lady macbeth

1) Lady Macbeth is portrayed as a powerful character who is restricted by the bounds of her gender and is unable to reach her peak ambition due to her being woman

-sacrifice own humanity to reach her goals

- Calls on the evil spirits in order to reach her full potential of being evil "And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full of direst cruelty". She abandons all her motherly instincts and exclaims to the spirits "take my milk for gall you murdering ministers"

- Asking spirits to replace her breast milk (a symbol of her motherhood and feminity) and replace it with poison, metaphorically suggesting that she gets rid of all her feminine-associated remorse

- Alliterative 'm' sound is harsh and reinforces that she is willing to get rid of all her feminine characteristics in order to reach her full capability for murder 

- Lady Macbeth is portrayed as subverting gender roles by demonstrating a thirst for violence and sin, instantly drawing the modern reader's attention to her motivation for power

- Contrasting with the contemporary reader's shock as the Jacobean audience were accustomed to women being submissive and weak 

2) Shakespeare portrays Lady Macbeth as dominanat and asserting power through her manipulation of Macbeth 

- She questions Macbeth's masculinity several times by mocking him for being "too full of the milk of human kindness" and having "a heart so white". The semantic field of purity and innocence is established here in the words "white" and "milk", making the reader question why the noble war hero has such qualities.

- Furthermore LM orders Macbeth to "look like the innocent flower but be the serpent under it", hinting at the equivocating nature of LM and her supernatural qualities. Perhaps this demonstrates that LM is Macbeth's "partner of greatness" on the exterior, an innocent woman like a "flower", yet her desire for power makes her a "serpent". The Jacobean audience would be shocked and terrified by these biblical references due to LM's devillish desire for power 

Her fearless nature combined with manipulative skills presents her as powerful. Shakespeare structures the text to present her as powerful. The extract is very early on in the play and a female character to be given a soliloquy so early would be very strange. By giving her this soliloquy, she is presented as powerful; she would be listened to by the audience and would be centre stage. Many women would be subservient to men and not have this much influence.

Alternatively, we can view this as her desperation for power that she cannot obtain by just means. This is echoed when at the end of the play, the audience hears "a cry of a woman within". This stage direction is what signifies her death. LM is killed off stage, which presents how powerless she really is and how, despite assisting in regicide, she still obtains no power because of one reason: she is a woman.

Her weakness is further presented when Shakespeare writes Macbeth to completely undermine her power. She is told by Macbeth to be "innocent of the knowledge dearest Chuck" when she asks for more information. The word "dearest" could be Macbeth showing endearment to his wife, but most likely it represents his lack of respect for her. The adjective of "dear" is used several times by Macbeth when he addresses LM and so presents how he sees her as inferior.