RWTH Aachen, Institut für Anglistik
Hauptseminar: „King Lear and Macbeth“
WS 2000/2001

Lady Macbeth and Other Female Characters

by

Anke Wartenberg

Table of contents

1 Introduction  3

2 Women in 16th century England and female characters on the Elizabethan stage  4

3 Female characters in Macbeth 6

3.1 Lady Macbeth  6
3.2 Lady Macduff  15

4 The Witches  17

4.1 King James I and witchcraft  17
4.2 The witches in Macbeth 19

5 Conclusion 25

6 Bibliography 27

Primärliteratur  27
Sekundärliteratur 27
URLs  27

1 Introduction

William Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a play where the evil is of high importance. Macbeth, the central character, is drawn to sinister forces right from the beginning. The tragedy starts with three witches who plan to “[...] meet with Macbeth.“ (1.1.7) It is evident that this will lead to devastation and grief. Macbeth was actually the first play to introduce witchcraft to the stage;¹ however, witchcraft was not considered as pure fiction since the belief in the existence of witches was widely spread in Shakespeare’s time. But it is not only the witches who represent the evil. Macbeth’s own wife, Lady Macbeth, contributes to the actions of Macbeth and as a result from that to his and her own (rise and) fall.

Still there are some open questions. Critics discussed if it were really the witches who corrupted Macbeth or if he himself brought his demise about. Is Lady Macbeth the actual culprit or Macbeth? Has he to bear responsibility alone? However, it is also clear that without the “help“ of the witches or Lady Macbeth he probably would not have committed the murder of Duncan.

In this paper I would like to pay attention especially to these questions as well as to the female characters in general. In connection with Lady Macbeth’s character I will focus on her functions within the play and for Macbeth and on how her evil nature is presented. Further I will concentrate on the description of the witches and their “line of action“. I will also try to point out some of the positive features of the female characters.

2 Women in 16th century England and female characters on the Elizabethan stage

The position women held in Shakespeare’s time was very poor. They depended on their husbands and had to submit to them just like the whole nation had to submit to the ruler.² Since women were not allowed to hold certain offices or to go to university, they were practically excluded from public life.³ By the time Macbeth was performed the first time there were not even actresses on the stages. All parts were played by men; young boys usually played the parts of women. Due to this fact the number of female characters was relative small. In Macbeth there are for example only two actual female parts. This number corresponds with the assumption that there have been about four boy actors in a company (consisting of about 15 actors in all) in the 16th and 17th century. Female characters were only a part of a play if really necessary.⁴

Various critics pointed out the irony that the actors in Macbeth play women who are at the same time very masculine. Lady Macbeth i.e. makes an ironic reference to her own sex⁵ and the witches wear beards.

When we have a look at the dramatis personæ of the play we see a hierarchy amony the characters. Duncan, the king of Scotland, is of course on top. He is followed by his successors, Malcolm and Donalbain. Lady Macbeth on the other hand side is at the bottom of the “list“ even though she is one of the main characters! The king’s sons have a relatively small part (they appear in only a few scenes) in contrast to Macbeth’s wife. Even the “Old Man“ is listed above her. It is quite obvious that the hierarchy here represents the rank in the “real“ society in the Elizabethan time. Women were regarded as inferior and held therefore a lower rank.

We will see later that Lady Macbeth is at variance with the social or natural order. Her unfeminine attitudes as well as the murder of Duncan were considered as a violation of the existing order in the Elizabethan time. Due to this fact Lady Macbeth has to die in the course of the tragedy.

Die Tragödie konzeptualisiert einen solchen auf der latenten Annahme von
Zweigeschlechtlichkeit basierenden eigenen weiblichen Subjektwillen als
ernsthafte Bedrohung und nimmt die Ansätze hierzu sofort in Schach (D.
CALLAGHAN). [...] Die biologische Begründung »natürlicher« männlicher
Überlegenheit übersetzt sich allmählich in ein Modell »vernünftiger«
sozialer Kontrolle durch den Mann, demzufolge das Geschlechterverhältnis
immer dann in Ordnung ist, wenn zugestandenes weibliches
Subjektbegehren sich auf den privaten Innenraum des Hauses beschränken
lässt [...].⁶

I will go into the aspect of ambiguity about gender roles and the violation of the natural order in more detail later in this paper.

3 Female characters in Macbeth

3.1 Lady Macbeth

[...]

1 Jorgensen, Paul A. Our Naked Frailties - Sensational Art and Meaning in Macbeth. Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: 1971, p. 116.

2 Klein, Bernhard: “England in der frühen Neuzeit.“ In: Schabert, Ina, ed. 2000: Shakespeare-Handbuch. Stuttgart: Körner, p. 25.

3 Ibidem, p. 27.

4 Suerbaum, Ulrich. Shakespeares Dramen. Tübingen, Basel: 1996, p. 113 f.

5 Hawkes, Terence. Shakespeare and the Reason. London: 1964, p. 134.

6 Mahler, Andreas: “Das ideologische Profil.“ In: Schabert, Ina, ed. 2000: Shakespeare-Handbuch. Stuttgart: Körner, p. 320.