Quotes from Macbeth and a look at Hamlet in exploring gender roles

What does it mean to be a man or a woman in today’s society? None of us can fit into a stereotypical, tiny, tidy little box based on anything, including our gender. How do we define gender and how are these roles presented in literature? Many of our favorite characters often defy gender stereotypes and are therefore more three-dimensional, more human, and more relatable. The game of gender and society is not limited to the pages of books, but is also reflected in the literary choices of the authors themselves. Take the example of The Outsiders. Essentially a coming-of-age story, the characters are predominantly male and the book explores adolescence, social pressure, and isolation from a male perspective. The book’s realism, the fact that it deals with teenage themes and yet appeals to readers of all ages, makes it seem like a grittier, more contemporary Huckleberry Finn. Interestingly, the author, SE Hinton, was 18 years old when she wrote this book. If she. SE Hinton described herself as a tomboy and her gender did not define her writing style or her experiences. She successfully entered a field that is not traditionally feminine, rising above the boundaries of gender.

When we look at the work of William Shakespeare, we get an idea of ​​what it was like to live during the Renaissance. In Shakespeare’s quest to write three-dimensional and complex characters, he often played with the gender roles typical of the time. In the world of Macbeth it is very clear that traits such as cruelty, violence, power and strength are masculine qualities, while compassion, kindness and obedience are feminine. In Macbeth’s world, witches are unlikable because of the “masculine” qualities they seem to possess. When Banquo says: You should be women, and yet your beards prevent me from interpreting that you are, he is telling them that they display too many masculine qualities to be women.

Lady Macbeth, like the witches, stands out because she doesn’t fit into the gender roles that are established in this world. However, she doesn’t let those established roles of hers get her down. In reality, she uses the stereotypes to manipulate Macbeth into murder. For Lady Macbeth it is simple biology and part of her genetic makeup: to kill, Macbeth must be a “man”. When she says things like: “Glamis you are, and Cawdor; and you will be what you were promised: yet I fear your nature; it is too full of the milk of human kindness to take the nearest road: you would be great” The art not without ambition, but without Sickness should accompany him”, she is essentially saying that he is too much of a woman, “too full of the milk of human kindness” to do what must be done. Lady Macbeth continues to castrate him until he is beaten and compromised to commit murder. It is also an interesting point to see that Shakespeare has made the bad qualities of the characters a feminine quality in the play. Lady Macbeth is clearly deceitful, manipulative and an instrument of evil. She is the mastermind behind all problems and yet in the end, he ends up being a victim of “evil” as he has a mental breakdown, loses his mind and commits suicide.

Macbeth and Hamlet could certainly have sat down and shared a therapy session or some tears over a few beers. Hamlet, who is usually considered one of Shakespeare’s most sexist characters, associates all of his own “weak” traits as feminine. Right from the start, in the first scene, “Frailty They Call a Woman,” he pretty much says it all. Hamlet punishes himself when he cannot avenge his father’s murder by calling himself a woman. (Clearly he didn’t need Lady Macbeth to castrate him, he was able to do it himself.)

Shakespeare may have deeply played and explored gender roles when you consider what those roles were during his time. What gender roles do you see in current literature? In the book you are reading now, are those gender roles typical? Do you see certain behaviors in characters that are against type or do you assume certain characteristics based on a character’s gender?