Theme Of Abuse In Macbeth And Black Cat

than what you were, you would be so much more the man. Nor time nor place did then adhere, and yet you would make both. They have made themselves, and that their fitness now does unmake you. I have given suck, and knowhow tender 'tis to love the babe that milks me: I would, while it was smiling in my face, Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums, And dashed the brains out, had I so sworn as you Have done to this,” she is able to force Macbeth into betraying Duncan and Banquo to gain the crown (The Tragedy of Macbeth). While Lady Macbeth is the abuser in Macbeth, The Wife is the victim of abuse in Black Cat as “I [The Narrator] suffered myself to use intemperate language to my wife. At length, I even offered her personal violence.” (Poe).
The violent actions of each has entangled their lives; Macbeth has gone past the point of no return with his murder, “I am in blood stepped in so far that should I wade no more, Returning were as tedious as go o’er.” (The Tragedy of Macbeth). Meaning that it would be easier for him to solve his conflict with more murder rather than trying to fix his previous murders. For The Narrator the murder of his wife landed him in a physical prison and is due to die. Trapping The Narrator and his wife mentally, their position during a house fire left them stuck, “It was with great difficulty that my wife, a servant, and myself, made our escape from the conflagration” (Poe). Macbeth is confined into the idea that he no control over the witches’ fate, “All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Glamis! All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor! All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!” yet this imprisonment could be mental or destined (The Tragedy of Macbeth); if the witches had not told Macbeth of his fate would he still be bound to their will? Shakespeare and Poe both have themes restrictions and freedom. It is common for people to fear constraints, so it is appropriate to include it in genres that thrill, yet Shakespeare practices mental and supernatural boarders and Poe utilizes more physical boundaries to accustom for the secular time