Preview

Female power in Macbeth and 'The Laboratory

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
641 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Female power in Macbeth and 'The Laboratory
Likewise Lady Macbeth exploits her sexual hold over Macbeth as means to persuade him to commit murder. 'And you would be so much How do the writers explore female power in Macbeth and ‘The Laboratory’?

In this essay I will be writing about female power in Macbeth and ‘The Laboratory’. I will be analyzing them both to show the similarities and differences between the two pieces. Both include a strong, crafty and dominant female character and Shakespeare and Browning explore these characters fully and in great detail. Both the speaker in ‘The Laboratory’ and Lady Macbeth strive to maintain their innocent images. The speaker in ‘The Laboratory’ wants to kill by means of administering a harmless looking object. She describes the potion as being an ‘yonder soft phial, the exquisite blue’ leading the reader to believe that what is actually deadly, is not. The speaker remains above reproach free to reclaim her love. Lady Macbeth is a sinister character, she tells Macbeth he must ‘look like the innocent flower but be the serpent under’t’. In other words he must portray pure and innocent qualities whilst being prepared to act with murderous intent. The key words in this quotation are “innocent” and “serpent”. They are a contracting pair demonstrating the manipulative and two faced nature of Lady Macbeth. Both Browning and Shakespeare build their characters in this way to ensure the audience are left with no sympathy for them. Both writers skillfully paint a picture of vengeful women who are prepared to stop at nothing to achieve their desires.

Lady Macbeth uses flirtatious behavior and language in the same way the speaker in ‘The Laboratory’. Their aim is to seduce the male characters in order to get what they want. In ‘ The Laboratory’ the narrator uses sexual blackmail to encourage the apothecary to believe that it is acceptable for him to create the poison. She takes great pleasure in watching its preparation, she is hungry for revenge. Yet when it is

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Despite being written two centuries after Romeo and Juliet, The Laboratory by Robert Browning, taken from the 1842 collection, Dramatic Lyrics, explores many aspects of conflict that relate to both the Elizabethan and Victorian societies. Written as a dramatic monologue rather than a play, Browning uses the poem to expose how jealousy and envy lead to a catastrophic build-up of internal conflict, which results in her desire kill her rival by poisoning her in the presence of her lover. However, while it is clear that both Shakespeare and Browning are interested in presenting similar aspects of conflict within their respective societies, their approach to presenting these conflicts is rather different.…

    • 498 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    These women shows that they quite brutal, aggressive and violent characters as what Lady Macbeth describes, she would dash her child’s brain on the ground rather than break a promise to her husband whereas the speaker in The Laboratory describes how she would like the rivals to suffer and die.…

    • 414 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lady Macbeth is a controversial figure. She is seen by some as a woman of strong will who is ambitious for herself and who is astute enough to recognise her husband’s strengths and weaknesses, and ruthless enough to exploit them. They see her in her commitment to evil and in her realisation that the acquisition of the Crown has not brought her the happiness she had expected, and finally, as one who breaks down under the strain. Others see her as a woman ambitious for her husband whom she loves. She recognises the essential good in him, and feels that, without her, he will never win the Crown. She allies herself with the powers of the occult for his sake, but here inherent femininity breaks down under the strain…

    • 1005 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In both Macbeth and “The Laboratory” we have a very ambitious woman who is willing to resort to murder to accomplish her ends. Both women are not afriad to kill, both use a lot of descriptive language, and both are planners.…

    • 341 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    During the time Macbeth was written, British society was patriarchal meaning that men had the most power compared to women. However in ‘Macbeth’, Lady Macbeth goes against stereotypical gender roles, which means she has the most power over Macbeth.…

    • 1231 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Macbeth and Lady Macbeth show the first instances of this peculiar gender role reversal, which occurs exceptionally early in the play when Macbeth is conflicted with the choice of either killing Duncan as according to the plan or spare his life as he begins to see the true wickedness of this act. Here Macbeth exhibits weakness, an inability to do something treacherous and soul…

