They were not thought to be as intelligent or equal to men. Though in Shakespeare's play, Macbeth, Lady Macbeth had a great influence on her husband, Macbeth. Her role was so large, that she uses her position to gain power, stay strong enough to support Macbeth, and fails miserably
Many of the ideas that the king expressed to the public were included in Macbeth, such as predicting the future. Apart from that, witches were always seen as female, and not as male. Therefore, two embodiments of evil in the play are the Witches and Lady Macbeth (both mentioned above). They play a large part in the downfall of Macbeth as they put the initial idea of becoming king into Macbeth´s head by “predicting” it. Thus, when looking to the relation between the witches and the female gender, it is to say that while Lady Macbeth rejects female gender by what she says, the witches do so by what they are.
‘Dracula’ is a modern play adapted, by Liz Lochhead, from the classic horror novel written by Bram Stoker. The play is set during the Victorian era and develops the key themes that were prevalent during this era such as sexual hypocrisy. Lochhead’s unusual approach places much more significance on the female characters, in particular, Mina and Lucy and puts much less significance on the more well-known and traditional main characters such as Dracula and Van Helsing. The power dynamics of the Victorian era conditioned men to be strong and women to be weak, innocent and fragile. As women had to be innocent and expressing sexual desires was seen as a form of corruption that made you guilty, women’s rational and natural desires were silenced and
But Lady Macbeth, she is polar opposite of what women are usually supposed to be. She is evil, lethal, and ruthless. But she holds one steriotype. Women are believed to be WAAAAY more manipulative than men are, which Lady Macbeth is, without a doubt, incredibly
Roman Polanski 's 1971 film version is memorable for its explicit violence. Polanski makes a number of interesting stylistic choices to emphasize the themes of ambition, guilt, and the corruption associated to power. From his innovative position, the most intriguing choice was the decision to cast Francesca Annis as Lady Macbeth. Traditionally, Lady Macbeth is an older figure in the story, and her power over Macbeth is that of a strong-willed wife. But, by casting a 26-year old physically attractive woman, Polanski is able to pervade Lady Macbeth and her machinations with an additional layer of seductiveness.
In the 1500-1600s women were not treated the same as men. Shakespeare portrays women a certain way to break the mold of what women were supposed to be. Women are seen standing up for themselves and being bold which was not supposed to happen. Even though Shakespeare was a bit of a revolutionary with the idea of women, the other characters in his plays still view women much like real people in his time. Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing and Othello are similar in how women are viewed by other characters.
What may appear to be true may not be the reality at all. This is a philosophical aspect thoroughly exhibited through Lady Macbeth, a female protagonist from the great tragic play Macbeth, by Shakespeare. Lady Macbeth is presented to be a fiend -like character throughout the play but there is a significant difference between her portrayal of a fiend- like character, and her essentially being a fiend. This conflict of Lady Macbeth being a fiend like character, and changing from the perspective of the audience later on, displays the theme of the play, appearance versus reality. Lady Macbeth is shown to be demonic before she is crowned queen, although this might not be the full picture.
The three Weird Sisters – or, more simply, the witches – are one of the most iconic and well known features of Macbeth. Iris Theatre’s production of the play portrayed them as controlling, demonic forces, and by doing this, dilutes the original moral message of the play. The Witches portrayal is one of the most important decisions that each production of Macbeth must make for itself. As Norton Shakespeare’s introduction to the play states, “What is the nature of these strange creatures that ‘look not like th’inhabitants o’th earth,’ as Banquo observes, ‘and yet are on’t’ (1.3.39 – 40)? Actors’ responses to these questions have ranged wildly, though virtually all productions have recognized that the witches’ scenes are among the most theatrically powerful and compelling in the play whether they are made up to look grotesque or stately, perversely comic or terrifying” (840).
The unmerciful women he had created slowly begins her descent into madness. While, yes, Lady Macbeth’s character arc, in theory, is an impactful one, it is here that Shakespeare begins to lose the power he had initially bestowed upon her. “How could such a strong character so quickly fall prey to uneasiness? According to materialist feminism theory, despite her earlier show of strength, Lady Macbeth’s eventual weakness is a result of a patriarchal portrayal of her gender,” Lady Macbeth ultimately succumbs to her actions, as she is too weak to handle the reality of what she has done (Feminism in Shakespeare’s Macbeth). In portraying her in this fashion, Shakespeare loses the strong, independent woman Lady Macbeth had all the potential to
In Macbeth and Hamlet, it focuses on the characters that are deceived by appearance and the errors in these judgments. The theme of appearance and reality is a central theme to Macbeth; it has many scenes of madness and ambition. Lady Macbeth states “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. Stop up the access and passage to remorse,/ ...Come to my woman’s breasts, And take my milk for gall, you murd 'ring ministers…”(I,v, 31-38).