Macbeth Exam Question Plan:

How does Shakespeare present Masculinity in the play?

Quote 1 : “live a coward”
Lady Macbeth tells Macbeth that he is a “coward”. The adjective
“coward” dehumanises Macbeth and corrupts his ego by telling hm
that he lacks courage to do dangerous things but in fact in Act 1 Scene
2 Macbeth is described as “brave” and “noble” showing that he can
endure pain and show courage.
Quote 2: “Like the poor cat I’ the adage?”
Lady Macbeth continues to bully Macbeth by comparing to a weak
and fragile creature “Like the poor cat I’ the adage?”. She refers
Macbeth as a cat who is wanted fish but was too afraid of the water,
this demonstrates on how Macbeth is too frightened to kill Duncan.
The noun “cat” illustrates on how Lady Macbeth manipulates
Macbeth as cats are seen as feminine and a puny animal meaning her
husband is less of a human.
Quote 3: “Too full o’th milk of human kindness”
 Metaphor – image of nurturing, shows a typical quality of a
women, which are feminine and ladylike.
 Lady Macbeth is willing to strip her female and womanly features
to become more masculine and complete Macbeth’s job. It is
almost like in their marriage the roles are swapped.
Quote 4: “Take my milk for gall”
 LM womanhood is represented by breasts and milk, usually
symbols of nurture.
 Her female features stop her from performing acts of violence and
cruelty, which she associates with manliness.
 LM can’t feel pity, so that no human kindness will stop her from
carrying out the plan.
Quote 5: “Unsex me here”
 LM manipulates Macbeth by questioning his manhood and is
unsure if there’s enough manhood to go around between herself
and her husband.
 He calls the upon scheming spirits to “unsex me here”
 This way is a vivid way of asking to be stripped of feminine
weakness and invested of becoming more masculine.
 She is ready to give her conscience, her humanity, her very soul to
achieve her goal.
Quote 6: “Feel it as a man”
 Shakespeare shows a more sensitive side to Masculinity through
the character of Macduff.
 It displays that you don’t to sacrifice feelings or emotions to
become masculine – you should embrace your feelings to become a
complete person
AO3: Context
 It was a patriarchal society – all position s of power were held by
men.
 Women was treated as property – belonged to their fathers until
they are married
 A wife’s role was to stay at home and cook, clean and care for
children.
 LM has a dominant role in her marriage and controls her husband.
Macbeth would have been seen as weak and flawed character
because he allows his wife to control him and dictate actions.