    • 898 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    CA English

    • 475 Words
    • 2 Pages

    We can see that Lady Macbeth and the woman in the Laboratory are very similar people, but with dissimilar situations – the Laboratory lady isn’t striving to be Queen and Lady Macbeth does not want to kill Macbeth. However, they both don’t mind killing other people ‘…should drop dead…’, and are both driven by love and determination ‘…screw your courage to the sticking place...’. To add to this, they are both dangerously jealous of other people – King Duncan for Lady Macbeth, as she wants to be Queen and Macbeth King, and the girlfriend of the woman in the Laboratory’s lover, as she wants to be with him and not her.…

    • 475 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Through the play of Macbeth, a lot of the women have influences on Macbeth that is evident. The way Macbeth's actions follow these women’s influences make the reader question Macbeth’s true state of mind.…

    • 252 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Macbeth and the laboratory

    • 2079 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Shakespeare’s Lady Macbeth and Browning’s lady in lab share common characteristics of insanity as well as great ambition. The essay will explore dilemma faced by Lady Macbeth and the cruelty expressed in “The Laboratory”. Shakespeare’s play, was written in 1848, and set in the 11th century. The play was presented to King James I of England, and portrays one of his ancestors, "Banquo". In contrast, “The Laboratory”, is set in pre-revolutionary France, portraying the main protagonist as a schizophrenic woman whom hallucinates over a mysterious unnamed man.…

    • 2079 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    This reference to blood in ‘bloody instructions’ represents Macbeth’s guilt at even contemplating this terrible crime. He reminds himself that his skill for killing has indeed been learnt for the benefit of the king, and now he shall use this skill against the king, but there is always that possibility that the same talent may be used against him.…

    • 1495 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Macbeth and Macduff

    • 366 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Shakespeare’s Macbeth portrays the dominance women have. The dominance and the plan that Lady Macbeth has over her own husband. She uses this power to her advantage. Throughout the play…

    • 366 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    English Coursework

    • 1463 Words
    • 4 Pages

    I am going to be analysing how female power is represented in both ‘Macbeth’ and ‘Of Mice and Men’. First of all in the play ‘Macbeth’, Lady Macbeth is seen as the more dominant woman between her and her husband. Whereas, in the novel ‘Of Mice and Men’ Curley’s wife is less dominant and less adamant and actually listens to her husband, most of the time. However, she is slightly two-faced. Whereas Lady Macbeth is more dominant in a patriarchal society as she controls her husband. Although, women were supposed to be seen as inferior people to their husband, Lady Macbeth was quite unusual. They both may live in different times but they both face similar problems with their spouses. This could show a matriarchal relationship for Lady Macbeth, and shows how women were seen as possessions.…

    • 1463 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Theme Of Power In Macbeth

    • 997 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Macbeth, a dark and gruesome tragic play written by William Shakespeare primarily discusses the concept of greed for more authority. Emasculation and the Great Chain of Being are some core components of this play that are discussed through gothic poetry. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are the main characters in the play. Through Macbeth’s catalyst, his wife, he found the strength to kill King Duncan. Lady Macbeth was his agent in many of the scenes in the play. Their compatible pairing lead to many “successes”, but also to their own deaths. Shakespeare brilliantly uses garment metaphors throughout the play as well as the innocent flower and crafty serpent motif to express Macbeth’s mindset and tragedy.…

    • 997 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    One can claim that women are given much more freedom than they had before. But the characteristics of femininity such as, gentleness, sensitivity, and empathy still define most women. In many parts of the world patriarchy is still enact so the traits that make women submissive still influence those societies. Lady Macbeth breaks this gender barrier by displaying unwomanly conduct as she usurps Macbeth by ordering him around. In Macbeth, it seems that gender roles played a role in people’s lives to a greater extent than it does today. With time, rigid gender roles are fading away.…

    • 824 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Laboratory is also a dramatic monologue expressing how the speaker wants to kill three women with a potion. She then starts to have doubts whether it would work or not. ‘The colour’s too grim’ this quotes implicates that she is second guessing whether should kill these women or not. Likewise in Macbeth he was thinking twice before he killed Duncan. The speaker in the Laboratory is talking to someone else who is most likely to be the person who she is using to make the potion for her. By her creating a potion this is a sense of witchcraft, which is what is used in Macbeth as the witches, tell Macbeth about the prophecies.…

    • 583 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays