Essay on Macbeth and female roles
Table of Contents
Introduction
Shakespeare is one of the most famous playwrights of all time. His plays moved people in his age as they do now, and although we tend to read his pieces in our time, we should remind ourselves that he didn’t write his plays for today’s literary audience but for the masses during the Shakespearean time, many of whom were illiterate1.
In my opinion, he created many wonderful plays, but I chose to analyze specifically Macbeth because it has a vibe of misogyny. Moreover, I find it to be one of his more interesting plays as it includes misguided ambition, bravery, paranoia as well as betrayal and it is a perfect example of how one story can be projected upon different ages. Macbeth, who is a conscientious man, is being overpowered by his vaulting ambition. The tragedy in this play lies in him degenerating from a noble and brave warrior to a simple killer who commits gruesome murders to save himself, ironically from the repercussions of his own crimes.
Looking at this play from different angles allows me to get a better impression of how the gender roles are presented between the different characters. I found the role women play in Macbeth especially intriguing, as they seem to be the ones pulling all the strings. Therefore, I am going to show how they are being defamed and portrayed, among other things, as cold and monstrous. Moreover, I will show how those perceptions of women can be seen in relation to the classical perception of women, as well as the perception that people had during the Middle Ages and how these and biblical pictures could have formed such personages as Lady Macbeth and the three witches.
To be able to analyze those characters in depth I am going to limit myself to specific scenes involving Lady Macbeth and the three witches. Furthermore, I am going to use information I found in various books as well as the text “ The Great Chain of Being” to put my findings into perspective.
The role of women in
Introduction
Shakespeare is one of the most famous playwrights of all time. His plays moved people in his age as they do now, and although we tend to read his pieces in our time, we should remind ourselves that he didn’t write his plays for today’s literary audience but for the masses during the Shakespearean time, many of whom were illiterate1.
In my opinion, he created many wonderful plays, but I chose to analyze specifically Macbeth because it has a vibe of misogyny. Moreover, I find it to be one of his more interesting plays as it includes misguided ambition, bravery, paranoia as well as betrayal and it is a perfect example of how one story can be projected upon different ages. Macbeth, who is a conscientious man, is being overpowered by his vaulting ambition. The tragedy in this play lies in him degenerating from a noble and brave warrior to a simple killer who commits gruesome murders to save himself, ironically from the repercussions of his own crimes.
Looking at this play from different angles allows me to get a better impression of how the gender roles are presented between the different characters. I found the role women play in Macbeth especially intriguing, as they seem to be the ones pulling all the strings. Therefore, I am going to show how they are being defamed and portrayed, among other things, as cold and monstrous. Moreover, I will show how those perceptions of women can be seen in relation to the classical perception of women, as well as the perception that people had during the Middle Ages and how these and biblical pictures could have formed such personages as Lady Macbeth and the three witches.
To be able to analyze those characters in depth I am going to limit myself to specific scenes involving Lady Macbeth and the three witches. Furthermore, I am going to use information I found in various books as well as the text “ The Great Chain of Being” to put my findings into perspective.
The role of women in
Bibliography: William Shakespeare’s Macbeth: A Sourcebook. Edited by Alexander Leggatt. 1st edition. Routledge, 2006. Kaaber, Lars. Mordets ministre. 1st edition. Hernov, 2002. A history of women: Silences of the middle ages Woman defamed and Woman defended: An anthology of medieval texts. Edited by Alcuin Blamires with Karen Pratt and C. W. Marx. 1st edition. Oxford University Press Inc.; New York, 1992. Benz St. John, Lisa. Three Medieval Queens: Queenship and the Crown in Fourteenth-Century England .Palgrave Macmillan, 2012. Gábor, Klaniczay and Éva Pócs. Witchcraft Mythologies and Persecutions, 1.Edition. Central European University Press, 2008. The U.S.S.R. Society for cultural relations with foreign countries. Pushkin: A Collection of Articles and Essays on the Great Russian Poet A. S. Pushkin. 1. Edition. University Press of the Pacific, 2002. Literacy in England (1575-1625). Instructor Diane Jakacki.http://iron.lmc.gatech.edu/classes/djakacki3/jakackiwikif11/index.php/Literacy_in_England_(1575-1625) 13-12-2013 THE FACE UNMASKED