Women did not appear on the stage in England until the seventeenth century. The roles of women in William Shakespeare’s plays were often played by young boys. However, Shakespeare wrote quite powerful roles for the women in his plays. He tended to make male characters the primary protagonists, but the female characters held dominant supporting roles. Shakespeare cleverly made the women a more authoritative figure than the men, unbeknownst to the men. The female roles generally controlled the actions of the play. “Shakespearean dramas often attribute cunning intellect, calculated control and enigmatic beauty to his female protagonists.”[1]
Three Shakespeare’s tragedies with some of literature’s most recognized females are Macbeth, Hamlet, and King Lear. These women are portrayed as wives, mothers, daughters and the loves of kings, princes, and generals. Lady Macbeth is the wife of a general whom she advises and assists in killing the king so her husband will obtain the throne. In Hamlet, Gertrude and Ophelia are the two loves of the main character; one is his mother, the later is someone he wishes to take for a wife. Three women have the ability to drive King Lear mad; one of them truly does not intend to.
It has been said that behind every great man is a great woman. In the case of Macbeth, his wife has more ambition to be great than he. Since women could never be part of the aristocracy, Lady Macbeth uses her husband to gain power. Macbeth, the Thane of Glamis, is a valiant soldier who defeats the Norwegian army and kills Macdonwald, a rebel. The current King of Scotland, Duncan, promotes Macbeth to Thane of Cawdor. As Macbeth learns this news from the Weyward Sisters, he is content with his elevation in power and will not seek to become King. His thoughts turn to terror as he considers how the witches called him the King of Scotland and what that would mean for the fate of the current King. He states to Banquo, “If chance will have me King, why / Chance may Crown me / Without my Stir” (1.3.141-143). However, something about the Weyard Sister’s prediction of Macbeth becoming King has him intrigued. Macbeth has a conscience and feels guilt and remorse as his mind turns to this possibility. As Lady Macbeth learns of her husband’s ascent into Royalty, she acknowledges that he husband does not have the ruthlessness to further his position. She claims that he has the ambition, but not the gumption to act on it, so she will. As Macbeth arrives at Inverness, Lady Macbeth advises him on how to behave when Duncan makes an appearance at their home. She incites that he “look like th’ innocent / Flower, / But be the Serpent under’t” (1.5.67-68). Her plan of manipulation requires both to act natural and calm; something she feel Macbeth could not do without her assistance. Lady Macbeth’s last line in this scene is “Leave all the rest to me” (1.5.75). She is a cunning character who is wise to the way of men; men who will climb their way to the top, without thought or consideration of who they obliterate on their way up. Lady Macbeth portrays the masculine courage to overtake the thrown that her husband does not.
Lady Macbeth has the foresight and the wisdom to carry out her plan; she finds that a hindrance is her husband. Macbeth fears the dead and the consequences of his wife’s plan of usurpation. He trusts and respects Duncan. He laments that “I have…onley / Vaulting Ambition, which o’erleaps it self” (1.7.25-27). As Lady Macbeth interrupts his thoughts he informs her that he does not desire to follow through with her intention of regicide. It is here that Lady Macbeth shows her tenacious and ravenous side. She enlightens Macbeth as to how far she would go to succeed. “I have given Suck, and know / How tender ’tis to love the Babe that milks me; / I would, while it was smiling in my face, / Have pluck’d my Nipple from his Boneless Gums, and dash’d the brains out…” (1.7.54-58). Macbeth fears his wife in this circumstance; he agrees to go along with the plan. Shakespeare was venturing into unknown territory; during the time of this play the audience would not be accustomed to the wife having control over her husband in this manner, but this shows that qualities are attributed to a person despite their sexual gender.
The beauty of Lady Macbeth’s cunningness is that she seems to have no fear. She never doubts that her tactics will be successful. She also strips herself of all feminine qualities to obtain this level of confidence. She asks spirits to “unsex” her, so she will not longer possess any feminine qualities, such as remorse and peace. She sees these female characteristics as negative and weak. This is why she calls Macbeth womanly when he says he will refuse to kill Duncan. She also takes control of the scene when Macbeth returns from murdering Duncan with the bloody dagger. Macbeth is terrified about what he just did, so Lady Macbeth takes the dagger to place it in the guards’ chamber in order to frame them. She also tries to calm Macbeth when he speaks of hearing voices and fearing he will never sleep. As she returns from planting the dagger, she shows Macbeth how her hands are also bloody, showing her guilt, but she will not act cowardly as he is. She so calmly states that “a little water clears us of this Deed” (2.2.65). The washing of the blood from their hands with erase the guilt for her. She makes it seem so simplistic when one has no conscience. During two scenes Lady Macbeth’s quick thinking saves Macbeth. When Duncan’s body is discovered and Macbeth is explaining what happened to Duncan’s sons, Lady Macbeth faints to distract them. And during the banquet scene when Macbeth sees the ghost of Banquo and starts to speak to the ghost in the presence of everyone, Lady Macbeth remains calm and excuses Macbeth saying that he is not feeling well. In both instances, she does a good job of diverting the attention of the other characters away from Macbeth.
Ultimately, Lady Macbeth’s lack of conscience contributes to her demise. And as Macbeth becomes stronger and confident, Lady Macbeth experiences distress over what they have done. There is a polarity between the husband and wife; when she has a positive outlook, he has a negative one, when she possesses evil thoughts, he feels guilt, etc. Lady Macbeth begins to have visions and sleepwalks. Her speech even portrays her troubled mind, where in previous acts she had been more eloquent. One night as she sleepwalks, she confesses to the murders of Duncan and also Banquo, who she advised Macbeth to kill. The blood on her hands, or the guilt, has returned in her mind and she nervously is washing her hands to clean her soul of the guilt she feels as she relives the nights of the murders. “What, will these hands ne’er be clean?” (5.1.49). The water she ridiculed Macbeth with as being the solution to his worries, evidently is not true. Lady Macbeth eventually dies offstage. Macbeth does not seem too emotional by the death of his “dearest partner of Greatness” (1.5.13). In the end, he became the man she had wanted him to become, impassive like she was.
The relationship between mother and son is one of deep complications and it can create an ideal for the son in his future relationships with women. This is quite evident in Hamlet. As the play begins, we learn that Hamlet’s father has died and his mother remarried his uncle shortly after the King’s death. His uncle Claudius, now King, has invited everyone to celebrate his marriage to Queen Gertrude. Hamlet, still grieving and dressed in black, does not completely hide his unhappiness of this union, “She married. O, most wicked speed, to post / with such dexterity to incestuous sheets!” (1.2.208-209). Hamlet feels suspicious of his uncle as he also believes that his mother’s grief is not sincere if she remarried within two months. Gertrude is a character who does not have a massive speaking part, but her character is quite substantial. She has more power and influence over Hamlet than both are willing to admit. He has memory of her loving his father and he is confused by her new love coming about so soon. He comes to believe that all women are weak, “Frailty, thy name is woman!- / A little month, or e’er those shoes were old / With which she followed my poor father’s body…” (1.2.198-200). Hamlet is confused of the ways of love and it becomes even more perplexing when it pertains to your mother. This would allude to Hamlet having an oedipus complex; he has anger at his mother for her loving another man. Gertrude never explains to Hamlet why she moved on so quickly; she is a very secretive woman.
Hamlet has another woman is his life, who he uses in his plan for revenge. Ophelia loves Hamlet and he loves her, but he is unsure of how to deal with his feelings since the confusion he feels regarding his mother and Claudius. Ophelia is not of royalty, therefore her brother and father advise her to keep her distance to Hamlet, and therefore Ophelia is also confused about how to handle her feelings for Hamlet. She obeys them, and rebuffs Hamlet’s love. Ophelia is the real victim in this play; she seems to be at the mercy of all of the men in her life. We learn from Ophelia that Hamlet has gone “mad”; offstage he grabs her wrist and stares at her for a long period of time. His “madness” is his search for the truth about what happened to his father. He also uses his madness to speak truthfully without being punished. Gertrude seems veracious about her concern for Hamlet, but she is not a strong-willed woman. She obeys her new husband’s plans to befool Hamlet by having his two friends and Ophelia befriend Hamlet to get information out of him. Ophelia believes that Hamlet has gone mad because she rejected his advances and she feels guilty for obeying her brother and father. Playing into that theory, Hamlet gets angry at Ophelia when they “meet” and he expresses that all women are liars and should not be able to marry, “Get thee to a nunnery; why wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners?” (3.1.122). He does not trust Ophelia, just as his no longer trusts his mother. He knows that Polonius, Ophelia’s father, and Claudius were listening, as he knows his mother has played a part in this scheme. He projects all of his anger for his mother, Claudius and Polonius onto Ophelia, whom he loves.
Hamlet has written a play in which he will show his mother and uncle that he knows the truth about what happened to his father. At the play, Gertrude asks for Hamlet to sit next to her. Hamlet rejects his mother and sits with Ophelia. He makes comments about how quickly his mother’s grief has ended. Ophelia defends Gertrude; this concludes Hamlet’s belief that all women are the same. He believes that they are inconsistent with their behavior and untrustworthy. The Player Queen in the play “The Mousetrap” is how Hamlet feels his mother should have conducted herself. The Player Queen dismisses the Player King’s advances, “In second husband let me be accurst, / None wed the second but who kill’d the first” (3.2). Gertrude and Claudius do not appreciate Hamlet’s creativity and order the play to be stopped and leave.
Gertrude asks to see Hamlet after the play to discuss the present situation and his recent “madness”. Hamlet is immediately rude to his mother and confesses that he is unhappy with her marriage. Gertrude does not want to hear it; she knows not how to deal with her own son. He says that he wants her to take a deep look into herself, “You go not till I set you up a glass / Where you may see the inmost part of you” (3.4.22-23). Hamlet continues to explain to Gertrude what Claudius did to her first husband, his father. She becomes fearful of the truth, “O Hamlet, speak no more! / Thou turn’st mine eyes into my very soul, / And there I see such black and grained spots…” (3.4.99-101). She sees what is within herself and it is horrible. Gertrude is typical for a woman/wife of this time. She obeys her husband and is not permitted to have her own thoughts or emotions. As he is elucidating what has happened, he shows his “mad” side because he sees the ghost of his father. Gertrude becomes scared of her own son. With the presentation of the ghost in this scene, it harms what Hamlet was accomplishing; Gertrude no longer believes her son because now he is acting crazy. He tries to convince her that he is sane and truthful. Gertrude believes Claudius and never questions him, rather than her own son. Hamlet is aware of this and promises to prove it to his mother, whom he desperately needs to believe him.
Ophelia has now succumbed to her confusion regarding her love for Hamlet, also for the loss of her father who was accidentally murdered by Hamlet, which she also believes is of some fault of her own. She incoherently sings answers to questions posed to her by Gertrude. She gives a flower to her brother, Claudius and Gertrude. The gift of the flower is a symbol of something she could have never given Hamlet, her love and herself. Ophelia’s suicide was the result of Hamlet’s plan for revenge; by using her and by killing her father. She also did not know how to go on without her father, who controlled her. Hamlet tells his mother and Ophelia’s brother at her funeral that he “lov’d Ophelia: forty thousand brothers / Could not, with all their quantity of love, / Make up my sum.” (5.1.-252-254). It is here that Gertrude stands up for her son and tries to protect him; she also cheers for him during his battle with Ophelia’s brother, Laertes. Hamlet is ahead and full of confidence because he feels his mother’s love for the first time in the play as she offers him her handkerchief to wipe his brow and a drink. It is the cup she raises to Hamlet as his is winning that kills her. The cup was made by the King to poison Hamlet. Gertrude, his own mother, also becomes a victim of Hamlet’s revenge plan. Gertrude dies knowing her son loved and cared for her. Ophelia dies with the guilt that she caused Hamlet’s crazed behavior.
