Macbeth and The Laboratory-Ancien Régime by Robert Browning

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Recommended: Indept analysis and interpretation of Macbeth

Macbeth is very superstitious –he asks the witches to stay and tell him more about his potential fortune and destiny. “Stay you imperfect speakers, tell me more.” (Act 1, scene 3, line 70). During the first meeting with the witches, he is immediately intrigued and starts to process what the witches have said, ordering them to explain who they are. Macbeth is aware of the imperfections of the witches and how dangerous they are but yet, he wants to feed his curiosity and know more about his oncoming future. Macbeth is willing to blank out and ignore negative influence for his personal gain.
We can compare Macbeth’s superstitions with the paranoid woman from The Laboratory-Ancien Régime by Robert Browning. Both characters, Macbeth and the un-named woman, have an obsessive reliance on external substances or information. Macbeth relies on the three witches to reveal his future and proclaim his position, whether he will be king or not. “Say from whence you owe this strange intelligence, or why upon this blasted heath you stop our way with such prophetic greeting. Speak I charge you.” (Act 1, scene 3, line 75). Macbeth questions the witches as to how they can predict the future and why they greeted him with such a mysterious, oracular way. Macbeth demands the witches to speak more of the future, he has faith and believes in the witches.
The jealous, cunning woman in the laboratory can be interlinked with Macbeth. She relies on the poisoned potion that she create to take away the life of another woman she envies. “The delicate droplet, my whole fortune’s fee! If it hurts her, beside, can it ever hurt me?” (Paragraph XI). The woman is describing the potion as delicate, the poison means a lot to her as it is going to destroy her enemies’ ...

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...at the Duke wants to characterise himself as a sea God, the all-powerful Neptune. Stefan also says that the Duke wants to visualise himself taming a sea horse, characterised as the Duchess. But that is the Dukes’ dream because he doesn’t quite yet think that he has tamed her properly although it’s what he wishes to come true.
I agree with this statement because with the evidence that I have provided, the Duke does want to be God-like as Neptune and he does use vivid imagery to visualise the Duchess as a sea horse that is being tamed by Neptune. I also agree with this critic because the vivid imagery is only a visualisation that hasn’t come true yet but the Duke desperately wants this to come factual.
*****

Works Cited

MACBETH - WILLIAM SHAKSPEARE
MY LAST DUCHESS - ROBERT BROWNING
PORPHRIA'S LOVER - ROBERT BROWNING
THE LABORATORY ANCIEN-REGIME - ROBERT BROWNING

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