I told my students to post some kind of image that relates to Macbeth onto their new Blog Sites, and here is mine. I hope they have their blog and first entry ready by class time.

Role reversal by gender is glaringly obvious in Macbeth. Several times, Lady Macbeth plays the "man" chiding her husband for being soft and deliberative, stereotypical female roles, especially when it comes to grasping and retaining power. For example, Macbeth breaks down after killing Duncan, and being unable to go back to the crime scene to plant the plant the bloody knife, Lady M practically spits at him, "Infirm-of-purpose," and stalks off to put the knives on the hapless guards. At one point, she implores demons to "unsex" her, thus divesting her of feminine touchy-feeliness that could hinder her ascension to power.

During her presidential campaign, I remember Hillary wearing only pant suits on the trail. To be an alpha female in the male dominated world of politics, she needed to be seen as a hard boiled type with an edge, not some damsel who needed to ride on her husband's back. In fact, had she won the presidential office, Bill would have had to take the role of "first man" instead of the traditional spousal role: first lady.