Preview

Lady Macbeth And Havisham Comparison

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2471 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Lady Macbeth And Havisham Comparison
In the 17th - 19th century, the female voice was one of submission, innocence and tenderness. Women before 1918 had no say in the world of politics as they only then gained the ability to vote. Even after, with restrictions of 30 years of age in contrast to men being able to vote at 21 years of age, women did not have a full political voice. Shakespeare and Carol Ann Duffy challenge these expectations of women being submissive and present their women characters as authoritative and devious. In ‘Macbeth’, by William Shakespeare, Lady Macbeth goes against conventions. Lady Macbeth is a desperate and controlling wife who would do anything to get her husband in to royalty and live a wealthy life. This is similar to ‘Havisham’, written by Carol …show more content…
An example of this within Havisham would be “I stink and remember” which illustrates the female voice’s paralysis from her experiences of the past, causing her to linger to the point of not changing her clothes or washing herself: thus disallowing herself to speak out. This is equally shown in Medusa as she is also paralysed from her past at the level in which she “stared in the mirror”, saying only “love gone bad”. This acceptance of her current appearance reveals that Duffy’s Medusa is heavily conscious of her looks as she ends her relationship with Poseidon on the assumption that her looks were all that the relationship was built on. The quote “but I know you’ll go, betray me, stray from home” implies that she only assumes that her current partner will leave her, demonstrating that she can only see herself as the victim of a crime, the result being her appearance “gone bad
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Comparison of Miss Havisham and Lady Macbeth
    • 1344 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Comparison of Miss Havisham and Lady Macbeth

    Throughout both ‘Great Expectations’ and ‘Macbeth’ surroundings are used to influence and define Miss Havisham’s and Lady Macbeth’s characteristics. These surroundings are not only physical, but also psychological; found in their relationships and trauma from past events. Although both women are presented in different forms…

    • 1344 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    compare miss Havisham and Lady Macbeth
    • 1298 Words
    • 6 Pages

    compare miss Havisham and Lady Macbeth

    The play Macbeth was set in Elizabethan times, where there was a patriarchal society in which men were superior to women. Women were known by their husbands’ names and were seen more as their husbands’ property than their partners. Elizabethan women were treated badly and disobedience on their behalf was a crime against religion as the society of that time believed that women were made to serve men. However, it was also believed that women were incapable of having evil thoughts or committing devilish crimes. The character of Lady Macbeth goes entirely against the typical Elizabethan woman as she is portrayed as strong and controlling over her husband Macbeth, and is the one to persuade him to commit an act of regicide. This would be shocking to an Elizabethan audience as regicide was known as the worst possible thing you could do, as they believed that their monarchs were sent from God. Miss Havisham is also the opposite of what women in her society were like; she was a spinster. This meant she was seen as a failure as in Victorian times, a woman’s proper purpose was to suitably marry; it was what they were born for. In most of Charles Dickens’ novels, the spinsters and old maids who appear are usually mad, desiccated, boring or secluded. Miss Havisham in Great Expectations is an example, a woman who…

    • 1298 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    How Does Malcolm Present Lady Macbeth As Evil
    • 1005 Words
    • 5 Pages

    How Does Malcolm Present Lady Macbeth As Evil

    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
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    analysis of gender roles in macbeth
    • 898 Words
    • 4 Pages

    analysis of gender roles in macbeth

    In many cultures, such as European in society, women are perceived as the primary caretaker of the home among other oppressive notions that pertain to them. They were in charge of organizing social events, maintaining the family’s reputation, cooking, and cleaning occasionally with assistance from their children. They were considered to be of less value than their male counterparts and, thus, were not permitted the opportunity to have a role in politics, religion, and society. Since the time of Shakespeare, the majority of gender inequities in society have been abolished, and a new era of complete equality is on the horizon. However, there are barriers of ignorance, whose sole purpose is to hinder progression, that people have yet to break. Women have made efforts to gain equality in society since the 1800’s as seen by the writer and feminist Mary Wollstonecraft who wrote A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, the first great feminist treatise. It listed and discussed her grievances concerning gender inequality and had a total influence on the art of travel writing as well as the Romantic Movement. A sign of this progress in society, other than women’s introduction into several facets of society (i.e. entertainment, business, politics, etc.), is the adoption of gender role reversal, partly due to its comedic portrayal in television but also its necessity in some homes. As expected, there were some who were more conservative towards gender equality such as, William Shakespeare which was seen in his gruesome play, Macbeth that used this idea of general role reversal to oppose this idea.…

    • 898 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Lady Macbeth's Emotional Manipulation
    • 803 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Lady Macbeth's Emotional Manipulation

    Women have not always had the respect and equality they have today. In Shakespearian times women were often regarded as insignificant beings with the sole purpose of bearing children, especially sons. They were never seen as intelligent or equal to men. In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Lady Macbeth challenges social norms and plays the role of the most influential person in Macbeth’s life. She uses her position as Macbeth’s wife to gain power and persuade Macbeth to kill King Duncan. Lady Macbeth’s overt ambition to become Queen and her emotional manipulation of Macbeth ultimately causes her husband to commit regicide.…

