Compare and Contrast Macbeth and Lady Macbeth Petar Ojdrovic April 13, 2011 Macbeth and his wife, Lady Macbeth are characters that are quite different, but certain similarities are evident as well. The most striking difference between the two is the ease with which they commit murder. At the beginning of the book, it is evident that Macbeth is very uncomfortable with killing the king. His wife, however, is different. She plans the murder with ease, and shows very little remorse for her actions.
There is a debate of whether dramatist’s intended to present women as marginalised tools, as Shakespeare’s plays were written long before feminism existed. In the 1940s life for women was vastly improving; whilst men were out at war someone had to step up to their plates. However the consecutive cycle of women were portrayed as weaklings is highlighted by Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman where the few female characters are submersed to men. This is diverged from how both of Shakespeare’s plays, Othello and The Taming of the Shrew, undermine women due to the element of how society was run. Women were expected to be obedient and it’s certain that both playwrights present this in their plays.
In Act 1 Scene 7 where Macbeth is having second thoughts about the murder it is evident that Lady Macbeth is a lot braver then Macbeth. “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 And dashed the brains out, had I so sworn as you Have done to this.” (Act 1 Scene 7 Lines 55-59) Here one can see that Lady Macbeth, while her husband is in doubt, expresses that if she had to she would kill her own baby. This would indirectly say that Macbeth is less of a man than his wife Lady
Gertrude is also a very isolated character in the play, always seeming to play second fiddle to Claudius, due to his status as king, however unjust his claim to such status might be. She makes no decisions for herself except, ironically, the one that precipitates her death. However, she does have a second priority, her son's well-being, and it is her tragedy that these dual obligations prove utterly irreconcilable, and the reason why Claudius takes care she knows nothing of his plot to murder his stepson. Shakespeare's purpose, perhaps, was to portray Gertrude as innocent, another unintentional victim like Ophelia of the clash between great ones, so that our sympathy is engaged in the final act when she snatches immediate death away from her son by drinking the poisoned wine, rather than judging her as deserving her fate. The role that Ophelia plays in Hamlet is in some ways peripheral to the plot; she is included solely to develop Hamlet's role in the play and it not the key to any of the events in the play.
Lady Macbeth enters and lectures Macbeth in her soliloquy, while insulting him by calling him a coward and insulting his manhood. This scene has a major impact on the outcome of the play. If Lady Macbeth had not insulted Macbeth while Macbeth was reconsidering King Duncan, Macbeth would have never killed Duncan and been crowned King. Banquo and Fleance would never have been murdered, and neither would Macduff’s family. Also, if Macbeth would not have killed Duncan, Malcolm and Donalbain would not have fled, and Macbeth would never have had a chance to become King.
This shows her bold and powerful character. Macbeth may not have had as strong as intentions or as much courage if his wife was not more concerned about the death of the king than he was. Lady Macbeth is more to blame for the death of Duncan than her husband because of her longing for authority and power. Lady Macbeth is unsympathetic when it comes to the life of others. You see this in her character when she glosses over the murder of Duncan to Macbeth.
The Loss of Subjectivity: Lady Macbeth as Unconscious of Macbeth Among most female characters in Shakespeare’s works, Lady Macbeth, who has been attracting attention and debates for centuries is ambiguous in identity and subjectivity. Her fascination lies in the masks beneath which the evil and good counterparts with the other self restlessly seek to hide or show: she is the dedicated wife, sacrificing her womanliness to help realize her husband’s ambition; she is the “fiend-like queen” (V.viii.35)[1], possessing the cruelty of a man, but is born as a woman. However, it is this mysterious woman that lacks the most fundamental component of her subjectivity, a name. As the only female protagonist in The Tragedy of Macbeth[2], she does not have a name of her own unlike Ophelia (Hamlet), or Portia (The Merchant of Venice), or Desdemona (Othello). She is the Lady Macbeth: she, lacking subjectivity, is not defined in her own right but a reflection of Macbeth’s mental status.
During her sessions with Doctor Jordan, her responses are all too rehearsed, and it gives readers a sense of unreliability about her story: “But I don’t say this. I look at him stupidly. I have a good stupid look which I have practiced” (38). Also, knowing that Grace did not have the best influences (she grew up with a manipulative father, and after that she had a friend that was foul-mouthed and not afraid to speak her mind) helps the reader understand where Grace comes from. It leaves one wondering if Grace could have the mind to manipulate McDermott to commit the murders.
Blanche is driven by sexual desire but is condemned by it for being a whore. She is promiscuous but isn’t supposed to be. Since she doesn’t fit the stereotype, she lies to herself that she is still a Southern Belle. When we first meet Blanche she appears to be a respectable lady. We can see this in Williams’ choice of costume colour,
I think I still feel a little bit more sympathy for her, because Lennie didn’t say he just wanted to touch her hair he did it without asking which scared her, I would be scared to if someone just wanted to feel my hair, but she did blow it out of proportion with her screaming and everything, she could of just asked if he wanted to or ask what he was doing without screaming so much, that’s probably why Lennie got startled and killed her. 9/18/13 Write a paragraph or two about which scene in the novel is the most important scene? Explain your thoughts I think it is the scene in the very beginning where Steinbeck talks about the blue lake. And how peaceful the lake is. I think he’s foreshadowing Lennie’s death.