The Quest for Power: Beautiful Men or
Ugly Women?
In
ShakespeareÕs Macbeth,
the characters of Lady Macbeth, the three witches, and Hecate exhibited various
forms of power. However,
Shakespeare did not afford these females the same quality of power he assigns
to the lead males in Macbeth
and other plays. For instance, in Henry
V, Othello, and Macbeth, the men hold the typical positions of
monarchal and military power: kings, generals, and great warriors. Each of these characters experienced
significant military victories, the paramount of masculine power. However, the power Shakespeare gives
his females is conditional and more abstract, and we are often left to wonder
if they were really given any power at all.
The
witchesÕ use of equivocal language, for example: ÒFair is foul, and foul is
fairÓ (1.1.11) implies that their intent or power may not appear as it
seems. Are they manipulating
Macbeth with their suggestions or just playing with his mind? Almost every in-class discussion raised
the notion of freewill vs. destiny, and questioned if the witches actually had
any control over Macbeth or the events that took place. Similarly, Lady Macbeth appeared to use
her suggestive powers to finally convince Macbeth to follow through with his
plan to murder Duncan (1.7).
However, Macbeth had already convinced himself earlier of carrying out
the murder, which he made known to Lady Macbeth by sending her a letter
(1.5.1-15), leaving the reader to wonder if Lady Macbeth did anything
influential, beyond giving a final reassuring nudge. HecateÕs power is probably
less disputable, given her position as the queen of witches. However, Shakespeare gives her no power
to punish the witches for meddling in MacbethÕs life without her (3.5.3-5), nor
does he give her any direct power over Macbeth[SM1].
Another
common aspect of the ladiesÕ power is its association with witchcraft and the
dark arts. This is more evident
with the witches and Hecate, who perform chants and create potions prior to
meeting with Macbeth. This has the
affect of delegitimizing whatever power they may have because it suggests that
the power is not truly theirs.
They must borrow it by asking for it through acts of witchery. Likewise, Lady Macbeth tries to conjure
up spirits to unsex her in a plea to gain more power (1.5.39-54[SM2]).
This points out another association between the characters; women must
give up or renounce their womanhood in order to receive power. This is directly what Lady Macbeth is
doing when she requests to be unsexed.
Banquo described the witchesÕ appearance: ÒÉYou should be women, / and
yet you beards forbid me to interpret / That you are soÓ (1.3.45-47). Shakespeare clearly does not want to
suggest that any power the witches might posses could result from their
feminine beauty. Shakespeare
establishes a similar motif with Lady Macbeth, but uses her repulsive words,
not her appearance, to diminish her femininity in an attempt to gain power
(1.7.54-59[SM3]).
By
shrouding feminine power in abstract notions such as witchcraft and defeminization,
perhaps Shakespeare was making a subtle commentary on the appearance of Queen
Elizabeth and the social order of her time. She was a powerful female ruler, not known for her looks,
especially later in her life[SM4].
The constraints Shakespeare put on his female roles regarding the
quality of power they possessed may sympathetically reflect the life of the
Virgin Queen and what she had to endure as a powerful female ruler in a manÕs world[SM5].
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[SM1]Excellent
and surprising observation
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[SM2]great
point, and elegant shift from witches to L.M.
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[SM3]interesting
paradoxÑthey are undermined in two contradictory ways at the same time as being
elevated.
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[SM4]Not known
for her looks is evasive. She was
represented in all the arts as having goddesslike beauty, and many powerful men
appeared to have been in love with her.
However Catholics might have seen her as a witch. She presented herself
as ultra feminine yet also as strong as a man.
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[SM5]Though
this point seems strained to me, your analysis of the construction of powerful
femininity here provides a helpful framework for understanding the play. ItÕs also extremely well written. A