Well That Ends

The fact that the people were born into what social class they had to live in leaves them from exploring themselves and potential. They are only allowed to aspire so high, and that defeats the purpose of find oneself because they are told what they are going to be. Shakespeare questions the rigidity of social class in the play, Alls Well That Ends Well, because he portrays Helen as being equal to Bertram because of deed and not birth. The King sees nothing wrong with Helen picking someone to marry that is high above her in social standing. He's even willing to grant her a title to make her equal to Bertram. The King says it is just Helen's status that Bertram disdains, but I'm not sure if it is.

In the various books John has read, Shakespeare talks about sex as if it is a special activity for two people who love each other and intend to marry. On the other hand, the World State strongly encourages erotic play for people of all ages as strictly a form of entertainment. If it was anything more, such as emotional bonding, it would destabilize the world the controllers have constructed. “She was a popular girl and, at one time or another, had spent a night with almost all of them.” ( page 57)

Her implementation of criticism actively encourages Macbeth to take the throne, despite his original uncertainty. She proceeds to tell him “thou wouldst be great”, planting the idea of becoming king in Macbeth’s mind without fully understanding Macbeth’s own intentions for acquiring the throne. He is more fearful of what will happen if the prophecy doesn’t come true; he is not solely influenced by the lust of power. She says that he has the ambition needed to carry out the murder of Duncan, but not “the illness” that “should attend to.” She claims that regardless of how Macbeth attains the throne, he would still “wrongly win” it.

In the play, Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, there are a couple instances where power corrupts and can cause problems. For example, when Macbeth realizes all the power he could attain, he corrupts by killing King Duncan in order to own all the power. As Macbeth is on stage alone, he talks about how even though King Duncan was a great king, it's time for him to take over because his only desire is to be king. As he speaks he mentions “I have no spur to pick the prides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself and fails on one another”(1.7.25-28). By Macbeth following through with the killing of Duncan, we can conclude how much the death of Duncan affected his family more than anyone else. This being that he is no longer there for his family. Lady Macbeth corrupts by wanting to become queen for power, she convinced her own husband Macbeth to kill Duncan. This is where we see gender roles take action. As Macbeth is afraid to kill King Duncan, Lady Macbeth says, “Art thou afeard to be the same in thine own act and valor as thou art in desire? Wouldst thou have that Which thou esteem’st the ornament of life…” (1.7.45-47). Not only do we see the female portraying more of a masculine characteristic, but we also see that idea that power is viewed differently when Lady Macbeth says this. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth ultimately seem to not be able to live without higher power.

Girl Power? The reason for this essay is to elaborate on the dominence of Lady Macbeth especially over her husband Macbeth. Power is a theme used by Shakespeare greatly throughout the play Macbeth. Power in the time and age of Macbeth that was usually held by men , in case of the play there was major girl power happening.

Marriage leads to a shift in power dynamics through the subversive use of archetypally gendered familial roles. Both Tom and Macbeth began their lives with relative autonomy; Tom lived a content and ordered, if isolated, life on Janus before he was married (pg. 35), and though Macbeth’s premarital life is omitted from Shakespeare’s play, readers can assume from historical context that, as a general and a Thane (1.3.76), Macbeth had to answer to

In Macbeth, a brutal tragedy by William Shakespeare, the author explores how when gone unchecked, power can corrupt all those surrounded by it. Lady Macbeth’s lust for power and Macbeth’s impressionable arrogance ultimately cost them their lives, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake. Notably, after hearing from Macbeth the witches prophecy, Lady Macbeth becomes obsessed with the idea of her husband becoming king. Willing to risk anything she formulates a plan and aggressively pushes Macbeth to murder King Duncan, insulting and manipulating him until he agrees. She chastises Macbeth, insulting his manhood and insisting that “when durst do it, then you were a man”. Lady Macbeth manipulates her husband into thinking

