Shakespeare's Macbeth is a play centred around the balance between masculinity and femininity, taking on the characteristics of the gender split within his own hypocritical society.

The Renaissance was a period from the 14th - 16th centuries, where people began questioning their world. Spreading to Northern Europe, it manifested itself in the art of Dűrer, the scholarship of Erasmum, the plays of Shakespeare, and the particularly in the courts of such rulers as Elizabeth I of Englad, where the ideal of Renaissance civilisation was symbolised in the lifestyle of such courtiers as Sir Phillip Sidney. Focusing on the particular strength and momentum given by a society greatly dominated by the male force, definite gender distinction was reinforced by the church and state.

Though patriarchy in the renaissance remains evident, the question of gender roles and boundaries continues to arise throughout Shakespeare's Macbeth. This exceptional awareness of an...