Shakespeare's Macbeth is a male-dominated play. Most of the notable characters in Macbeth are male, including Macbeth, Macduff, Banquo, King Duncan, and Malcolm. Despite her lack of female power by the numbers, Lady Macbeth proves to be a formidable force of influence. It does this by psychologically changing the sexes when the situation is more favorable to a particular sex. Each gender change brings Lady Macbeth closer to what she thinks she wants. However, changing sex is a feat that requires immense mental strength and towards the end of the play, Lady Macbeth's mental power diminishes with guilt and ultimately leads to an early death. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Lady Macbeth's first mental gender transformation occurs after she reads the letter Macbeth sends her and learns of King Duncan's expected visit. In Act 1, scene 5, he pleads with the spirits: “Come, ye spirits // who care for mortal thoughts, undress me here, // And fill me from head to toe // With the most atrocious cruelty! Make my blood thick. Lady Macbeth is aware that her intentions to kill King Duncan are not considered ladylike. Then, he commands the spirits to "sex" her, that is, to strip her of her female sex and replace it with one more suited to such sinister intentions, the male sex. He also insists on the mental change from female to male by telling the spirits to "Come to my woman's breast, // And take my milk as gall." By requiring spirits to approach her "woman's breast" and take her "gall milk," her purely feminine and life-giving nourishment is destroyed and replaced with the opposite. Now that Lady Macbeth has mentally changed her sex from female to male, she takes on the role that Macbeth should play if she did not consider him “too full of the milk of human kindness to strike aggressively.” Lady Macbeth uses her newfound gendered psyche to mistreat Macbeth and pique his male ego into killing King Duncan. For example, in Act 1, scene 7, she argues with him: “What beast was it, then, // that made you stop this undertaking? // When you dared to do it, then you were a man; // And, to be more than you were, you should // be much more of a man. Lady Macbeth uses her male mind to pick on Macbeth's male ego. He says he was a man when he thought to slay King Duncan, and if he do so, then he will be greater than a man; if not, then what beast is it? Lady Macbeth assimilates so well with the male sex that even Macbeth alludes to it in Act 1, scene 7, “Bring only men-children; // For your undaunted courage should compose // Nothing but males. Macbeth tells Lady Macbeth that her fearless spirit is so like that of a man, that her sons should all be men. Although Lady Macbeth currently has the willpower to maintain her asexual nature and male mind, her mentality begins to wane noticeably as time passes. The first sign of Lady Macbeth's female conscience beginning to emerge over her supposedly evil and heartless male conscience is in Act 2, scene 2, when she admits to herself: "If she had not resembled // My father while he slept, I wouldn't have done it." .” When Lady Macbeth mentally transformed from female to male, in Act 1, scene 5, she made sure to request that the male side consisted of making "my blood thick, // blocking the access and passage to remorse, // That no remorse for nature's visits // Shake my evil purpose, nor keep peace between // The effect and that!resembled her father, Lady Macbeth allows a "visit of compunction from nature", or a moment of regret from human nature, to influence her actions by revealing that her thick-blooded, masculine mind is beginning to thin and weaken. make room for her feminine consciousness. As Lady Macbeth's feminine consciousness begins to ebb to the surface of her mind, her words reflect this reemergence in Act 3, Scene 2. Lady Macbeth notices that Macbeth is not quite well and instead of mistreating him, teasing him or tormenting him as often being his "unsexual" self, he says: "Dear my lord, // elegant o'er your robust look; // Be bright and jovial // Among your guests this evening. Lady Macbeth instead addresses Macbeth with kindness, telling him that he should relax because she can see the effects of his constant worrying from his “rough look.” “Me too, love. His response is the first time he calls Lady Macbeth, "love" after the murder, revealing that this is the first time since the murder that Macbeth sees Lady Macbeth as a woman and his wife. Macbeth continues that Lady Macbeth needs to flatter Banquo and "make our faces visors to our hearts, // Disguising what I am", a tactic they both used on King Duncan before killing him. However, Lady Macbeth's male doppelganger is moving away and her feminine side is starting to dominate, leading her to tell Macbeth, "You must leave this." Lady Macbeth no longer has male brutality in her and does not want to kill anyone else. Her feminine instincts are also evident in Act 3, scene 4, when Lady Macbeth notes that Macbeth's worries will keep him awake and her feminine instincts as a wife are triggered. As a result, he tells Macbeth, "You have not slept" after Macbeth says he will see the witches again. Lady Macbeth returns to her feminine mindset and Macbeth is now a ruthless, hard-blooded male. Once she returns, Lady Macbeth's feminine mentality does not stay with her for long. Her guilt ultimately cracks her feminine mindset, leaving her in a deranged, sexless state that causes her to sleepwalk. In Act 5, scene 1, the doctor observing her comments that: "Unnatural actions // breed unnatural troubles: infected minds // To their deaf pillows will discharge their secrets." The secret has finally revealed Lady Macbeth and unconsciously escapes the eyes of the nurse and the doctor. We hear nothing more about Lady Macbeth for the rest of the play. The aggressive, big-blooded bully no longer has manly boasts. The worried and worried wife no longer has any feminine comfort. Her husband no longer pays her any attention. Lady Macbeth is now sexless, just a body of guilt, until death comes. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom article from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay At the beginning of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is an important woman with a respected husband who loves and recognizes her. Later, he mentally transforms into a man to be cold-hearted enough to kill King Duncan. Even though Lady Macbeth tries to keep her secret by being “asexual,” the secret keeps her guilty. The strong mentality that once made her a ruthless man fades until she returns to her feminine self. Ultimately, guilt overpowers Lady Macbeth's female conscience, and she becomes a somnambulant artist who plays out her guilt scenes until she is declared dead. 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