The shortest and bloodiest of Shakespeare's tragedies, Macbeth (written sometime in the early 1600s, and first performed sometime before 1610) treats the subject of ambition, tracing the disintegration of a powerful man who, longing to be more powerful, discards all moral boundaries in his quest for power. After being lured on by the insinuating prophecies of the witches and murdering Duncan, Macbeth is driven by his fears to greater and greater bloodshed, which the play chronicles …
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…were a man, and agrees with Macbeth that her mettle should bear only boys; Macbeth encourages the murderers to kill Banquo by questioning their manhood; and Malcolm consoles Macduff after the murders of his wife and children by encouraging him to take the news in "manly" fashion, seeking revenge upon Macbeth. Thus, an untempered masculinity seems to yield aggression: whenever a discussion of manhood takes place, violence, chaos, destruction, and death will soon follow it.