How Does Shakespeare Present Women In Macbeth

Can you imagine putting yourself on the line for someone you believed in, only for them to stab you in the back? That is what happened to a man named Duncan in the play Macbeth by Shakespeare. Shakespeare uses characters and children as symbols to convey his theme that one’s appearance does not show their true intention.

Macbeth was the name of an ordinary man who soon became known to many due to the fact that he was an amazing warrior. When the King heard the news of a man who slayed many other men, he offered him a position as his right hand man. This came as a shock considering that three woman predicted the exact thing earlier in the story, but instead of accepting this offer and being grateful, Macbeth and his wife had other plans in
Due to the fact that she knew Macbeth so well, it wasn’t much of a challenge to get him to change his mind. She wanted him to make him look like the perfect man to trust , only so he could turn on you in the end. “Your hand, your tongue: look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under’t.” (1.5.65-66) Lady Macbeth kept a tight leash on MAcbeth making sure that he didn’t make a move before she had the chance to talk him out of it. Shakespeare conveyed deception through the character of Lady Macbeth by making her so evil that she wanted control over every little detail. By deceiving Macbeth into doing what she wanted she was showing that she held the power in the relationship. When Macbeth first told his wife about the murder he seemed confident, but as the days drew closer, he started to have doubts. When he confronted Lady Macbeth about these doubts, she was stunned and knew exactly where to hit him so it hurt. “Was the hope drunk Wherein you dressed yourself?’...‘And live a coward in thine own esteem,” (1.7.2) Not only did Lady Macbeth shame him by asking if he was drunk, but she made him feel less of a man by calling him a coward. By calling him a coward she changed how he saw himself and yet again changed his mind. She used deception not for the sake of calling him ugly, but instead she insulted his masculinity which was mcub worst than anything else she
When Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are arguing about if he should kill Duncan or not, Lady Macbeth tells Macbeth how serious she is about the promise he made to her as she talks about a hypothetical child. “I would, while it was smiling in my face, Have pluck’d my nipple from it’s boneless gums, and dash’d the brains out, I so sworn as you” (1.7.56). Lady Macbeth told her husband that if she had promised him to kill her newborn, then she wouldn’t hesitate. Shakespeare used this vivid imagery to portray the deception of Lady Macbeth and how even though she may look like a helpless, weak, housewife, she knows what she wants and isn’t afraid who she has to go through to get to it. As Shakespeare continued on through the play the symbol of children popped up multiple times and it almost seemed to be forming a pattern. When Macbeth met with the witches for the last time, they showed him the three apparitions. The second apparition had to do with a child, therefor giving more evidence toward the children symbolism. “Bloody child’...‘Be bloody, bold, and resolute; laugh to scorn” (4.1.76) This apparition had nothing to with the innocent connotation children usually symbolize. Instead the “bloody child” represented a pawn in the grand scheme of things. Shakespeare conveyed the child to show deception of the appearance does not show the true intention of someone or something like actions