Man, Woman, or Both? Shakespeare’s Treatment of Androgyny and Lady Macbeth’s Disempowerment
Abstract
Androgyny is a concept that has been given comparatively little thought, particularly concerning its impact on Shakespeare’s work. While some have evidently looked at Shakespeare’s treatment of gender, the interest concerning androgyny or transverse nature has been limited. However, in the wake of gender studies and feminism in the late 20th century, androgyny garnered popularity among Shakespeare scholars. Since the 1980s, scholars have begun to view Shakespeare as an androgynous writer and continue to argue that he wrote from a gendered point of view. Suffused with Renaissance gender ideals, Shakespeare’s characters are often depicted with intricate sexual moralities and gender identities worth pursuing. Lady Macbeth emerges as one such character whose dichotomy with gender has paved the way for controversial analyses of her character. Hence, this research has attempted to unravel how androgynous nature affects Lady Macbeth’s character in Shakespeare’s play Macbeth (1606) and how it leads to her eventual disempowerment within the play. With the aid of comprehensive textual analysis, this research has found that Lady Macbeth’s androgynous nature reduces her role in the play and disables her empowerment, espousing the idea that androgyny in Lady Macbeth results in her ultimate downfall which culminates in her insanity and suicide. Therefore, this research has attempted to take a fresh look at Shakespeare’s Lady Macbeth, viewing her beyond a power-crazed matriarch and positioning her as a woman whose troubled conscience has created her identity dilemma in the play.
