The Oppression Of Women In Bram Stoker's Dracula

She is the darkest side of his husband because she is the main driving force behind the murder of Duncan because she encourages him, and the attempt to cover it up. She acts like the witches, with manipulation, showing him that to murder someone is not such a thing, and that he must “be a man”. What Lady Macbeth does not know, is that sooner or later the consequences arrive. She is blinded by her want for him to become king and her ambition wins. Additionally, Lady Macbeth takes the witches predictions and try to become them true, she leverages that opportunity to make it reality.

When Macbeth displays uncertainty regarding the murder of Duncan, Lady Macbeth uses his fear of not adhering to the masculine gender role of being cold-hearted and ambitious and only “when [Macbeth] durst do it, then [he was] a man”. (1.7.56) Upon first glance, it would seem as though Lady Macbeth is strong and powerful. However, Shakespeare uses the downfall of both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to display that women in power are dangerous and corrupt. Due to Lady Macbeth’s coercion into the murder of Duncan, she allows and essentially encourages Macbeth to ravage all of Scotland. Lady Macbeth descends into insanity caused by lack of sleep and guilt.

‘Dracula’ is a modern play which is 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 paces 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 Dracula and Van Helsing. This repression of sexual desires is expressed as Lucy struggles to cope with the social convention of how Victorian women had to behave. In the opening scene, Lucy has conflicting elements in her character and struggles to cope with social convention as Liz Lochhead describes

(Ch 5, pg. 87) Lucy is illustrated as someone who is continuously driven by sexual temptations and flirtatiousness. Stoker puts emphasis on her beauty, which is what grabs the attention of men. Lucy ends up getting killed because her sexual openness was seen as a threat to Victorian society. Stoker uses a character like Lucy in his novel to portray that sexually assertive women who try and use their beauty to win over men will not make it in the Victorian culture.

Comparing lady macbeth and macbeth as they were murders and dangerous because society views them as normal people, Macbeth wanted to be king and Lady Macbeth wanted the whole power and they killed the king to gain their power. Lady Macbeth is a woman who is not frighten to take the authority over her actions. She was one and only, her actions made guys fall in love with her. This quote describes how her versions of reality were, “Lady macbeth Your face, my Thane, is as a book where men May read strange matters. To beguile the time, Look like the time; bear welcome in your eye, Your hand, your tongue; look like th ' innocent flower, But be the serpent under 't” (1.5.73-78).

Huda Hashash 9th Grade Honors 1/4/16 Ms. Kelsey Final Draft The Witches Are More Evil By examining both Lady Macbeth’s and the witches actions, it was noticeable that both Lady Macbeth and the three witches have a great impact on Macbeth’s reactions. In the play and the book Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, the hero, Macbeth, gets influenced by the humans surrounding him actions. However there are two main characters that affects Macbeth to develop from a loyal citizen into a corruptive human, those two characters are his wife, Lady Macbeth, and the three witches. Just as Lady Macbeth made Macbeth more ambitious and encouraged Macbeth and supported Macbeth’s plans, but the three witches are the ones that activated the destructive

The power of a woman’s words, hands, actions, overpowered by the presence of men within the constructs of modern societies is a thought swayed by the power dynamics between Lady Macbeth and Macbeth. Macbeth, once a remorseful and kind man, is dominated by the power of his wife, her growing desire for power accentuated by the prophecy of the witches. Although this is true, they, in turn, become the opposite of who they were initially presented as; they play off of each other in a game of this and that, their doubts and securities washing away in different ways. Macbeth was known to be a kind man and Lady Macbeth surely took advantage of that. In her attempt to convince her husband to take this prophecy into his own hands, she persuades that “[his] nature [is] too full [of] the milk of human kindness”, insinuating his character (Shakespeare 1.4.14–16).

In his play, Shakespeare portrays Lady Macbeth as a strong, powerful woman who resists the normal gender roles. In one case, she talked to spirits when contemplating the murder of King Duncan. While doing so, she urged, “Come, you evil spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here…” (1.5.41-42). Markedly, Lady Macbeth is shown here in this dark scene, asking to be less like a woman; therefore, defying gender roles because

She warps Macbeth’s internal conflict, the action to murder, or not to murder, by questioning the essence of his manhood. She entices Macbeth with the notion of kingship, the belief that being king will make him a greater man. Yet, the fall of Macbeth is not as easily done as the descent of Adam and Eve. While still not convince, but conflicted by words of his wife, Lady Macbeth says, “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 pluck'd my nipple from his boneless gums, And dash'd the brains out, had I so sworn as you have done to this”(I.VII.55-60). As a final effort to taste the forbidden fruit, Lady Macbeth contrast Macbeth’s intention with his actions by comparing it to her baby whose brains is bashed out.

Women are projected throughout history as seductresses. Empires have been lost kingdoms have been destroyed because of women’s evil nature. Helen of Troy and Cleopatra both are examples of how women could destroy empires. Today my research addresses the question how Lady Macbeth and Curley’s wife are used as tools of narrative. The novel Macbeth was set in the 16th century and of Mice and Men was set in the 1930s almost three centuries apart.