Joel Johnson
English IV – Period 1
Mr. Brunson
02/21/2013
Lady Macbeth: A Monstrous Feminine

In classic literature, women traditionally have been characterized as the “weaker vessel”, meaning that because they possess feminine qualities, they are weaker than men; however, this does not appear to be the case with Lady Macbeth. At the first glimpse of Lady Macbeth, she is a character of deep mystery and unknown motivations. These motivations manifest themselves into a sort of sexual lust for power, which gives her the image of having strong, raw power. Yet this strong, powerful image transforms into a weak woman with no self-control. Upon receiving her husband’s letter about the witches’ prophesies, she attempts to be like a man in order to exude the strength needed to gain additional social status as royalty. This can be seen when she says, “The raven himself is hoarse that croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan under my battlements. Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, and fill me from the crown to the toe topful of direst cruelty!” (Macbeth 1.5. 38-43). She isn't sure there's enough manhood to go around between herself and her husband, so she calls upon scheming spirits to "unsex me here." This is her vivid way of asking to be stripped of feminine weakness and invested with masculine resolve. She imagines herself as a vessel which may be emptied out and refilled "from the crown to the toe." Lady Macbeth simply insults her husband to make him do what she feels is best. By insulting his manhood, Lady Macbeth convinces Macbeth to do what his conscious feels is wrong—to take the crown by force. She says “Wouldst thou have that/ Which thou esteem’st the ornament of life, and live a coward in thine own esteem/ Letting ‘I dare not’ wait upon ‘I would,’/ Like the poor cat i’ th’ adage?” (Macbeth 1.7. 41-44). these lines suggest that Macbeth is