Not only does this suggest that he regards her as his equal, but also by treating Lady Macbeth in this manner, he is allowing her to have the opportunity to hold more power as his wife. After reading Macbeth’s letter regarding the witches’ prophecy and King Duncan’s impending visit to their castle, the desire for Lady Macbeth to lose her feminine qualities and gain masculine ones is indicated throughout the text. ‘Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here and fill me from the crown to the toe top full of direst cruelty.’ The kind Lady Macbeth becomes a scheming and treacherous woman who craves power and authority. There is a disruption in the traditional order of gender roles and it is evident that there is a role reversal between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Lady Macbeth's usurpation of the dominant role in the Macbeth's marriage is highlighted throughout many occasions. She rules her husband and dictates his actions as she emasculates him to into taking action and killing Duncan so he can be ‘crown’d withal’ using the ‘valour of tongue’. At the end of the play the madly insane Lady Macbeth and wishes for things to return to how they were before. This leaves Macbeth to hold all the power, and make decisions on his own without the influence of Lady Macbeth. The power, in which their titles entail, had a horrible effect on the outcome of their

An attempt to mix power with marriage compares to an attempt to mix oil with water. This analogy proves to be true when applied to the Macbeths’ infamous relationship. Throughout the course of Shakespeare's play, Macbeth, the play’s namesake and his wife’s relationship evolves from a relatively close, understanding situation to an isolated distant one and undergoes a major shift of hold on power. The inevitable demise of the Macbeths’ good relationship comes as a result of this power shift, condemnable secret, and Macbeth’s newfound love, power.

The irony in the situation between Macbeth and his wife is extreme, because one would expect Macbeth to be the more immorally, determined character to have greater ambition, not his wife, who is expected to play the simplistic, encouraging wife. She is a little too encouraging, for example when Macbeth says, “Valuating ambition, which o’leaps itself and falls on the other-”

England has always had a rich history of interesting cultural traditions but arguably none as prevalent as marriage. Marriage, the union of two people with emotional ideals and expectations, are brought on by many different factors that include: for love, for money, for climbing social status, escapism, survival, etc. In Jane Austen’s novels, she focuses on the importance of marriage in her world because she wanted to emphasize how marriage is the most important life event of a woman as this would determine her place in society. Persuasion shows readers good and bad examples of marriage: the amiable Crofts and other couples such as Sir Walter & Lady Elliot and the Smiths. Jane Austen uses the Crofts to support the importance of marriage

In Henry IV Part 1, Shakespeare introduces two relationships that seem to be polar opposites of each other, the married couple, Hotspur and Lady Percy and the newly wedded couple, Mortimer and Lady Mortimer. Even though Lady Percy and Lady Mortimer did not have key roles in the play they were significant to the portrayal of their male counterparts and Shakespeare’s portrayal of misogyny in the late 16th century. In the Elizabethan era, women were considered second class citizens, and weren’t allowed the same rights as men, and that misogynistic behavior resulted in many unhappy marriages. In Shakespeare’s play, Mortimer and Lady Mortimer are the only characters with a happy relationship because they don’t exhibit the same sexist attitude as the other characters; while Hotspur and Lady Percy’s relationship is an example of how England’s misogynistic attitude resulted in an unhappy marriage.

Lady Catherine’s reaction demonstrates the crucial importance of marriage in the society, but also for women.

Elizabeth’s snobbish pride hinders her from understanding her friend Charlotte Lucas’s best interests in regard to her desire to marry Mr. Collins. Elizabeth “prides herself on being a perceptive “studier of character,” as Mr. Bingley calls her, but how well does she really know her very good friend Charlotte…” when she “responds with amazement and horror” upon hearing that Charlotte wants to marry a man who is “dull”, “pompous” and “physically unattractive”. Elizabeth’s excessive pride blinds her from recognizing that Charlotte is “not much interested in men and very much interested in marriage” (Moler, 26). Elizabeth could have ruined the prospects of Charlotte’s marriage because of her self-importance in the way she

In perhaps the most pivotal scene in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Lady Macbeth’s motives are truly revealed in her manipulation of Macbeth to show how humans have a desire for power and once they get a taste of it, they will go through any lengths to have it, no matter the effect on others. Her lust for power is showcased through how she persuades Macbeth by insulting his masculinity and using emotive language to counter his logical reasoning. This section of the play illustrates the tipping point of each character’s morality with Macbeth having second thoughts about the planned murder and Lady Macbeth diving straight in.