gender roles

You should be women, And yet your beards forbid me to interpret That you are so

Act 1 Scene 3 - In the Jacobean era,  men were supposed to be powerful and bearded; women were supposed to be nurturing and smooth-faced. The Witches exist outside the laws of nature

my dearest partner of greatness

Act 1 Scene 5 - "partner" was an equal. Macbeth does something radical: he invites his wife into the traditionally male sphere of politics and regicide

Come, you spirits… unsex me here

Act 1 Scene 5 - Lady Macbeth calls upon dark forces to strip away her feminine identity so she can commit regicide

Come to my woman's breasts,

And take my milk for gall

Act 1 Scene 5 - In the Jacobean "Great Chain of Being," motherhood was seen as the most "natural" and sacred role for a woman. By calling on murderous spirits to replace her milk, Lady Macbeth is committing a form of spiritual suicide

O gentle lady,

’Tis not for you to hear what I can speak

Act 2 Scene 3 - In the Jacobean era, women were viewed as physically and emotionally "frail." Macduff’s refusal to speak is based on the belief that the mere mention of murder would be a "deadly" blow to a woman’s delicate nature

But now I am cabin'd, cribb'd, confined, bound in To saucy doubts and fears

Act 3 Scene 4 - Macbeth is the King of Scotland, yet he feels "bullied" by his own thoughts. He is frustrated that these "doubts" have the nerve to bother him. It marks a shift from his warrior-like bravery to a state of constant, twitchy anxiety

Are you a man?

Act 3 Scene 4 - Emasculation - she is asking if his external appearance matches the "brave" warrior reality he is supposed to inhabit

This is the air-drawn dagger which, you said,
Led you to Duncan

Act 3 Scene 4 - Lady Macbeth uses Macbeth’s fear as a weapon against his masculinity. She is feminising his fear. She implies that a "real man" sees only what is physically there, while only women and children are scared by "shadows."

What, quite unmann'd in folly?

Act 3 Scene 4 - Lady Macbeth uses the word "unmann'd" as the ultimate insult. In her world, to be "a man" is to be in total control of your mind and your surroundings