Macbeth And A Dollhouse Analysis

On the surface it would seem that the only thing Macbeth and A Dollhouse have in common would be that they are both plays, but critics would have to disagree and say they have similar themes as well. Both plays exhibit females who lust for power, Lady Macbeth and Nora. The motif of crime and punishment in both works impacts the theme that the lust for power can lead to destruction and instability.

In Macbeth, Shakespeare illustrates Lady Macbeth’s lust for power to become queen in her soliloquy when she first learns of the witch’s prophecy. Lady Macbeth says, “The raven himself is hoarse/ That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan/Under my battlements. Come, you spirits/ That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, / And fill me from the crown

to the toe top-full / Of direst cruelty! Make thick my blood” (I. iii. 35-40). At first Lady Macbeth is shocked, but quickly recovers from her shock and becomes lustful. She wants to kill Duncan herself in order to become queen and she asks to be like a man, strong and brave, but knows that it is not possible. Lady Macbeth convinces her husband to commit murder by questioning his manhood and his courage saying, “What beast was’t then /That made you break this enterprise to me? /When you durst do it, then you were a man” (I. vii. 47-49), thus beginning the Macbeth’s downward spiral into insanity due to their overwhelming guilt. It is seen here that Lady Macbeth is the one in control of every action and plan thus far in the murder of Duncan. Joseph Comyns Carr states, “Lady Macbeth is regarded as the dominating influence in this awful record of crime” (5). Lady Macbeth shows no fear or remorse for the crime she has committed, making her seem as though she has lost her humanity. Concluding Sentence.
In A Dollhouse, in contrast to Macbeth, Nora feels no guilt toward the crime she has committed, but instead she craves power over Helmer because she knows something that he doesn’t. Tornqvist says, “She has committed a crime, and she is proud of it’ because she did it for love of her husband and to save his life” (7). Nora is unaware of the punishment that is ahead for her. She believes if Helmer finds out, he will forgive her immediately, thus giving all the power back to her, but Helmer does the exact opposite of this and tells her “A guilty man like that has to lie and [...] has to wear a mask in the presence of those near and dear to him, even before his own wife and children [...] the children- that is the most terrible part of it all, Nora” (Ibsen 1758). Helmer feels as though now the whole family must bare this burden of guilt, making Nora feel lost and betrayed. Nora must have all the power, so she leaves Helmer for good, thus finalizing the power she has over him. Better Concluding Sentence.
Both the Macbeth’s and Nora commit crimes and because of that there must be a punishment.

In Macbeth, madness and insanity is the punishment for both Lady Macbeth and Macbeth. Kendall states that “Macbeth clings to his authority and rejects his own mortality to the last” (192). Macbeth becomes paranoid concerning his reign and his secret. He sees the ghost of Banquo, his friend who has just sentenced to death, causing Macbeth to almost reveal his secret to everyone. Macbeth’s paranoia is also a punishment to his crime, causing him to be unsteady mentally, thus leading him to his death when MacDuff kills him. Lady Macbeth as well experiences her own kind of punishment. Lady Macbeth is found sleepwalking and saying, “Out, damned spot! Out, I say!—One, two. Why,/ then, ’tis time to do ’t. Hell is murky!—Fie, my lord, fie! A soldier, and/afeard? What need we fear who knows it, when none can call our /power to account?—Yet who would have thought the old man to /have had so much blood in him” (V.i.25-38). Lady Macbeth wishes for the blood of Duncan would come off of her hands. Of course there is no blood, but metaphorically the death is her doing thus she has his blood on her hands. Lady Macbeth is consumed with guilt causing her to become insane making the people nervous. Both Macbeth’s final punishment, though, is their death by the hand of another, like Duncan’s death. Nora however has a far less harsh punishment, though in the end she still has some karma thrown her way. When Krogstad threatens Nora that he will tell her secret, she gets him fired, but that only adds fuel to the already burning flame. When Nora learns of Krogstad’s letter of confession to Helmer she becomes unstable and paranoid. Tornqvist says, “Having failed in all her attempts, Nora in the final act realizes that her forgery will be known” (13). She’s filled with worry that Helmer will learn the truth from someone else instead of her, thus revoking her power over him. She decides she must

maintain her control, so she reveals her secret, leading to Helmer’s disappointment saying “Nora! What is this? You know what is in this letter? Then it’s true what he writes in this? How horrible! No, no, it’s impossible – it can’t be true” (Ibsen 1755). When Helmer doesn’t react the way Nora expects him to it makes her see the true nature of Helmer. Tornqvist agrees stating, “Far from being the noble altruist she had imagined, he has disclosed himself as an egoist, who only cares about appearances. Rejecting her relationship with Helmer, Nora leaves her husband and children in order to ‘educate’ herself” (13). This supports how Nora believes that by leaving Helmer she will committed the final act of relinquishing his power over her and confirming Nora’s power over Helmer.
Macbeth and A Dollhouse each portray how the lust for power by keeping a secret can lead to a characters destruction and mental instability. Both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth become paranoid causing them to commit many more sinful deeds that eventually end in their death. Nora, however, feels no guilt toward the crime that she has committed till the power she has over her husband is threatened. In each works the character crave power and sin more than they crave the truth, but because of this, karma comes back to bite them in the end.