Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
The power of literary analysis
The power of literary analysis
Literary analysis fun home
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: The power of literary analysis
In this essay I will explore the ways writer’s present characters in different circumstances. The three main female characters I will contrast will be Lady Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Havisham by Carrol Ann Duffy and The women in laboratory by Robert Browning. I will analyze the choices made by the three protagonists and the unescapable consequences of them. The three texts create powerful imagery and through use of language and structure devices evoke strong perceptions from the audiences.
We as the audience are given the impression that both Lady Macbeth and the women in ‘The laboratory’ are ambitious and powerful as they both successfully choose to manipulate their men to make their aspirations a reality. Havisham however shows a lack
…show more content…
Lady Macbeth manipulates her husband when Macbeth hesitates in the murder of King Duncan and Lady Macbeth by far the dominant character in this scene insinuates him as a coward by lowering his masculinity and declares "I have given suck and know how tender 'tis to love the babe that milks me. I would, while it was smiling in my face, have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums, had I so sworn as you have done to this." Audiences would have been outraged and angered with her at this point because Lady Macbeth says that she would have taker her new born child of her breasts and smashed its head in if Macbeth asked her to do so, This implies that she’s really serious and anxious about the killing of king Duncan as she would executed her first born child straight away with no minute judgments. When we first meet Lady Macbeth she is depicted as overly ambitious and …show more content…
The character he uses is a bitter and a crazy women who has been replaced by her husband by two other girls. Throughout the poem we can see she was furious when she was betrayed and since then she wanted to take her revenge by poisoning the two girls at the king’s palace where her ex-husband can see their dying faces. “Grind away, moisten and mash up thy paste.” the phrase 'Grind away' uses imperative verbs to shows the woman's eagerness for the chemist to make the poison and for it to be all perfect. Browning brings the description alive by using alliteration in the phrases 'moisten and mash' and 'Pound at thy powder'. This shows us that the narrator is not in a hurry and says she would rather watch the making of the poison than be dancing at the King's court, moreover the strong use of imperative verbs highlights that she is paranoid and impatient to seek revenge and she wants the poison to be passionate so it can reflect her ferocious intention towards the women. The use of imperative words shows she is very persuasive and she can enhance the way they act while they are making the poison and shows her passion and dignity to kill the women who ruined her life. She is clearly a proud women and is utterly outraged that she has been ‘betrayed’ her in this manner; the emotive metaphor “let death be felt” indicates she wants the two girls who
I shall endeavour to explore and analyse how women are presented in Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”, Marvell’s “To His Coy Mistress” and Duffy’s “Human Interest”.
Initially, when her character is introduced, she displays her masculine traits with complete disregard for any form of femininity. She commands the heavens in these lines, ”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.”(1.5.30-33). In this, Lady Macbeth sheds any attachment she has to her natural embodiment as a woman, and asks the supernatural to help her in her quest to power. It is clearly shown that Lady Macbeth yearns to achieve ambitions that weren’t considered womanly in the time period that this play is set in. As a consequence, she pushes her husband to fulfill her horrendous dreams, because she knows that she will not be affected if Macbeth fails to execute his plans. If Macbeth gets caught, then she remains blameless, and if he doesn’t, she becomes a queen. Either way she doesn’t get hurt. Nonetheless, Lady Macbeth hides another aspiration, one which is evidenced from her humane actions. As a loyal companion to Macbeth, Lady Macbeth wants to ensure that her husband achieves his dream, to be king, at any cost, even if that means sacrificing her femininity and humanity. Generally speaking, this unique perspective on Lady Macbeth shows that her demeaning of Macbeth’s masculinity is actually a display of her true feminine traits; to always support her husband regardless of the price. Lady
Lady Macbeth’s atypical and complex character directly challenged the archetypal principles and beliefs of the Jacobean era which as a result, drew major fascination through the ages. Lady Macbeth was Shakespeare’s device to not only stimulate audience’s emotions, but to also provide historical context and elicit dominant themes which reflected Jacobean society. Her ambiguous character and remarkable influences in the play raised a lot of controversy and fascination amongst both modern and Jacobean audiences. She can either be seen as linked to the witches in a feminist bid to overthrow the balance of power, or as a representation of the evil side of Macbeth. Nevertheless, it was her distinct characteristics and actions which ultimately catalysed the chain of conflicts of the play. Again, this reinforces her important role in the play.
