Characters such as Ophelia, are drawn to self slaughter because of the crushing weight of the patriarchy and how it slowly crushes each woman as the play progresses. Shakespeare’s tragedies, Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear, and Othello are all examples of the ways in which women were treated during the Shakespearean era. In Shakespeare’s tragic play Hamlet,Hamlet sees women as untrustworthy and deceptive. The women in this play are strongly overseen by seemingly stronger male characters. It is very rare, if it occurs at all, to witness Gertrude on stage without being watched by Claudius in one form or another.
Lady Macbeth Character Analysis In Shakespeare's Macbeth, many characters undergo extreme shifts in nature. One of those characters is Lady Macbeth. She is bold and menacing by planning out and ordering Macbeth to kill Duncan; however, she drastically progresses because of her guilt. Lady Macbeth’s character begins as confident, becomes hesitant and worrisome, and finally is consumed by guilt and the blood that will never wash off her hands. Lady Macbeth confidently pushes Macbeth to become king.
Furthermore, Feminist Criticism provides a better view of literature because it shows that women can be powerful. When Emilia finds out that her husband has been plotting an evil plan she says,” Tis proper I obey him, but not now”(Othello V.2.195). Emilia refuses to help her husband after she finds the cruel intentions he has despite the expectation of women always being submissive to their husbands. Women also have a voice and feelings, they are capable of defying their husbands commands when they know what he expects is simply wrong. In a literary article,The Role of Women in Othello: A Feminist Reading states that,” Society weighs heavily on the shoulders of women; they feel that they must support the men and defer to them, even if the actions of the men are questionable” (Literary Articles).
Despite that a single woman ruled England at the time of William Shakespeare, the Elizabethan society was still much patriarchal. Hence, it leads to the society being “Unfeminine Pursuits”. Based upon the historical context where Shakespeare had written Othello, Hamlet, and Macbeth, as female characters are portrayed as subservient and unimportant as a whole while confronting the societal constraints. Since, Renaissance society did not traditionally value the freedom of women, although the ruling of this society was running by the “independent” women. As this society always portrayed the ideal woman who is beautiful and obedient while retaining her strength and independence.
Her servant is surprised with what she was hearing. So, the servant called in a doctor to see if she could be healed, but she could not be healed. The doctor had said “quote from the book”. Lady Macbeth dies from all the horror she has been through since the death of king Duncan. All those vicious thoughts and going with the plan to kill the king made her
Religion also pressures women into obeying men, the Church considers any form of disobedience as a crime. Education, in this era, is a privilege that is only available for the wealthy. Shakespeare introduces three female characters to demonstrate the different experiences of a noble, a commoner, and a prostitute. The role of women in Othello serves to shine a light on the stereotypes that label the women of the sixteenth-century, to emphasize the importance of status in the marriage between man and woman, and to reveal the submission of women towards other men. Women in the era of the Renaissance were often restricted and accused of succumbing to their “stereotypical nature.” In the book “Yael Manes,” one can read that “man viewed woman as a lower human species incapable of thinking for herself and hardly adept at making sound decisions” (DiMaria).
Such an act would go against God himself, and so the linking of evil spirits present her to be unwomanly and almost witch-like. Gender roles were set during Shakespeare 's time. Women were considered emotional, nurturing, and fragile where men were considered stoic, strong, and masculine. Lady Macbeth laments her gender while she hatches her plan to kill King Duncan: "Come to my woman 's breasts, And take my milk for gall…" The language suggests that her womanhood, represented by “breasts” and “milk”, usually symbols of nurture, impedes her from performing acts of violence and cruelty, which she associates with manliness. Ironically Macbeth, on the other hand, is sensitive towards the king as Lady Macbeth expresses her concern: “Yet do I fear thy nature” saying
The theme of guilt is expressed by Lady Macbeth, who had taken part in many murders and had convinced her husband to join in. She eventually got consumed by guilt to the point where she took her own life. It is represented through blood imagery, where Lady Macbeth and Macbeth both interpreted the blood on their hands in different ways, but both still feeling the guilt. Lastly it is represented in Macbeth’s internal conflict. As he kills people throughout the play, his guild worsens to the point where he has become a tyrant.
William Shakespeare’s works are known for “life, love, death, revenge, grief, jealousy, murder, magic, and mystery.” (www.bbc.co.uk) Most of these topics are covered in one of Shakespeare’s most famous works, Macbeth. Macbeth tells of a Scottish general, named Macbeth, who receives prophecies from 3 witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. After hearing the prophecies, he tells his wife, Lady Macbeth, and together they take action. His wife persuades him to murder King Duncan and take the throne. He does so and this leads to him having regret and not a happy ending for himself.
Panchaali is informed that she has been gambled away like property, “no less so than a cow or a slave” (PI, 190). When she is dragged into the hall, the whole court stares at her, but worst of all is that her husbands send “tortured glances but sat paralyzed” (PI, 191). She is stripped of all ornaments, yet the ultimate shame is the command to take off her sari, the only item of clothing protecting her from “a hundred male eyes burning through me” (PI, 191). she forced to expose her vulnerable body to male eyes, reduced to the status of an object lost by her husband. In the novel, Panchaali describes the situation thus: “The worst shame a woman could imagine was about to befall me – I who had thought myself above all harm, the proud and cherished wife of the greatest kings of our time” (PI, 193).