argued that Macduff’s unnatural birth has granted

him some sort of supernatural power of his own, it is more accurate to say that once again the

relation of a man to a woman is responsible for the actions, or lack thereof, of a man. Macduff is

no more proficient a fighter or more brave a combatant because of his birth by cesarean section.

This is simply another case in which the influential words of a woman have created a scenario

for men’s actions to play out. Macbeth, believing the words of the second apparition, is

overconfident and believes that he is invincible on the battlefield, and once he is confronted with

the truth of Macduff’s birth, his previous confidence in the truthfulness of the prophecies of the

witches prevents him from coming to any conclusion but one in which Macduff was destined to

be his downfall.

The power that is granted to Macduff is that of suggestion, and it is a power that holds

sway over no one but Macbeth. The power itself is not supernatural, though the way in which it

is revealed most certainly is. The power dynamic in this scene, however, is directly tied to the
concepts of power within a patriarchal society such as Elizabethan England and the feudal

Scotland that the play portrays. Macduff is presented as a man who is granted power over

Macbeth because of the method by which he was brought into this world. As Chamberlain

writes, “given early modern surgical methods, the lack of anesthesia, as well as post-surgical

infection, Caesareans were normally performed only on women who had already died during

labor” (85). Macduff was most likely cut from his mother’s womb because she had already died

and the life of an infant, and more importantly a possible heir, was at stake. By performing this

procedure, the offspring of the father was prioritized over the dignity of a maternal body, whose

purpose would have been seen as fulfilled if the offspring were to survive (Chamberlain, 85).

This method of birth demonstrates the lack of influence women had on the life of

Macduff from the very beginning, implying that he was free of whatever poisonous influence

women have on virtuous men. This is directly contrasting with Macbeth, who from the outset of

the play is shown to be influenced directly and repeatedly by the women in his life.

Shakespeare’s plot went so far as to remove the last restraining effect of the female influence on

Macduff, in the person of his wife, when Macbeth has her and her children killed. Macduff is

therefore presented as the untainted and pure form of male virtue, without the corrupting or

poisonous effects of either female companions or the ambition that led Macbeth astray. For

though the witches, and even Lady Macbeth, influenced the actions of Macbeth toward

bloodshed and treachery, their words alone would not have been enough without the underlying

murderous ambition that existed within Macbeth. Macduff does not possess either of these traits

that so thoroughly damned Macbeth. His murderous ambitions are shown to be virtuous and

righteous, as the results of these will not only bring about the revenge he so clearly deserves, but

will also save Scotland from the grips of a violent tyrant.

 Macduff’s actions, spurred on by a sense of revenge and righteous anger, bring about the

conclusion of the play. It should be noted that the conclusion is pointedly lacking in female

characters. Lady Macbeth, having committed suicide to no one’s great surprise, is absent.

Additionally, the witches have disappeared from the play entirely after granting to Macbeth his

final prophecies. This has left the world of the play completely lacking of the influence of

women and largely of the supernatural, and the kingdom of Scotland returned to the violent

control of men and their male heirs. Because the power of women throughout the play has been

presented only in influence, suggestion, and speech, it is not surprising that the resolution of the

plot must come about because of an opposing reaction through action of just men to correct the

actions undertaken by the evil man that Macbeth had become. As Hibbs and Hibbs write, “the

victory of goodness is insured most obviously through the successful use of force by the just”

(290). This use of force is precisely what is lacking in the power that resides in women. Macduff,

with his nearly supernatural disconnection with women, is capable of putting to use this power of

action to which women do not have access. The only influence on Macduff seen throughout the

play is from men, and most actively Malcolm. Malcolm encourages Macduff to “dispute it like a

man,” and to let his sorrow be “the whetstone of your sword: let grief convert to anger; blunt not

the heart, enrage it” (Shakespeare 4.3.221, 230-231). Though the nature of Malcolm’s urging of