King Lear’s daughters, Goneril, Regan and Cordelia, in King Lear knew that their father loved them, but they also knew that he would have much rather had sons. Knowing this may have made it difficult when King Lear asked his daughters to express their love for him as Lear was preparing to step down from the throne and divide his kingdom between his daughters. Goneril and Regan knew exactly what their father wanted to hear and they appeased him. Cordelia did love her father tremendously, but she did not want to compete with her sister, who she knew did not love their father. As she answers him, she is void of any sincerity and affection, “Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave / My heart into my mouth, I love your Majesty / According to my bond, no more nor less” (1.1.100-103). From Cordelia’s asides to the audience, we learn that she is aware that Goneril and Regan speak superficially, and refuses to echo their hypocrisy, thus she responds more coldly than she likely otherwise would.
Cordelia is unlike her sisters. For one, she is the only one who has not taken a husband. Shakespeare even portrays her in a separate way; her name is much more melodic and feminine than her sisters and she speaks in rhyming couplets in the first scene. She also has true love in her heart for her father, so much love that she cannot express it. Although Lear knows this as well, his ego has been damaged in front of his court, so he banishes his daughter.
In this play, Goneril and Regan carry more masculine qualities. They are strong-willed and cunning. Both daughters share a strong resemblance to Lady Macbeth, especially Goneril. Goneril and her husband Albany do not agree on the treatment of Lear; Albany openly displays disgust for Goneril and her sister’s behavior, “What have you done? / Tigers, not daughters, what have you performed? / A father, and a gracious aged man…” (4.2.48-50). This does not phase Goneril, she feels that Albany has become a weak man. And as she has betrayed her father, she desires to be with Edmund and betray her husband. Like Lady Macbeth, Goneril does not love people, she loves power.
Cordelia, unlike her sisters, loves her father despite the fact that she was banished. We can see no reason for Goneril and Regan to act as they do. Cordelia even expresses deep concern when she hears of the treatment her father has endured from her sisters, “O dear father… / My mourning and importuned tears hath pitied / No blown ambition doth our arms incite, / But dear love, and our aged father’s right” (4.5.26, 29-31). She is disappointed in the ambitious nature her sisters have displayed and she eventually goes to see her father. Cordelia hopes to resolve the horrible actions committed by her sisters and assist her father. Father and daughters all die in the end of the play, but Cordelia and Lear die with their relationship happily resolved. Cordelia is very maternal in the way she cares for Lear. Motherly in the fact she is loyal and unselfish and she loves unconditionally. In this play, Shakespeare shows the two types of women we are accustomed to seeing in his plays, but these women are in the same play and they are sisters. He is showing how even when women are raised together, it is possible that they grow up quite differently.
Considering the time in which Shakespeare wrote these plays, he gave women more importance than people were accustomed to. These six women have key roles within these plays and greatly impact the lives of those around them. Without Lady Macbeth, Macbeth would be the Thane of Glamis and not act on his desire to become King. Hamlet would be a different man if his father had not died and his mother had not married his uncle because revenge would not be his main focus. But more than likely he would not be with Ophelia; she was too devoted to her father and brother and would obey them when they demanded that she not have anything to do with Hamlet. King Lear would have died a lonely, sad death if not for Cordelia. In the end, she gave him something for an old aging man to be happy about.
“Shakespeare depicts the genius of which women are capable, as well of the unspeakable evil in which some of literature’s most recognizable females indulged.”[2] Gertrude, Ophelia and Cordelia attempt to be virtuous womanly characters who love the men in their lives. Lady Macbeth, Goneril and Regan are considered evil and love no one but themselves, which can be compared to many male characters of Shakespeare.
[1]Shakespeare and the Education of Women. Jamie Bence. Shakespeare Fellowship. April 27
[2]Shakespeare and the Education of Women. Jamie Bence. Shakespeare Fellowship. April 27
