Gender Role In Macbeth

“Hie thee hither, that I may pour mine spirits in thine ear” about the play Macbeth, a Shakespearean story of Scottish thane Macbeth’s ascent to the throne. (I, v, 24-25). Macbeth hears a prophecy from three witches that he is destined to become king of Scotland and soon he and his wife, Lady Macbeth, are killing kinsmen and the king himself, Duncan, to fulfill the prophecy. By the time the two reach the height of their power, they both become overcome with the weight of their actions. Lady Macbeth commits suicide and Macbeth makes one final, fatal attempt to prove himself in battle. Their actions are influenced by a variety of factors throughout the play, but gender in particular shapes their behavior. Lady Macbeth constantly struggles with balancing her ambition and her stereotypical role as a woman in Shakespearean times, which is a significant cause of her mental instability.
Lady Macbeth is driven to suicide, in part by the pressure of unifying her femininity and her ambition. Macbeth takes a stand in battle, entering a fatal fight in an attempt to regain his masculinity. While some may argue that it is not their gender, but the guilt of their actions that influenced these characters’ behavior, it is clear that many characters in Macbeth are forced to hide their identity. Macbeth, an “open book” (cite), struggles to conceal the fact that he murdered Duncan. Lady Macbeth takes on a different personality depending on the situation she is in. There is a clear correlation between whether a character stays true to themselves and whether they end up dead or alive at the end of the play. Even disregarding gender, it is the constant fight to unify many sides of one identity that drives the characters to their deaths. While it may seem cliche, Shakespeare leaves the reader with the conclusion that it is incredibly important to always encompass one true