Obviously in Shakespeare’s time it was an all male cast, but why would a male actor not evoke as much sympathy as a female actress? Thanks in advance.
If you look at some of Lady Macbeth’s most powerful speeches, you’ll notice that they’re about things that are very specifically WOMAN-related.
In her "letter speech" early in the play, she prays to Dark Forces, saying: "come to my woman’s breasts, and take my milk for gall…"
Later, in Act I, scene 7, the speech that actually persuades Macbeth to get back on-board with the plot to kill Duncan is the one that begins: "I have given suck, and know how tender ’tis to love the babe that milks me…"
I would suggest that, while a competent male actor could get some mileage out of such lines, it would take a TRUE woman’s perspective to really get to the bottom of them.
If you look at some of Lady Macbeth’s most powerful speeches, you’ll notice that they’re about things that are very specifically WOMAN-related.
In her "letter speech" early in the play, she prays to Dark Forces, saying: "come to my woman’s breasts, and take my milk for gall…"
Later, in Act I, scene 7, the speech that actually persuades Macbeth to get back on-board with the plot to kill Duncan is the one that begins: "I have given suck, and know how tender ’tis to love the babe that milks me…"
I would suggest that, while a competent male actor could get some mileage out of such lines, it would take a TRUE woman’s perspective to really get to the bottom of them.
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