A Postfeminist Study Of Lady Macbeth

William Shakespeare, a giant on the world literary scene, was called as"the greatest dramatic genius of human"by Karl Marx. Today, a lot of his works are still very popular on the stage in different countries. Macbeth, one of the Four Tragedies of Shakespeare, especially catches people's eyes because of the precise and penetrating depiction of the couple's character and psychological evolution, which is appreciated by critics. For centuries, multitude researchers put this play into various academic fields for interpretation, so that we can inspire mind and study on the original text in multiviews. This thesis on Lady Macbeth is an interpretation in the postfeminist perspective. By means of the theory of power, it discusses the whole story of Lady Macbeth's subjection and resistance and her turning form a victim of oppression to an active seeker. By analysis of the woman's desire, it explores her reversal from others'object to a subject. By an insight into her self-reconstruction, it deals with the process she becomes mad and the real internal cause that leads to her final death. By these, the thesis will prove that Lady Macbeth is a woman who actively pursues the power, bravely satisfies the desire of ego, and tries to reconstruct herself.The introduction firstly reviews the history of feminist Shakespeare criticism, then main achievement and points on Lady Macbeth during nearly twenty years. After organizing the woman's image in traditional view, it states out the central argument. Besides, the theoretical opinions that may be mentioned is introduced in this part, and finally, the structure of the paper.Chapter one analyses that Lady Macbeth should not be the"evil woman". As a female, she is rejected and oppressed by the patriarchal society. She was lack of independence. Being aroused, she gradually denies her identity as"female", and begins to pursue the power, with which women could think and act by themselves, and even become an absolutely independent being.In Chapter Two, the theory of desire is used to analyze Lady Macbeth's desire deeply hidden in her mind. Phallus is the missing self-desire. Lady Macbeth is a female whose Phallus was castrated. In order to pursue the power, she gets madness. She behaved hesitantly when effected by the other's desire. To satisfy her self-desire or defeat it? The splitting ego chose the former. Lady Macbeth made Macbeth as the object and indirectly satisfied herself.Based on the perspective of subject's self-construction, Chapter Three discusses about the internal course of Lady Macbeth's tragic fate. She finally gets mad, but she is a special"mad woman"as she proved her outstanding capability. It is the anxiety and fear that led to her failure. Several typical images is emphasized, and general implications for female liberation are pointed out.In conclusion, major views are summarized: with postfeminist criticism of Lady Macbeth, this thesis demonstrates that she is not"evil woman"in the patriarchal discourse, nor dies for the huge pressure from the patriarchal society. Lady Macbeth is a woman who actively pursues the power, bravely satisfies the desire of ego, and tries to reconstruct herself. Her death is no inevitable, but the result of her subjective choice. What's more, her experience deserves deeper and further studies, and has significant meaning to us.