“The raven himself is hoarse The dark animal Lady Act 1 A Shakespearean Gothic, power, occult, gender That croaks the fatal entrance imagery highlights Macbeth Scene 5 audience would not of Duncan the unnatural dark expect a female to be Under my battlements.” intentions of Lady dominant in a relationship Macbeth. The as they lived in a very possessive pronoun patriarchal society “my” infers Lady’ Macbeth’s position of control in her relationship. “Come, you spirits The imperative verbs Lady Act 1 The use of witchcraft Gothic (transgression), power, That tend on mortal thoughts, used in this soliloquy Macbeth Scene 5 language wuld shock the occult, gender, unsex me here,” suggest that Lady audience and be at odds Macbeth is delivering with the growing Puritanical an incantation, culture in Jacobean which is reminiscent society. of the witches. The desire to reverse The command to gender expectations would “unsex me here” surprise the Shakespearean highlights Lady audience, who lived in a Macbeth’s desire to society where gender roles be given more manly were strictly divided attributes and lose between men and women: her female qualities. women were expected to be child-carers and men were expected to be more ruthless and violent. The idea of a women becoming ruthless, violent and evil could allude to Elizabeth I. As Shakespeare wrote the play with the desire to win favour with James I, creating an evil woman character, who leads others to murder in order to gain power, would lead to comparisons with Elizabeth I. The queen even gave a speech to her troops where she said, “I know I have the body of a
“The raven himself is hoarse That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan Under my battlements.” The dark animal imagery highlights the unnatural dark intentions of Lady Macbeth. The possessive pronoun “my” infers Lady’ Macbeth’s position of control in her relationship. Lady Macbeth Act 1 Scene 5 A Shakespearean audience would not expect a female to be dominant in a relationship as they lived in a very patriarchal society Gothic, power, occult, gender “Come, you spirits That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,” The imperative verbs used in this soliloquy suggest that Lady Macbeth is delivering an incantation, which is reminiscent of the witches. Lady Macbeth Act 1 Scene 5 The use of witchcraft language wuld shock the audience and be at odds with the growing Puritanical culture in Jacobean society. The desire to reverse gender expectations would surprise the Shakespearean audience, who lived in a society where gender roles were strictly divided between men and women: women were expected to be child-carers and men were expected to be more ruthless and violent. The idea of a women becoming ruthless, violent and evil could allude to Elizabeth I. As Shakespeare wrote the play with the desire to win favour with James I, creating an evil woman character, who leads others to murder in order to gain power, would lead to comparisons with Elizabeth I. The queen even gave a speech to her troops where she said, “I know I have the body of a Gothic (transgression), power, occult, gender, The command to “unsex me here” highlights Lady Macbeth’s desire to be given more manly attributes and lose her female qualities.