The Role Of Manipulation In Macbeth And A Doll House

Macbeth and A Doll House introduce the reader to a world of deception, where both protagonists resort to lies and manipulation in order to achieve their desires, whether by will or force. In Macbeth, spurred by his wife’s persuasion, Macbeth decides on a path of murder to achieve his destiny of ascending the throne of Scotland. Similarly, Nora in A Doll House commits fraud to save her husband’s life. However, as the plays progress, both protagonists quickly begin to realize their mistakes, and, knowing that the damage has already been done, suffer consequences, both physically and psychologically. Nora, for instance, hides her fraud from her husband, defying her societal expectations as a wife and damaging her relationship with him in the long-term.

At the end of Act 1, Lady Macbeth manipulates him into committing regicide on Duncan by questioning his masculinity, telling him to “be so much more the man” (1.7.51). By associating masculinity with violence, Lady Macbeth convinces him that murder is the right thing to do. Initially, this clicks in his mind, justifying his murder with fulfillment of his destiny, saying, “I have no spur / to prick the sides of my intent, but only / vaulting ambition” (1.7.25-27). However, once he ascends the throne, he becomes paranoid that he will be found out and orders the murder of Banquo and his son, Fleance. He continues this paranoia until his ultimate murder, as what initially seemed like simply following his masculinity led him to a heap of

In Macbeth, Macbeth’s murder of the king quickly becomes a double-edged sword for him, as he becomes paranoid of being caught. After ordering the murder of his former friend Banquo, he wearily laments that “I am in blood / stepp’d in so far that should I wade no more, / Returning were as tedious as go o’er” (3.4.136-138). This clever analogy to blood shows Macbeth’s realization that his murders and violence trapped him in a violent path, making it extremely difficult to go back to living a peaceful life. His initial utopian vision of being a king and living in blissful peace is becoming harder to envision as he psychologically drowns in the blood that he created. This toil extends to Lady Macbeth as she realizes the consequences of convincing her husband to murder King Duncan. She becomes delusional, mesmerized by “the smell of the blood still” and realizing that “all the perfumes of / Arabia will not sweeten this little hand” (5.1.44-45). The use of the exact same blood analogy shows the magnitude of the psychological burden on both characters as a result of their deceitful actions. In fact, while Macbeth still sees the light at the end of the tunnel, alluding to the fact that there still is a way to “go o’er” and get out of the pool of blood he created, Medea sees no such hope, believing that nothing will undo her and her husband’s deceit, lies, and