Macbeth and the women

             Surely there is more to the malignant Elizabethan female than we see from the surface... An in depth look to into proof that Shakespeare had more in mind than the stereotype.
             At the time of Macbeth's writing, the general view of women was still the very traditional idea of the helpless, naive and hysterical creature in need of governance, or the evil femme seducing men to their ruin. The conventional reading of the play suggests that Shakespeare utilised and enforced these stereotypes. The contention of this article is to create the possibility of a separate reading. An interpretation based around the notion that the feminine is equal in its capacity for good, evil, weakness and strength, as the masculine.
             Each woman in the play challenges the accepted stereotype in some form. Lady Macduff shows a "peculiar inner strength" ( 'Macbeth recommended readings' www.springwoshs.qld.edu.au/curric/departments/english/reading/3/) at the time of her murder that suggests she possessed a solidarity lacking in certain male characters throughout the play, namely Macbeth. In the arrival of her murderers she states, "I hope, in no place so unsanctified where such as thou may'st find him" (IV:ii:91-92) in reference to her husband, undeniable evidence that her loyalty, altruism and level-headedness far outstrip that of her prescribed persona. She communicates an opposition to the normal role of a feminine character in this situation (to run), "Whither should I fly? I have done no harm ....Why then, alas, do I put up that womanly defense,..." (IV:ii:82-87)
             Lady Macbeth, although misguided in her ambition, is resourceful, tenacious and ultimately successful in her design (to see her husband to the throne). She is willing to sacrifice her own virtue for the sake of Macbeth's advancement, "Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here..." Toward the end of the play w...

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