Women, Power and the Devil; although many may incline to believe this to be the feminist holy trinity, it is, in fact, men's worst fear. Going back from second-century Christian theologian Tertullian who claimed women to be the gate of Hell (2) to a notorious American businessman who recently accused this presidential candidate of being the Devil himself (Volk and Sullivan,"Trump calls Hillary Clinton ‘the devil’"), men have always been prone to demonize women in order to prove their unfitness to govern. Shakespeare is no stranger to this thought pattern which he explores in his 1606 play, Macbeth. Indeed, Shakespeare's vile portrayal of Lady Macbeth and the Witches in the play stems from the medieval demonization of women. Through his choice
Literature aids in the understanding of ideas, beliefs and ideologies from a context different to our own. William Shakespeare’s dramatic tragedy, Macbeth, published in 1606, follows the tale of a once noble man named Macbeth, who, influenced by his hamartia, became the catalyst for disrupting the natural balance of the universe. Macbeth is a text which relates to the contextual beliefs and ideologies of the Early Modern Period and whilst the text endorses those beliefs it also challenges the traditional notions of patriarchy. The text reinforces the Early Modern England beliefs of; the Great Chain of Being through symbolism of nature out of order; the Divine Right, shown through dialogue, imagery and symbolism; and witchcraft which is emphasised
The speaker of this passage is the Gentlewoman. She describes to the Doctor about her observations of Lady Macbeth's sleepwalking. According to the Course Content, literal imagery uses straight language rather than figurative language. This passage is an example of the use of literal imagery because it provides the reader with a mental image that directly appeals to their sense of sight. The blunt explanation describes an experience the Gentlewoman witnesses of Lady Macbeth's behaviour while sleepwalking.
In the Beginning, over 400 years ago, William Shakespeare the Greatest writer in the English Language published a tragic play regarding the protagonist Macbeth who was greatly influenced and manipulated by others around him, including greed for power. His darkest desire was to become King of Scotland, so he killed enough people to make him lose his mind and himself. In William Shakespeare's time, men were seen as strong, reliable, and courageous. Through Macbeth, he demonstrates how gender roles are switched between Lady Macbeth and Macbeth. Every step of the way, his wife Lady Macbeth was there as a reliable source, constantly provoking him to commit disloyal actions, which resulted in the downfall of both main characters and to their misfortune
A position of power is the ultimate indicator of success. Everyone seeks it, some more than others, and yet so few succeed in obtaining it. Those who do are often the most ruthless and evil of characters who are the least suitable for such a gift, but through their perseverance they obtain it nonetheless. Lady Macbeth is one such character. She may be unworthy but through her ruthless and adamant attitude she commits herself entirely to the sole purpose of possessing power.
Possibly one of the most influential characters of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Lady Macbeth takes the definition of female dominance to an entirely new level with her ability to manipulate, yet love her husband, and her ability to accuse, yet reassure him of his actions. Though Lady Macbeth is not well described anterior to her introduction, it is immediately apparent that she holds her dominance using her cunning skills, fuelled by ambition, which makes her one of the cruellest characters in Macbeth. Her portrayal of cunningness, upon Duncan’s arrival to Macbeth’s castle, is shown when she allows the king to “Have theirs, themselves, and what is theirs, in compt, / To make their audit at [his] pleasure” (1.6.31–32), in order to give him a false sense of security, when in reality, she wants to ensure that “[her] keen knife see not the wound it makes” (1.5.55) on Duncan. As a result, Lady Macbeth is able to let the king into their castle without hesitation, just like a serpent underneath an innocent flower. While her cunningness is a character trait to fear, it is what fuels it that gives Lady Macbeth her power; ambition.
The Tragedy of Macbeth was an awesome play by William Shakespeare. William Shakespeare created the play during the 11th century of Scotland. Shakespeare says that gender roles should not transition into more of the gender role or it can be the downfall for them and each person must act according to their gender. Lady Macbeth and Macbeth both didn’t act according to their role and the way she go beyond her husband gender role as a women. In act one, Lady Macbeth ambitious was stronger than her husband Macbeth.
Men feel stereotypically they should be able to handle situations by themselves and women shouldn't have to help or even ask someone else for help. Men didn’t want women in their business. In act 2 scene 3 Macduff is having a conversation and he excuses Lady Macbeth from his conversation because she is a women. Macduff said “ ‘Tis not for you to hear what I can speak! The repetition in a woman's ear would murder as if fell.”
It’s no surprise, that Shakespeare’s Macbeth was clearly constructed as a rebellion against femininity roles of the time. During the Elizabethan era, women were raised to believe they were inferior to men since men obtained desired masculine qualities such as strength, and loyalty, whereas women were viewed as figures of hospitality (1; 6; 28-31). Obviously, not being tempted by the luxury of subservient women, William Shakespeare rebuked this twisted belief, applying that women deserve more respect than their kitchen tables.
In Shakespeare's shortest and popular tragedy, Macbeth, Lady Macbeth’s soliloquy reveals her intentions to lose femininity in order to become mentally strong and ruthless, and it also depicts the idea of masculinity associated with power and authority she craves for. When Lady Macbeth cries, “Come you spirits/….. unsex me here,/ And fill me from the crown to toe top-full/ Of direst cruelty!” she implores the spirits to take away everything that makes her a woman so that her femininity does not interfere with her heinous plan to kill Duncan.
Macbeth calls her his “dearest partner of greatness”, which indicates they have a close relationship, and he considers her equal to him. “Lady Macbeth must act and think "like a man" because good women are by definition subservient, and can exert no recognizable authority.” When there is the idea of murdering King Duncan, she takes control of the situation. She calls on the evil sprits saying, “unsex me here, and fill me from the crown to the toe top-full, of direst cruelty.” She needed to be male in order to kill Duncan because it was believed only men could commit murder, since women were too dainty to do
[with] direst cruelty”, grants her the ability to act in a way that is considered both ruthless and respected among men, suggesting the difference between the actions of women and men as well as the difference in seriousness taken as a result of action from either gender(1.5.48-50). Without the presence of a stigma relating to gender throughout the play, Lady Macbeth has no reason to declare her disconnect with her feminine identity. However, the idea that gender makes one inferior
For many years, women were perceived as unequal within their society. This is evident as women didn’t have any rights to vote until 1920, when the women voting act came into place. However this continuous slur would continue to follow women throughout history. As a result, the writers Shakespeare, Carol Ann Duffy and Robert Browning, all create female characters that have adopted a sense of anger and hatred towards their set society. In the poems and play the writers create strong female characters that have determined voices to deal with the various problems that society brings upon them.
Three ideas that I would like to state would be parts a woman and male perspective, and the role of sexuality and women’s madness at that era. Women’s perspectives are complicated due to the fact how men perceive women. Lady Macbeth uses her intelligences to undermine her husband. Women and men have different perspectives of each other in their own relationship. They both tend to believe that they know everything about each other.
The women in Macbeth are presented by Shakespeare to be powerful and ambitious which was unlike the typical views during Jacobean times. The playwright portrays Lady Macbeth and the witches to be highly influential to male characters in the play, which again contrasts the contemporary views to that time. Their ambition and power are demonstrated through the perversion of nature. This highlights the evil and immoral side, they possess. Shakespeare, however, presented Lady Macbeth and the witches to be manipulative and cunning, rather than violent like Macbeth was during the play.
