The majority of people have encountered gender stereotypes that are ingrained in today's society over time. The conforming idea of ​​gender norms is expressed by the fact that women are described as sensitive and fragile, and men as tough and powerful. Stereotypes similar to these are contradicted throughout William Shakespeare's play Macbeth, written in 1606. In particular, around the continued view that many characters challenge stereotypes of masculine and feminine behavior and guide the modern views of societies on these stereotypes. Shakespeare contradicts traditional male stereotypes through the main characters Macbeth, a treacherous but courageous man, and Lady Macbeth, an ambitious and powerful woman. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essayOne of the first examples of male stereotypes seen in the play is in Act 1, Scene 7, as Lady Macbeth expresses her point of view "When you dared to do it then you were a man", emasculating Macbeth, which ultimately leads to his and Lady Macbeth's hamartia. This causes Macbeth to feel guilty, suggesting that his masculinity has been taken away from him. According to Lady Macbeth, her first impression made him a man as she states “you were a man”. However, the inclusion of the past tense used to describe Macbeth expresses his loss of manhood as he is hesitant to kill King Duncan, which contradicts his appearance. Lady Macbeth persists in mocking Macbeth, which increases the more uncertain he is about committing regicide, with his peers pushing him to feel pure guilt. In doing so, the characters contradict masculine and feminine characteristics and assume that one and the other are gender equivalents. Macbeth is not as tough as a man should be, based on the stereotypes mentioned above, and is controlled by a woman who has authority over his actions. Shakespeare interferes with gender stereotypes in the play Macbeth by attributing masculine qualities to female characters by giving them roles of authority that would not be expected in the male-dominated culture of Shakespeare's time. This is evident in Lady Macbeth's famous soliloquy "unsex me here". In this passage, Shakespeare has used elaborate metaphors that refer to Lady Macbeth's plea to rid her of her feminine facade and obtain a more ruthless nature. Shakespeare also incorporated dramatic irony by letting the audience know how ambitious and greedy Lady Macbeth feels; something the other characters don't know. This can often stimulate strong tension among the reader and can be used to explore the relationships and interactions between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. This speech contains many images and implications that reference not only Lady Macbeth, but the entire play, as an important theme of Macbeth is the overthrow of what is natural. In Macbeth, Shakspeare made it clear to his audience that the female characters demonstrate more rationality and clear-mindedness than their male counterparts. Stereotypes have unfortunately become a huge part of our daily lives, whether it's how we judge people based on their appearance or their personality. However, this is not something new that we have started doing recently and has been around since Shakespeare's time and probably even before. Lady Macbeth tends to internalize society's stereotypes to such an extent that she believes that generating enough., 11, 1224.