You might say that society is one, which values extreme “male” characteristics and devalues “feminine” behaviour. We can see examples of this by looking at the witches and Lady Macbeth.
“You should be women- and yet your beards forbid me to interpret- that you are so” (I.3.44)
Banquo and Macbeth upon meeting the witches for the first time try to identify their sex, but they cannot. The witches are aggressive towards Macbeth and Banquo and at the same time they do not respect and bow down to their authority. But as being witches their power only seems to be to serve evil, and as a result are seen as unnatural.
Before the murder of Duncan, we see that Lady Macbeth teases Macbeth into killing Duncan. She is at the beginning of the play the male of the house, and Macbeth obeys to her wishes and directions. Macbeth tells his wife he will not do the job because of all the praise Duncan has given him recently, and thus can not kill him.
“ He hath honoured me of late” (I.7.31)
But Macbeth ends up having to commit the crime in order to prove his “masculinity” to his wife.
The morning after the murder, we see Macbeth is very nervous, on edge and he has a very guilty conscience. We can see his nerves in the way he speaks, with short sharp sentences.
“Twas a rough night”
Macbeth regrets the murder and nearly admits to his crime, but Lady Macbeth pretends to faint to create a diversion from Macbeth to herself.
This idea that society depicted is no place for traditional “female” values is something we can develop by looking at Lady Macbeth.
We can see through the play that Lady Macbeth changes personality; she goes from being the dominant “male” character of the marriage at the beginning of the play to being the female of the marriage where she should have always of been. Lady Macbeth has power at the beginning of the play over Macbeth and she uses this power to her advantage.
After receiving a letter from her husband, Lady Macbeth is willing to do anything to help her husband become king. Lady Macbeth calls upon spirits to aid her in her plan to murder Duncan. She asks to be “rid” of all her feminine features.
Although Macbeth wanted no part in killing Duncan, Lady Macbeth managed to persuade him to do it. She taunted him about his masculinity, and plays with his emotions, by saying that he doesn’t love her anymore and that he has broken his promise to her, “Such I account thy love”. She tells him what a coward he is, and how he is not acting like a man. This hurts Macbeth because he has been promoted because of his bravery and his masculinity in battle.
The last time we meet Lady Macbeth she is sleep walking, a doctor and a servant witness her. She speaks out loud about Duncan’s murder, and we see that she feels guilt from the task. Lady Macbeth talks about the other murders, which her husband commits, and how he has lost control of his feeling and how it has devastated her.
Lady Macbeth and Macbeth after the murder of Duncan change back into their rightful states. Macbeth becomes the “Man” of the house, while Lady Macbeth recedes into being the “Female” of the house. After the murder of Duncan, Macbeth will do anything to get what he wants, and will do anything to get there. This is what Lady Macbeth would of done in the beginning of the play for her husband. Their marriage slowly deteriorates, and they no longer share their thoughts and feelings with each other any more. Lady Macbeth no longer has any power or control over her husband, and eventually goes mad from not being able to talk or relate to her husband any more.
We can see from studying the characters of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth that they are of opposites. When Lady Macbeth is strong and powerful Macbeth is weak, but when Macbeth has power, Lady Macbeth is reduced to being a woman who has no control or power.