Throughout history, men have always been on top of society’s hierarchy and demonstrated their dominance over women. Thus, it is very interesting to read literature written in the past who portray women to hold a lot of power. The two examples of powerful female figures are Nurse Ratched in Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Lady Macbeth in William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Macbeth. Ken Kesey wrote his novel in 1962, and Shakespeare years before that, years before women in society were seen as equals, much less considered to be powerful figure. Yet, both Nurse Ratched and Lady Macbeth are very powerful, domineering female figures who control men by manipulating them and maintaining a deceiving innocent appearance. However, while
After Lady Macbeth reads his letter and Macbeth arrives home, she is excited about becoming queen. She asks Macbeth when King Duncan is to be arriving and tells Macbeth to leave the plan up to her, his only job being that he has to look innocent and hide their true intentions. Macbeth seems to be stunned and nervous, telling his wife that they will talk later when she begins to tell him of her plan. In the seventh scene, at the castle, Macbeth speaks of the intense guilt he is feeling even before he is to kill Duncan; “… this even-handed justice/ Commends the ingredients of our poisoned/ Chalice to our own lips…” (1. 7. 10-12) (Shakespeare), “… He’s here in double trust…” (1. 7. 12) (Shakespeare), “… Besides, this Duncan/ Hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been/ So clear in his great office…” (1. 7. 17-19)(Shakespeare) all express Macbeth’s discomfort with murdering Duncan to steal the throne. Not only does he convey these emotions during this monologue, but he does so when Lady Macbeth enters the room, saying “We will proceed no further in this business./ He hath honored me of late, and I have bought/ Golden opinions from all sorts of people…” (1. 7. 32-34) (Shakespeare). To respond to this, Lady Macbeth does what she does best: emasculating her husband. She first articulates her questioning of his manhood after she reads Macbeth’s letter in the first act when she says “Yet do I fear thy nature;/ It is too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness…” (1. 5. 2-3) (Shakespeare), which contrasts with the heroic description the dying Captain gives of Macbeth in the opening scene. After Macbeth tells his wife that he is calling off the plan to kill King Duncan, she
There was a common saying, “Behind every great man there's a great woman”. The men, Macbeth and Winston Smith in Shakespeare’s Macbeth and George Orwell’s 1984 may not be considered as the “great man” however, both Lady Macbeth and Julia are good examples that can be presented as the “great woman” behind the men. Both Lady Macbeth and Julia do an excellent job of pretending to be someone who they are not, they are not only affecting the men in their lives to rethink their previous position but also have a bad ending accompanied with physical and psychological issues.
Lady Macbeth’s murderous thoughts concerning the demise of King Duncan characterize her as callous and cruel, as well as ruthlessly determined to achieve her goal of rising to power alongside Macbeth. After she reads Macbeth’s letter containing his royal prophecy, Lady Macbeth immediately begins to concoct a plan that will dethrone King Duncan as quickly as possible. She tells “spirits/That tend on mortal thoughts” to “unsex [her] here,” (1.5.47-48) and allow her to promptly lose her identity and transform into a man on the spot. Her readiness to completely alter her appearance and gender emphasizes the lengths to which Lady Macbeth is willing to go in order to successfully carry out her plan. She then further implores the spirits to “come to [her] woman’s breasts/And take [her] milk for gall” (1.5.54-55). By asking the spirits to exchange her nutritive milk for fatal poison, Lady Macbeth suggests that she does not see her breasts as soft and nurturing, but rather obstructive to the execution of her plan, and that
Shakespeare's Macbeth presents more than the simple tale of a murder and revenge. Macbeth wants to be king, and Duncan stands in his way. However, Macbeth hesitates. His wife, Lady Macbeth, must urge him on strongly, like a rider whipping a horse. Macbeth does not want to commit the murder because it creates a conflict in his unconscious mind. Specifically, the act of plunging a knife into Duncan's breast is like the sex act, making the murder a homosexual act for Macbeth. For Lady Macbeth, on the other hand, it is a reversal of the normal sexual roles. She has plays the dominant, male role, forcing her husband and Duncan both to take the submissive, female role. She is much stronger than her husband, and she uses her strength to force him into the act of murder.
Lady Macbeth is a very loving wife to Macbeth and she wants to do anything she can for him to achieve his goals. She just takes it a little too far, and she puts too much pressure on Macbeth to commit crimes that he is not sure he wants to do. After Macbeth sends her a letter about the witches’ premonitions, Lady Macbeth is no longer the sweet innocent lady we expect her to be. She turns into a person who is just as ambitious as her husband and she wants to do whatever it takes to help him get Duncan out of the way. She even goes to the point of calling Macbeth a coward, and mocking his bravery when he fails to complete the job. She is even willing to do it herself (plant the bloody knife with the guard). Lady Macbeth is constantly putting the pressure on Macbeth to do things that he is not sure about. She almost turns into a bully who dares Macbeth to go out and do evil things. She even says in a soliloquy that she wants to be released of all her morals and values so that she can help him commit these crimes.
Lady Macbeth is one of the most compelling characters who challenges the concept of gender roles. Her relationship with Macbeth is atypical, particularly due to the standards of its time. Lady Macbeth becomes the psychologically controlling force over her husband, essentially assuming a masculine role, in order to inspire the aggression needed to fulfil his ambitions. Through her powerful taunts and persuasion, Lady Macbeth convinces her husband to murder the king and to take his throne. She emasculates over her husband repeatedly, knowing that in his desperation to prove his manhood, he will perform the acts she wishes. In Act 1, Scene 5
After struggling with the thought of killing Duncan, Macbeth is reprimanded by Lady Macbeth for his lack of courage. She informs him that killing the king will make him a man, insinuating that he isn’t a man if he doesn’t go through with the murder. This develops Lady Macbeth as a merciless, nasty, and selfish woman. She will say, or do anything to get what she desires, even if it means harming others. It is this selfishness that makes it hard for the reader to be empathetic towards her later in the play, as it is evident in this scene that her hardships were brought on by herself. If she hadn’t insisted on the murder, she would not be driven in...
The story of Lady Macbeth throughout Macbeth is one unlike those of its time in its unusually forward-thinking portrayal of a woman with thoughts and actions which would have been considered indecent. This is seen through the representation of her relationship with Macbeth and how they interact. It is also illustrated through Lady Macbeth’s morals and their effect on how she acts and reacts in situations which would weigh heavily on most peoples’ conscious. Her power-hungry attitude is one often reserved for men, especially in this era of literature. All of these factors create a character in Lady Macbeth which is dissimilar to the classic portrayal of women in the seventeenth century.
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’ ...
In the play Macbeth, it seems that Lady Macbeth is a man trapped in a woman's body. She is filled with greed, envy, and hate, and she will use any person or any thing until she gets what she wants or accomplishes her evil goals. In the play she hides her true feelings and pretends to be a normal lady. However, her evil nature shines through her false face. This just proves that Lady Macbeth is like a rose. A rose is pretty and smells great but if one is not careful the thorns will prick the fingers. Lady Macbeth appears to lose her sanity the night of Duncun's murder and cannot relate to her feelings or guilty conscience. She admits that "she could kill her only child just as easy (I vii 72-74)". This really means that Lady Macbeth is colder than ice and seems that she lost all preception of right and wrong. Then she tell her husband " a little water clears of the deed" (II ii 66)". Lady Macbeth thought the killing would, be easy to accomplish, but in fact it was not as easy as she said or thought.
When a woman gets married the only things that they would do is cook, clean, and have babies. Earlier in the play Macbeth is saying “Bring forth men-children only, For thy undaunted mettle should compose Nothing but males”(Macbeth 1.7.83-85). The quote demonstrates how in the Elizabethan era men could demand their wives into something as sex of a child. The woman could not speak up against the men and must listen to their commands. When lady Macbeth enquires about King Duncan 's murder, Macduff says “O gentle lady, ’Tis not for you to hear what I can speak. The repetition in a woman’s ear, Would murder as it fell”(Macbeth 2.3.96-99). This implies that she, as a woman, would be too weak to hear such a bloody crime. The people of that period thought that woman was not meant to see such things as a dead body and portrayed them as weak individuals. Later on, in the play Shakespeare took that aspect of the history and twisted it when writing his play when lady Macbeth said “Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be What thou art promised. Yet do I fear thy nature; It is too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness To catch the nearest way”(Macbeth 1.5.15-18). Lady Macbeth establishes herself as the dominant partner in the marriage. It’s not the first time that Shakespeare has done that in Macbeth. Shakespeare made lady Macbeth be the one to convince and influence Macbeth into killing King Duncan which does strongly against the