These again are suggestions, not required postings, and I intend for them to guide our discussion on Thursday. That said, I invite you to post responses to either to help us get the ball rolling in class.
a. Lady Macbeth is a fascinating character, and she represents one source of feminine power in a play about masculine warriors. What are your first impressions of Lady Macbeth? Could she be played as an extension of the weird sisters, or is she something other?
b. What is the nature of Lady Macbeth’s persuasion/manipulation of Macbeth? What do you sense is the source of her power over him? How could you play that on stage?
Is Lady Macbeth the one source of feminine power in a play about masculine warriors? Not only are there powerful witches in this play (although one might argue their ethereal nature makes them spirits more than women), but there is Lady Macbeth's own disavowal of her gender. She does ask the "spirits" (the Weird Sisters, or some other divine agent of faith? She would not ask the Christian God to help with such an act) to "unsex" her. (1-5-48) This loss of femininity is presented as a synonym to becoming ruthless, of eliminating all compassion, all weakness. Later on, she asks the "murd'ring ministers" to "come to my woman's breasts, / And take my milk for gall." (1-5-54-55) Again, she asks the spirits to replace her womanhood, and her compassion, with hatred and resolve. She has already voiced her fears that her husband is too womanly, that he is "too full o' the milk of human kindness." (1-5-17) And near the very end of the act, Lady Macbeth goes so far as to swear that she would brutally destroy her very own child, even in the act of giving him milk, if her manly resolve and promise and ambition should drive it. Unlike Macbeth, who fears guilt and judgment, she seems to fear only feminine weakness. which will prevent her and her husband from reaching glory; it's Nietzche's personal development warped and twisted to an extreme. In such a violent assertion of masculinity -- at least her narrow idea of masculinity -- how much can we count her as a female power?
ReplyDeleteWhat is the nature of Lady Macbeth’s persuasion/manipulation of Macbeth? What do you sense is the source of her power over him?
ReplyDeleteLady Macbeth uses many methods of persuasion on her husband, including the following:
a) She maximizes the rewards of the act and minimizes the difficulties. She informs him, “…You shall put this night’s great business into my dispatch…” (1.6.79-80). Lady Macbeth knows that her husband is most likely to go through with the murder if she makes it simple and easy for him, assuring him that she will assume most of the responsibility.
b) She shames him and questions his manhood and honor. She says, “What beast was’t then, that made you break this enterprise to me? When you durst it, then you were a man; And to be more than what you were, you would be so much more than man” (1.7.53-58). Lady Macbeth knows that her husband is fundamentally a kind and honorable man and uses those traits against him in her persuasion.
c) She makes him fear the consequences of not acting more than the consequences of acting. She asks him, “Wouldst thou have that which thou esteem’st the ornament of life and life a coward in thine own esteem, letting “I dare not” wait upon “I would,” like the poor cat i' th’ adage?” (1.7.45-49). Lady Macbeth convinces Macbeth that he will remain weak and regretful for the rest of his life if he fails to act.
d) Like the witches, she gives Macbeth a sense of security––the idea that the act is pre-destined and that he cannot possibly fail. She reassures Macbeth, “We fail? But screw your courage to the sticking place and we’ll not fail” (1.7.69-71).
Thanks Allie and Sarah! These are both top-notch responses to my posting. You've put so much on the table for us— about gender roles in the play in particular— and also about power. Great specific references to text as well. Great modeling of how this practice might be done well for everyone's benefit!
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