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This essay is a response to the question: ‘Shakespeare’s Macbeth reinforces assumptions about men and women in Elizabethan society. Do you agree?’
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In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, things are not what they seem and individuals are compelled to use their powers of intuition and deduction to differentiate between that which is fair, and that which is foul. The anarchy that befalls the Scottish setting of Shakespeare’s 11th Century tragedy, is a direct result not of the forces of evil, but rather, of Macbeth’s inclination to equivocate. Seeing what he wants to see, he interprets the witch’s prophecies as a sign of their unearthly supernatural powers, in line with Elizabethan stereotypes surrounding witchcraft and sorcery. Additionally, goaded by Lady Macbeth’s accusations of unmanliness, Macbeth acts not in accordance with what he sees and knows to be true about himself, but in response to his wife’s conception of manliness. Rather than reinforce assumptions about gender, Shakespeare reveals such views to be limiting, and ultimately, destructive.
