University of Arkansas, Fayetteville ScholarWorks@UARK Theses and Dissertations 5-2019 “A Woman’s Story”: Lady Macbeth and Performing Femininity in the Early 1600s – Late 1900s Phyllis LeBert University of Arkansas, Fayetteville Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd Part of the Literature in English, British Isles Commons, and the Women's Studies Commons Recommended Citation LeBert, Phyllis, "“A Woman’s Story”: Lady Macbeth and Performing Femininity in the Early 1600s – Late 1900s" (2019). Theses and Dissertations. 3164. https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd/3164 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UARK. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UARK. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. “A Woman’s Story”: Lady Macbeth and Performing Femininity in the Early 1600s – Late 1900s A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in English by Phyllis Kay LeBert University of Arkansas Bachelor of Arts in English, 2010 May 2019 University of Arkansas This thesis is approved for recommendation to the Graduate Council. ___________________________________ Joseph Candido, Ph.D. Thesis Director ____________________________________ ____________________________________ John DuVal, Ph.D. Robert Cochran II, Ph.D. Committee Member Committee Member Abstract This paper uses gender studies to understand the themes of gender performance further, and more specifically, femininity, in Shakespeare’s Macbeth. It also explores the many ways feminine gender performance has changed as society has changed. Thus, proving gender is performative rather than innate. It does this by examining first the text within the context of Elizabethan society.