Why then, alas, Do I put up that womanly defense to say that I have done no harm?

Wither should I fly?
I have done no harm. But I remember now
I am in this earthly world, where to do harm
Is often laudable, to do good sometime
Accounted dangerous folly. Why then, alas,
Do I put up that womanly defense
to say that I have done no harm? Spoken by Lady Macduff (Macbeth 4.2.73f)


The act of forsaking ones femaleness is charged with such metatheatric intensity that resounds to the existential dilemma at the heart of Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”. Not only does this attempted abandonment of social constructs echo the actor/player dichotomy it represents a moment of renaissance self un-fashioning. To be on stage assuming the role of female and to then to subsequently undress is to play quite disturbingly with the idea that man, or woman, is not, and, must not be constrained by external narrative agencies. Lady Macbeth refuses to commit to her assigned role and consequently becomes a marginalized reification of the ambitious and remorseless self that she had meant to be. From the moment of self-denial in act 1 scene 5 Lady Macbeth deteriorates to the point of non-existence. She dares to challenge literary authority and subsequently becomes a victim to narrative constructs. Lady Macduff the only other female voice hauntingly realizes that an inhabitant in “earthly world” (4.2.75) one is powerless to dissimulate true realities. The concern with identity and theatricality lends itself to a study in authoritarianism as well as authority transforming the notion of “borrowed robes” (1.3.107) into a discussion of individual agency.

Though Lady Macbeth attempts to assert her agency by abandoning her habiliment she is inherently constrained by her femaleness; the rejection of the self challenges the conception of the narrative construct ultimately undermining the authority of the playwright. What Lady Macbeth wishes to forsake is her capacity to remorse; “Stop up th’access and passage to remorse” (1.5.42). Here, she prays to an unknown external agent to halt her moral processes, to clog and to obstruct the exchange between reception and interpretation, between action and reaction, creating a tautological system of though. Strengthening the notion of tautology is the recurring defense of act and consequence; “What’s done is done” (3.2.14) and “…What’s done cannot be undone” (5.1.58) are two statements that blindly support previous action and arrogantly await anticipated reactions. Considering the narrative frame-work of the play the speaker (Lady Macbeth) speaks to a unidirectional projection of action and reaction. The spatiotemporality of the play does not allow for remorse; existence itself does not allow for remorse. Lady Macbeth latches onto this requisite to argue that a life is lived in vein if confined by questions of temporality and of external authorities. She denounces authority and thus tragically precipitates her fall.

Lady Macduff follows an equally tragic suit of tragic realizations. When confronted by death she comes to the realization that this “earthly world” (4.2.75) is raw and unreasonable space beyond the limits of the good and the bad. Lady Macduff expresses the futility that defines the existence on the mortal stage. When oppressed by the constructed narrative, she accepts that she has no individual agency, “…Why then, alas, Do I put up that womanly defense/ to say that I have done no harm?” (4.2.77f), the defense system presented here is a manufactured construct. The externalization of the self is reduced to a being a simulacrum of the self, belittling the man subject to external complots. One can easily inject an economy of free will and predestination into this existential envisioning of the mortal stage, or play with the notion of equivocation and metatheatre. Questioning and renounce that which defines the self becomes pivotal to the denouement of the play “Macbeth” and is therefore a very intriguing focus to hone in on.


Hector Cueva section 1C