    • 803 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Women In The Great Gatsby
    • 542 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Women In The Great Gatsby

    In the novel The Great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald and playwright Macbeth by William Shakespeare, women play an important role and impact men's lives.With their impacts the men are on the turn for the worst and may not of even seen it coming. In both books the authors do an excellent job in portraying women in the past by showing control,manipulation and masculinity.…

    • 542 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Macbeth and Macduff
    • 366 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Macbeth and Macduff

    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
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Lady Macbeth Comparison
    • 444 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Lady Macbeth Comparison

    In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are depicted very differently and simply wanting kingship are among the few similarities. It is also interesting how the differences between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are caused by other differences in their traits, starting chain reactions of contrariety.…

    • 444 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Isolation Of Women In English Literature Essay
    • 3108 Words
    • 13 Pages

    Isolation Of Women In English Literature Essay

    Female emancipation and the struggle for women of existing within a predominately patriarchal society is a prevalent topic in literature. Female heroines are portrayed variably across all eras and genres of literature and yet the use of a melancholic and isolated female protagonist is arguably inescapable as writers continually refer back to a critical portrayal of women in their work. From Chaucer’s presentment of the Wife of Bath as an old hag to John Donne’s plea in his poem ‘Loves Alchemy’ that one should “Hope not for mind in women”1; or one of Shakespeare’s female protagonists, Ophelia driven mad arguably due to her unrequited love for Hamlet. There is a tendency in literature, with particular reference to Shakespeare’s…

    • 3108 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Gender Roles In Macbeth
    • 1778 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Gender Roles In Macbeth

    The institution of gender roles in many places around the world is controversial to many people, especially because of their depiction, and therefore enforcement, in modern entertainment such as movies and books. For a play written sometime in the early seventeenth century, (Greenblatt 537), Macbeth displays an unusual, varied, and at times modern representation of gender roles. In particular, Shakespeare makes his female characters the driving force behind the plot, which is evident when looking at their utilization in the story.…

    • 1778 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    English Coursework
    • 1463 Words
    • 4 Pages

    English Coursework

    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
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Macbeth Gender Roles
    • 1289 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Macbeth Gender Roles

    There are more than enough examples from Macbeth and Great Expectations to prove that “subversion of gender roles,” a term that describes someone acting in a way that is not expected from those of their said gender, is evident in both writing pieces. There are a number of connections between the women of the play and novel; this can be seen in their stern, powerful and leader-like and always changing personalities that a number of female characters share. For instance, Miss Havisham’s burning hatred for men that she implemented into Estella's mind, to Lady Macbeth’s level of ambition to have her husband become king. Others include similarities in levels of knowledge, even though they were considered “commoners” on a part of the social ladder…

    • 1289 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Masculinity In Macbeth
    • 613 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Masculinity In Macbeth

    In Shakespeare's, Macbeth, (1606), and as in many of his tragic plays, gender roles have an important impact upon the courses of events. Besides the obvious difference of gender, these roles convey a unique and important processes throughout a short, tragic, and bloody play. Weather it's the ambition of a man, and the greed of a woman, their biggest fear of them all, would be fate and their chosen destiny.…

    • 613 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Explore the gender roles in Macbeth and the Taming of the Shrew
    • 2016 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Explore the gender roles in Macbeth and the Taming of the Shrew

    Shakespeare enforces the idea that for a woman to be different, she is an outsider, for example in Macbeth the witches are seen to be outcasts of society. Macbeth refers to them as “imperfect speakers”, the emphasis on the word “imperfect” suggests that Macbeth believes the witches are inferior to him and what they say shouldn’t be taken seriously. Shakespeare gives the idea to the audience that there is a ‘perfect’ speaker, someone who can manipulate him that he respects and listens to. Perhaps his ‘perfect’ speaker is Lady Macbeth, despite the fact that she is a woman Macbeth recognises and acknowledges her thirst for power. Not only are the witches’ outcasts to society, they are also women, who in the Jacobean era would have been considered as the underclass and inferior to men. Women with the power to determine the fate of a higher class man would have been seen as something quite disturbing to a renaissance audience, a woman’s duty was to marry and have and take care of children not to govern the life of a man.…

    • 2016 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Lady Macbeth vs. Queen Elizabeth
    • 1104 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Lady Macbeth vs. Queen Elizabeth

    In the time period when Macbeth and Speech to the Troops at Tilbury were written, women had no distinct role in a society ruled by men. Lady Macbeth in Macbeth and Queen Elizabeth in Speech to the Troops at Tilbury differentiated themselves from the regular, submissive women by veering from their traditional role. Although both Lady Macbeth and Queen Elizabeth demanded our attention with their unbridled ambition, femininity and choice of words, the way they did so was different.…

    • 1104 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics