Though he may have always had the final say when it came to the numerous killings, his wife uses her power to effortlessly persuade her weak husband to make him do whatever she wants him to. At first, her strength inspires him. But as the play goes on, he realizes she has turned him into a power hungry monster who continues in the bloody path she set him on. The self-destruction of the two all began with the witches’ prophecies saying that Macbeth would become the Thane of Glamis, the Thane of Cawdor, and ultimately become king. Macbeth is not naturally inclined to perform malicious deeds, but he deeply desires power.
The Use of Women as a Tool to Untie Hamlet In the play, Hamlet, William Shakespeare crafts a tragedy centralized around the main character, Prince Hamlet and his negative perception of the women in his life. One main point of Shakespeare’s piece is to highlight how a female’s weakness ultimately shapes the decisions of their male counterparts. He does so by skillfully using the nature of a woman as a compelling force that leads to Hamlet’s destruction. Prince Hamlet struggles with accepting the harsh reality that his mother has remarried to her late husband’s brother. This conflict within Hamlet is further expounded by the possibility that his father was murdered by his uncle, King Cladius.
Shakespeare subverts gender roles like this throughout the play, such as when Lady Macbeth decides her husband is unable to commit the atrocities to sit on the throne and taunts him, insinuating things about his manhood and claiming he has "th' milk of human kindness" (Act 1, 5.15) implying that he isn't strong enough to kill King Duncan. There is also a moment during a soliloquy where she wishes she could unsex herself so she could do the job without an inkling of guilt. (Act 1.5.38-41). This goading, as Lady Macbeth is aware, became a powerful tool in emasculinating her husband and forcing his hand to prove that he is in fact up to the task. This is the first time we see where the power lies, and this dynamic proves that it resides with Lady Macbeth; she's the one that's controlling things, despite the times.
Romeo and Juliet By: Steff Commentary This section may appear to readers as unimportant because it is just Capulet and Tybalt talking and nothing happens. On the contrary, this passage illustrates how the characters handle situations given. This may foreshadow problems for each character such as maybe future aggressive conflict with Tybalt. The character Capulet is all a façade. He appears warm hearted and eager to end the conflict at first but then you see his real intentions and his real state of mind is focused on “what the people want” and not what is best for Romeo under the given circumstances of the families’ feud.
In the poem “Medusa” gender conflict through control is also illustrated when she says: “a suspicion, a doubt, a jealousy”. This depicts that she feels ownership over her husband and wants him to “be terrified” if he does not obey her commands. However, in “Les Grands Seigneurs” the narrator conveys that after she was “wedded, bedded … a toy, a plaything … wife” she is nostalgic for the first three stanzas to how men were towards her before she was married as she is now powerless. We can depict that there was less gender conflict before she was married. Moreover, in “Medusa” powerlessness is also portrayed when she rhetorically questions herself “Wasn’t I beautiful?
At the beginning of the play we are made aware of his undying love for Desdemona, telling the Duke that ‘I loved her’ (1/3/168). At this point in the play it is inconceivable that Othello could knowingly murder his wife; however Shakespeare develops the character of Desdemona through Iago to deceive Othello into action against his wife. <<Quote for this?>> Shakespeare highlights the importance of Desdemona as he does not have her hidden in the wings when other characters such as Othello or Iago are taking centre stage. Perhaps not to the extent of Juliet in ‘Romeo & Juliet’ or Cleopatra in ‘Antony and Cleopatra’; however she is present when major events occur so that we the audience can see how these events impact her and her character, we share her feelings and emotions and in doing so gain a better understanding of her as a dynamic character rather than a flat construct. Desdemona herself also undergoes growth, she starts off as being a confident young women, but then she takes this confidence too far changing instead to traits of firmness and insistence, she peaks here though and then falls into a forgiving and passive mindset, so much so that when asked who had murdered her she replies ‘Nobody.
The quote” I would give you some violets, but thy withered all with my father’s death” (Hamlet Act V) depicts women having strong faith in men as the betrayal that went on with the male characters she trusted in her life. She depended on the insight into Hamlets attitude. Also, “I have heard of your painting too, well enough’ (Hamlet Act 3 Scene 1).The paining is some sort of representation of an image that is portrayed as the cosmetics that women wear. This shows that men believe woman act as
Ophelia exists at his beck and call, even ending her relationship with hamlet at his whim. Such was the lot for women in renaissance England. Heather brown touches on this in her work Gender and Identity in Hamlet: A Modern Interpretation of Ophelia; “the woman's position in history-- seen only in relation to men--is problematic because of the hierarchy implicit in the relationship.” (Brown, paragraph 3) In a like manner, the King who, like Polonius, holds influence over Ophelia (being her king) uses her to surmise the intentions of Hamlet, and gauge his mental state. In league with Polonius, he set up Ophelia to meet with young Hamlet. In this situation, Ophelia is verbally abused by Hamlet, much to the indifference of the king and her father.
Laertes is Claudius’s right hand man and if he got hold of the information that Hamlet is faking insanity, he would unquestionably report it to the king and that will foil Hamlet’s quest for revenge in the future. Ophelia always complies with her father as she follows his advice in matters of Hamlet as she denies Hamlet’s visits and refuses his letters. Thus, Hamlet should make Ophelia believe that he has lost his sanity for his plan to work out and that wouldn’t be possible if he marries Ophelia. To add on, Ophelia’s devoted obedience to her father makes Hamlet allege that Ophelia is deceptive and unfaithful. Hamlet is angry with Ophelia and in rage, he tells her that her beauty is dishonest and that he did love Ophelia once and at the same time, he never did.
Medieval women are typically considered to be young beautiful ladies who are damsels in distress, awaiting their knight to come rescue them. “The Canterbury Tales” reveals that this notion is far from the truth. Refuting this idea in the novel is The Wife of Bath. She is overtly manipulative by using her exuding sexuality. Her husbands, all five of them were teased with sex, but they had to provide luxuries that she desperately craved for.