Differences And Similarities Between Lady Macbeth And The Laboratory

There are many differences between interpretations of William Shakespeare's MacBeth. This essay wall contrast Shakespeare's original version and a movie version by Roman Polanski produced in 1970. Three major differences will be discussed.

Shakespeare's tragedy, Macbeth, is a play that transcends time due to its timeless and universal themes. The themes presented in this play are just as relevant to modern audiences as they would have been to contemporary Elizabethan audiences. The play has been able to maintain its textual integrity, withstanding the fact that it is now performed out of its original context to remain a successful play for modern audiences. The issues of heroism, abuse of power and the deceptiveness of appearances are all key within the play, conveyed through the use of dramatic and literary techniques, are issues which still resonate with contemporary audiences. Shakespeare has tested the parameters of the conventional tragedy that was extremely popular during his lifetime and in doing so has created text, which is still relevant today.

Lady Macbeth, a leading character in William Shakespeare’s famous tragedy Macbeth, progresses throughout the play from a savage and heartless creature to a delicate and fragile woman, having no regard for mortality.

When comparing the book Macbeth by Shakespeare, and the movie Macbeth directed by Justin Kurzel a few differences occur. One difference being the order in which the witches presented in the novel and movie. In the book, the witches are presented in the first act and first scene, whereas the witches in the movie are shown after Macbeth’s fight scene. Also in this scene, the witches say the “Fair is foul and foul is fair” chant separately, whereas in the book the witches say this chant in unison at the end of the scene. The reasons behind these changes vary, from making more logical sense to other to how “creepy” the director could lay the movie out. Although in the book version of Macbeth the chant the witches say in unison makes more sense because of its purpose of foreshadowing for what later happens in Macbeth, the director uses this scene to incorporate a spooky feeling towards the beginning of the movie, primarily using their tones and physical appearance to portray the book, rather than using the meaning of the words to portray the book.

In Act 1, Shakespeare wrote Macbeth with admired masculine qualities countered with Lady Macbeth criticising his idiosyncrasies. Lady Macbeth’s definition of masculinity is disparate to others’. In Scene 2, the captain labels Macbeth “brave”; a venerated quality

The audience’s initial perception of Lady Macbeth is of a confident and evil women. In her first scene she is reading a letter from her husband telling her about the witches predictions. Upon reading the letter she instantly decides to

Lady Macbeth persuades Macbeth to slay the King of Scotland. On Act I, Scene V, Lady Macbeth states,¨Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under ‘t.” We can get an idea that lady Macbeth wants to kill the king but hiding their purpose of killing the king . This scene processes to get darker. In act 1, scene 5, Lady Macbeth quotes,¨Unsex me here.¨ What she means by that she removes all her feminine qualities to make her more evil. This lead to the audience being mortified due to her wanting to asking to be stripped of feminine weakness and invested with masculine resolve.

Lady Macbeth is a complex and intriguing character in Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth. She is a difficult character to embody as her personality seems split between two sides, one that is pure evil, sly and conniving in contrast to her softer, vulnerable, weak and feminine side. In the play we see her in these two main ways. The reader may feel a certain animosity towards Lady Macbeth throughout the first few acts as her personality appears more and more distasteful, in spite of this towards the end she has a serious breakdown over the guilt that torments her, even in her sleep, regarding her hand in Duncan’s untimely death.

Shakespeare uses vivid and powerful forms of imagery to let the audience visualize the setting. Lady Macbeth is portrayed as a strong woman who is attracted to power and would do anything to be in control; she is anything but an elegant and sensitive woman. After the bloodshed begins, however, Lady Macbeth falls an easy prey to insanity and guilt. Her soliloquy (5.1.24-30) shows her decline into madness when she says,“out damned spot...”

“Macbeth” by William Shakespeare and “A Tale Of Two Cities” by Charles Dickens are two classic pieces of literature with the most unforgettable stories and characters. Two characters included within these books are Madame Defarge of “A Tale Of Two Cities” and Lady Macbeth of “Macbeth” ,both posing as prevailing female characters. Madame Defarge has been created as a stong but unchanging character, whereas Lady Macbeth was formed as a stong but compelling character. Though these characters may be portrayed differently, they are developed the same way, through the same technique. In the books, “A Tale Of Two Cities” and “Macbeth”, the most common way the two characters, Lady Macbeth and Madame Defarge, were characterized was their attitudes and how their perspectives changed with given circumstance throughout the book. Though the two have traits on the opposite spectrum they both were developed the same way.

Lady Macbeth can be said to be one of Shakespeare's most famous and frightening female characters. She fulfills her role among the nobility and is well respected, like Macbeth. She is loving, yet very determined that her husband will be king. At the beginning of the play, when she is first seen, she is already plotting the murder of Duncan, showing more strength, ruthlessness, and ambition than Macbeth. She lusts after power and position and then pressures her husband into killing Duncan. Upon receiving the letter with the witches' prophecies from her husband, she begins to think and knowing that Macbeth lacks the courage for something like this, she calls upon the forces of evil to help her do what must be

The most interesting aspect of Macbeth’s character is that it is flawed. The audience can identify with his human frailties. Despite the fact that Macbeth commits evil and is drawn to the successes he thinks evil can provide him, one can tell he has goodness in him. Shakespeare reveals Macbeth’s moral development through the use of symbolism in the soliloquys which portray

Shakespeare and Browning both present the theme of desire through their central characters. Lady Macbeth (and Macbeth) is motivated by the desire for ambition and authority in ‘Macbeth’ whilst in the Browning monologues; the monologists are driven by the desire of power and control in ‘Porphyria’s Lover’ and revenge in ‘The laboratory’. All of which seem to have fatal conclusions as a result of each of their desires. As the texts were produced over 400years ago, audiences may have found the works of Shakespeare and Browning highly thought-provoking and entertaining whilst contemporary audiences finding the different aspects of desire relatable to modern situations. Lady Macbeth’s need for authority in her famous soliloquy ‘unsex me

In the first two acts, the audience is presented with a deceitful woman. In Lady Macbeth’s first soliloquy she reads Macbeth’s note stating that he will soon be king, she instantly shows that she feels equivalent as Macbeth. She is overjoyed, supportive,

To understand Shakespeare’s tragic play, Macbeth it is necessary to fully comprehend the characters of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. The differences between Lady Macbeth and Macbeth are profound. Over the course of the play, Shakespeare skillfully changes the role of the two characters. Macbeth is frightened at the beginning then confident at the end while Lady Macbeth confident at the beginning and frightened at the end.