What people appear as is not always what they are in reality. Lady Macbeth is a good example of this idea; she appears to be a sweet, nice and obedient, but really she did very different. "Come, you spirits/ that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,/ and fill me from crown to the toe top-full/ of direst cruelty. Make thick my blood,/ stop up th'access and passage to remorse" (1.5.38-42). This is thought by Lady Macbeth in the play Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare. She is saying that she wants the spirits to make her a man, take away everything that makes her a woman, because women are thought of as nice and nurturing and men are stronger and taken more seriously. She wants to be filled with cruelty and have no ability to feel remorse. This is because she and her husband Macbeth found out that Macbeth will become king, but Lady Macbeth feels that Macbeth will not be selfish enough to commit the act of killing someone for his own gain. So she wants to be able to convince him to do so. Machiavelli would have said that this was a smart thing to do. His quote "It is not essential that a Prince have all good qualities, but it is essential that he should seem to have them." This quote explains what Lady Macbeth is doing, she is appearing to be a nice, sweet, obedient wife, when really she is going so far as to change herself into an awful being and an evil mastermind, to get what she wants.
Gender is a huge aspect in the daily life of the play Macbeth, by William Shakespeare. Women were portrayed as innocent, obedient and maternal. Men are seen as strong, leader, the head of the house. Lady Macbeth doesn't follow these characteristics of being a women, but really those of a man. " Yet do i fear thy nature./ It is too full o'th' milk of human kindness/ to catch the nearest way. Thou wouldst be great,/ art not without ambition, but without/ the illness that should attend it" (1.5. 14-18). This a line out of the play Macbeth, said by Lady Macbeth. It referring to the note that Macbeth sent to her saying that a prophecy said that he would become king. She is saying that she doesn't think he has it in to kill someone out of personal gain; he is too much of a "good person". She is saying that his ambition is "good" not for his own personal gain but for other people. This is more of the male role than the female. The male would want things for personal gain, while the female would be more of the nurturing and thoughtful one. Lady Macbeth is filling the male role which shows one of those themes throughout this play.
The play Macbeth by William Shakespeare has a lot to do with loyalty and honor. Because the play is all about power and leadership; having the support of people is important. When someone has the support of their followers they feel safe and in control. But loyalty can be as dangerous as it can be safe. " he was a gentleman on whom i built/ an absolute trust" (1.4.13-14). This is said by King Duncan about the then Thane of Cawdor, who turned out to be a traitor and was killed because of it. The king is saying that he had complete trust in this man who turned out to have not been loyal to him at all. It is hard to now who to trust and who to put your trust into when eveyrone is looking out for themselves and you never know what their real intentions are. Machiavelli would think that this is a true statement to say about mankind becuase he says in the book The Prince, " Of mankind we may say in general they are fickle, hypocritical, and greedy of gain." Humans will do anything to get what they want, they will change what they belive in if it will allow them to get what they want in the end.
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