The Dichotomy of “Witch” and “Mother” and the Plight of Lady Macbeth Penina Beede College

While modern sensibilities claim a wide array of roles and identities for women, current feminine archetypes are still heavily influenced by those of the past. Shakespeare’s tragedy, Macbeth, portrays a dichotomous archetype of what an ideal woman should be against that of what a woman would be if she does not uphold that archetype. Through understanding the character of Lady Macbeth and her relationship to others in the play, we can better understand Shakespeare’s commentary on the toxicity which can emerge as a result from the failure to uphold these societal constructs. Lady Macbeth’s position as wife and woman stand in contrast to Shakespearean-era definitions of femininity. Her ultimate downfall emerges from her inability to reconcile the competing desires for power with her womanishness.

According to Joanna Levin, author of Lady MacBeth and the Daemonologie of Hysteria, Shakespearean era representations of femininity “came to emphasize the good mother over and against the threatening witch, the hysteric stood as an intermediary figure.” Lady Macbeth plays the intermediary between the evil characters of the Wyrd sisters, the witches who prophesy of Macbeth’s future crown, and that of Lady Macduff, the wife of Lord Macduff,...