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Shakespear and lady macbeth
Role of women characters in shakespeare's plays
Role of women characters in shakespeare's plays
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Women have always been portrayed as the weaker sex compared to men. It has been demonstrated in history itself and throughout literary works. Shakespeare’s Macbeth and Homer’s The Odyssey, however, portray women to be more powerful than men, even when their society thought otherwise and underestimated them because of their gender. Lady Macbeth, The Three Witches, Queen Arête and Penelope demonstrate the astute, charming, and ambitious side of women that was overlooked by men when it came to having power and making decisions.
Making a movie from direct content that is more than a hundred years old is easy because all the scenes and script is there for your use. Some directors like to make some drastic or minor changes based on their own interpretation of the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare. While watching both Goold (2010) and Polanski (1971), I have noticed a lot of major differences between the two movies and the original play Macbeth written by William Shakespeare. Some of the differences I have noticed is that is in Goold (2010), Macbeth actually comes to kill Lady Macduff and her children. Another difference in Goold (2010) is that the witches are shown throughout the film.
Shakespeare, like any other man in the 16th and 17th century, saw ambitious and dominant women as evil and even disturbing or disturbed. From Macbeth, we can see Shakespeare feels women should be challenged and punished because they are trying to change society. Nowadays these ambitious and dominant women are regarded as brave and respected because of their ambition, such as Lady Macbeth’s ambition to become Queen. Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth as mentally disturbed.
The Thane of King Duncan, Macbeth hears a prophecy that he himself will become king later on in the future after King Duncan. This then leads to Macbeth being overcome by greed. Since Macbeth greeds to be king so bad, he murders King Duncan and takes his place of the throne. Macbeth starts to live with so much guilt and fear that he commits even more murders to have his power safe. Macbeth is so confident in the prophecies that his life comes to a downfall and he gets killed by the people he did wrong.
This study will focus on the way in which Shakespeare crafts his play and uses dramatic devices in his portrayal of Lady Macbeth in order to confront the gender stereotypes of the time, femininity and the natural order of society. During the early 17th century there was a substantial fear that if women were liberated from their domestic, maternal roles, the historically patriarchal society would unravel. With prevailing challenges of gender such as “When you durst do it, then you were a man” Shakespeare uses the character of Lady Macbeth to transgress the natural limits concomitant with her sex. In order to be able to answer the research question, it is vital to concretely establish the contemporary gender roles and the context of the play.
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.
Men were supposed to act as strong fighters, while women were locked in the domestic sphere. These gender roles are prominent in the character developments of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. At first, Macbeth is a strong, heroic solider that shows unbounded courage in battle and loyalty to his king. As the play progresses, he becomes cold, ruthless, and miserable. Lady Macbeth takes on a “manly” role, which is surprising because of how patriarchal the society is.
In “Macbeth: The Prisoner of Gender,” Robert Kimbrough explores the topic of manliness in Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth. Kimbrough begins by examining how masculinity and femininity came about in the first place, stating that the origin can best come from the “Judeo-Christian version of God the Creator” (179). The differences between males and females created a hierarchy in Shakespeare’s time, where males were on the top and females were on the bottom. Kimbrough states that the differences betweens the two genders are “matters of the mind,” and believes “Shakespeare sensed that so long as one remains exclusively female or exclusively male, that person will be ... denied human growth" (179). These “matters of the mind” are what Shakespeare tackles
Medea: Questions About Women and Femininity Euripides’ play, Medea, is an ambiguous narrative relating to feminism. Depending on one’s viewpoint, the eponymous character can either be one of the most unconventional delegates of women’s rights or an oblivious saboteur willing to undermine the cause. I believe the former, holding the opinion that Medea was a pioneer for feminism, being the original driving force behind breaking the stereotypes assigned to women. Although I also hold the stance that her impact is short-term due to the fact that her surrounding actions have overshadowed her ambitious acts.
Jeries 1 Asma A. Jeries Professor Ra'ad Ali Research Paper 15 December 2014 Medea as a Feminist Tragedy While researching texts written about Medea the heroine, I found lots of authors highlight the idea that Medea trapped in a patriarchal society, such as, academic journals, articles, and books . These authors looked at the play form unusual perspective which is from a woman's eye. They also found Medea is victimized by her unfaithful husband whom she sacrifices everything to stay with him. Her husband who is a man's voice symbolizes a society as a whole. Each one of the authors, describe in details how much Medea is suppressed even by the one whom she loves him more than herself.
Paul Vu Dr. Elizabeth C. Ramírez THTR 475A.03 2 May 2017 Macbeth and Medea: Breaking Expectations Macbeth by William Shakespeare and Medea by Euripides are known for their powerful critiques on the social expectations of women. Women during the time of Elizabethan and Greek theatre were often stereotyped and considered the weaker sex. Men were depicted as strong individuals who supported and protected women. However, both Shakespeare and Euripides broke expectations by portraying strong and iconic female characters in their respective plays. The idea of a strong female character was often unheard of during the time of Elizabethan and Greek Theatre.
Euripides created a modern day woman who seeks justice and revenge with her cleverness and power. Medea acted as a feminine heroine who established that women can also be as strong as men. The feeling of being left by someone you love is truly painful hence, Medea expressed her emotions as much as she can and mourned for her lost. It is true that women can be sensitive and emotional so there was Medea portraying a usual woman in an unusual manner.
Medea is a strong, independent woman, but she allows her anger and jealousy to consume her. Love, anger, and hatred blind her, causing her to do heartless and unspeakable acts that result in many people turning away from her. This play can benefit but also harm the cause for women. If Medea had not committed murder over her husband, she would be considered a more desirable role model for the community of
Mihir Sharma Ms. Dornford ENG 3U1-05 10 December 2015 Power and Corruption William Shakespeare in “Macbeth” and F. Scott Fitzgerald in The Great Gatsby, depict how greed for power and social status can make women ruthless and crafty in their aspirations. To achieve their ulterior motives, they can destroy lives through either pretense or manipulation. William Shakespeare depicts women as malicious in their intent who can camouflage their real intent to achieve their ambitions. Lady Macbeth is unable to pursue her dreams due to social constraints.
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.
