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Alleene Roemer
Winter
British Literature
16 December 2015
Why Female Dominance is Feminism and Not Misandry
Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a Supreme Court Justice, once stated that she is sometimes asked
when [there will] be enough [women on the Supreme Court]? And [she says] When there are
nine... thered been nine men, and nobodys ever raised a question to that (Ginsburg). The
rights of women have improved a lot from the days when the woman is either in the house of
her father or in the house of her husband (Gerlach). The play Macbeth is one story where it
becomes evident that women are unhappy without power, and not reaching their full potential by
being submissive to their husbands. Many people argue over whether Shakespeare's portrayal of
women is progressive or of the time period. His portrayal of women is progressive compared to
the time periods portrayal of women because it shows that women want power. Societys view of
females and feminine traits is negative. Even so, Shakespeare's view of gender roles is
progressive, and therefore his view of female roles is progressive. In the end-- unintentionally for
Shakespeare-- Macbeth proves that women can, and should, wield power.
Societys view of females and feminine traits is negative. The article by Jeanne Gerlach,
Rudolph Almasy, and Rebecca Daniel notices that in all of Shakespeares plays the woman is
either in the house of her father as Juliet or in the house of her husband as Lady Macbeth is.
Notice in Macbeth that Lady Macbeth is observed only within the castle at Enverness (Gerlach).
Even though the women in Macbeth are strong and express a mix of masculine and feminine
traits, Shakespeare still places them in the setting the society would expect them to be in. This

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provides more normality and reality for the audience, who would find it strange if Lady Macbeth
were outside with no supervision. Even though Lady Macbeths character obviously expresses
stereotypically masculine traits Macbeth still believes she will Bring forth men-children only/
For [her] undaunted mettle should compose/ Nothing but males (1.7.72-74). This shows that in
Shakespeare's society every wife is seen as a vessel for birthing infants. Gender stereotyping is
still relevant today, as becomes evident when reading the article from 2013 by Mitchell
Kalpakgian when he states that the witches prophecies blur the logical distinctions that
inhere in the nature of things woman is man; and man is god (Kalpakgian). Women and men
are not logical distinctions in nature, they are equal human beings. The more literate essay about
Revisiting Shakespeare and Gender brings to attention that too much cultural change has
turned [people] toward applauding in females the masculine qualities they display, showing
that traits seen as feminine are not appreciated when they are displayed in males and females
(Gerlach). Societys view of gender roles has changed very little from Shakespeare's era,
therefore what qualifies as progressive has also changed very little.
Shakespeares view of gender roles is progressive, and therefore his view of female roles
is progressive. He supports a slight mixing of gender roles when Malcom tells Maduff to get over
the death of his family and Dispute it like a man (4.3.119). Macduff responds that he must
also feel it like a man(4.3.221). When Macduff goes on to defeat Macbeth and become the hero
of the play he proves that it is possible to be manly and have what society views as feminine
traits, and that even feminine traits can be masculine traits. Earlier in the play, Lady Macbeth
calls out to spirits to Unsex [her]... come to [her] womans breasts,/ And take [her] milk for gall
(1.5.39-46). Lady Macbeth wants to be less feminine, and wants to have more power. This
suggests that Shakespeare noticed women in real life who wanted more power than they already

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had. The weird sisters are extremely powerful, prophesize fate, and some even argue that they
control fate. They express very few feminine traits despite being female, and Banquo states that
they Should be women,/ and yet [their] beards forbid [him] to interpret/ That [they] are so
(act.scene.45-7). The weird sisters could possibly be Shakespeares interpretation of what all
women would be like if they achieved the power they wanted. The weird sisters are ugly, scary,
and cruel. Even though there are many segments in Shakespeare's writing that proves he supports
men embodying feminine traits, he seems less supportive of women embodying masculine traits.
Even so, by supporting the mixing of traits he is progressing gender equality and therefore
supporting feminism.
Even if this was unintentional of Shakespeare's part, Macbeth proves that women can,
and should, wield power. In the beginning of the play the Captain tells the king of brave
Macbeth--/ Well he deserves that name-- Disdaining Fortune, with his brandished steel,/ Which
smoked with bloody execution (1.2.16-8). When the King hears this story he thinks that
Macbeth would be trustworthy enough to replace the Thane of Glamis. The King obviously lacks
judgment because there is no way bloody execution proves a person is trustworthy. Having one
person in power ensures that there is no collaboration, or second person to veto a bad idea. If the
King had someone to collaborate with, or a female co-ruler, entire catastrophes like the one
within Macbeth can be avoided. If stereotypically masculine traits are seen as good traits for a
person in power, this idea should be changed so that society sees feminine traits as good qualities
for a ruler. Later on in the play Lady Macbeth states that she knows How tender tis to love the
babe that milks [her]:/ [she] would, while it was smiling in my face,/ Have plucked [her] nipple
from his boneless gums,/ And dashed the brains out, had [she] so sworn as [Macbeth] (1.7.5559). This proves that even women can be brutal and violent. Women can also make sacrifices and

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come across as dangerous. Women can be all of these traits Shakespeare's era thought were fit for
a ruler. Also, the fact that she would keep an oath she made to someone proves that she is fit for
following an oath she made to the population she would rule over. Yet, even though she seems so
violent, when she goes to kill the king she states that had he not resembled/ [her] father as he
slept, [she] had donet (2.2.12-13). This shows that even the most ruthless women can be
compassionate, and compassion is sorely needed for people in positions of power. Even though
the article by Kalpagiken does not support females in power, he states that Lady Macbeths
intelligence eventually acknowledges the duplicity of the witches Naughts had, alls spent,/
Where our desire is got without content (Kalpagiken). This proves that Lady Macbeth is more
intelligent than Macbeth, and realized their error sooner. She realizes that achieving her goals
through violent means is not effective. Lady Macbeth would have been a better ruler than
Macbeth. Therefore, a collaborative group of women in power would be more fit to run a
populace than one male King.
Shakespeares view of gender roles is progressive, and he unintentionally supports female
power. People are alarmed when female politicians state that an entire country can be run by
women, and they believe these ideas are those of a misandrist, but in reality it is an idea of
feminism because up until this point, mainly men have held positions of power. Until women
have held just as much power as their male counterparts the two sexes will not be equal. Gender
equality has come a long way since the time of Shakespeare, but compared to where it needs to
go gender equality has barely improved at all.