Macduff to violence seems similar to the influence of Lady Macbeth on Macbeth, they differ in

the righteousness of the acts for which Lady Macbeth and Malcolm are arguing. This

righteousness holds the key to the difference between the acts of violence of Macbeth, which are

considered murder and treachery, and the violence of Macduff, which is considered justified and

righteous.
 Macduff’s relationship, or lack thereof, to his mother seems to be the mechanic that

grants him the power to act as a foil to the murderous schemes of Macbeth. Similarly, the way in

which Lady Macduff speaks throughout her brief scene establishes her as the foil to Lady

Macbeth. Though both women show a certain level of independence and strength of will, Lady

Macduff more clearly identifies as a more perfect approximation of what the Renaissance ideal

woman should be. Her motherly nature is apparent throughout her scene, as she is shown to have

a good relationship with her son. This is directly oppositional to the way in which Lady Macbeth

behaves. Additionally, her behavior is opposed to Lady Macbeth further by her inability to

control her husband’s actions. Though this leads to her death and the death of her son, it fits

more consistently with what was expected of a wife in the Elizabethan era and as Miller writes,

“Lady Macduff's death also augments Macduff's motivation for vengeance” (858). She is lacking

in the power to influence and manipulate in a way that is wicked, and instead influences Macduff

toward a greater good, not through power, but through the surrendering of it to death. Through

the character of Lady Macduff, Shakespeare presents a woman that proves that women are not

necessarily only a corrupting influence that will inevitably lead men astray. It is the fear of

women with power, supernatural or otherwise, that preys on the mind of Shakespeare’s

characters, and therefore his audience.

There are also male characters other than Macduff, who is arguably touched with the

supernatural, that are virtuous despite their contact with women and their lack of the influence of

the supernatural. This can be assumed to be both because the women in these men’s lives are not

wicked nor powerful like Lady Macbeth and the witches, and also because the men themselves

are not weak like Macbeth. Most obvious of these characters is Banquo, who remained a man of

virtue and honor, though some doubt can indeed be cast on the character concerning his silence
at the murder of Duncan. Overall, however, Banquo can be read as a contrasting character to

Macbeth, where the latter embraces the existence and power of the witches, and the latter doubts

their existence at all (Nagarajan, 373). Where Macbeth turns towards wickedness and

temptation, Banquo turns away. Furthermore, it can be assumed that he was married to a woman

who was not cut from the same wicked cloth as Lady Macbeth, nor the same supernatural cloth

as the witches, and was also not in possession of a great deal of power because she does not

appear in the action of the play at all. It would be safe to assume that Banquo’s wife would have

been similar in virtue to Lady Macduff. These virtuous women share a common trait of not

having the power or influence to control the behavior of their husbands or other men around

them, as would be expected within the Renaissance model for the behavior of women.

It seems that the clarity of both Shakespeare and his audience’s opinion of women

throughout the course of Macbeth is unassailable. The women of this play are not presented as

innately wicked nor supernatural, but instead as having a potential of becoming so that does not

equally apply to their male counterparts. This potential is innately tied to the presence of power

within the individual woman in question. It seems that at this point in history, the old adage of

“absolute power corrupts absolutely” can be modified to suit the needs of the era as “a woman

with power is a wicked woman.”

This corruption of women by means of the wielding power is most clearly evidenced in

the persons of the witches, who undeniably hold the most power throughout the play. The

supernatural provenance of these powers further point to the danger that these powers pose.

Additionally, the nature of the Elizabethan perception of these powers only to be held by women

through congress with evil spirits further illustrates their evil and dangerous qualities. The

second most obvious case of power’s corrupting influence on a woman is in the character of
Lady Macbeth, whose power hungry machinations prove to be the downfall of both herself and

her husband, the only man to whom she had loyalty. Finally, the wicked nature of women with

power is further defined through the contrast provided by those women who do not hold power

and are therefore not wicked, and the men who stay virtuous as a direct result of not being

exposed to a woman driven to wickedness by the power she possesses. Virtue, it seems, is the

realm of men free of the influence of women who possess power, and of women who are content

to occupy the role assigned to them by Renaissance sensibilities.

 Works Cited

Brînzeu, Pia. "Hidden Esotericism." European Journal of English Studies 15.3 (2011): 251-

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