Womens Role in Macbeth and Antigone Essay

In the modern 21sr century, the roles and behaviors expected of individuals remains analogous despite gender. This ideology stems from the preceding movement in equality, which preaches that differences of sex appear insignificant. Despite this notion, there remains distinct differences in the physical and psychological makeups of both men and women. In most cultures, certain duties remain associated with specific genders. With this in mind, Shakespeare’s Macbeth heightens the supernatural evil possessing Lady Macbeth as she condones murder for her own selfish ambition, while in Shakespeare’s time women were regarded as peaceful and full of feminine sympathies. This anachronism with the reality of Shakespeare’s day, illustrates the immense sense of wickedness and abnormality emphasizing her character’s influence on her husband and the plot of the play. In contrast, Macbeth appears to some extent a more acceptable evil due to a greater compliance with the gender standards and moral transition during the Shakespearean era. Shakespeare utilizes numerous literary intentions in order to express these diverse levels of evil to provide an element of depth behind the mental reactions and deteriorations of the characters until their final decease into the complete darkness of death.

In William Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth, set in 16th century Scotland, women are portrayed as powerful with much influence on the males in the play. Shakespeare portrays women as powerful, they are seen as powerful because of the influence of Lady Macbeth on Macbeth to gain power in Europe. Another example is how the witches had supernatural powers as they told Macbeth his fate. The portrayal of women in the play are conveyed through both, Lady Macbeth and the witches. In Macbeth, women are powerful as both Lady Macbeth and the witches, have great impact on how the play is written.

Lady Macbeth played a large role as Macbeth’s seductress and brainwasher. Lady Macbeth persuaded her husband to kill the King not so that he would himself be King but so that she could be Queen.Although because of her involvement in this web of lies she felt guilty and drove herself insane worrying about what had happened and what would happen to her and her husband for being so dishonest. She was not responsible for the tragedy, she was only a manipulative factor in the scheme of things. Even though it does take two to tango, Macbeth tangoed on his own.

Lady Macbeth, a once strong and persuasive woman, used the elimination of guilt from those who surround her as a way of coping with her own guilt and attempting to stop it before it reached her. From time to time, characters such as Macbeth, who were involved in many of the murders that occurred throughout the play, began to feel repentant over their actions but were quickly persuaded that guilt was not what they were feeling

Macbeth by William Shakespeare brings about one of the most controversial topic of the gender portrayal in a play. During Shakespearean times, women were considered as the weaker sex, physically and emotionally. On the other hand, men were seen as the dominant sex that is expected to be the head of their households and a strong figure. Unlike this stereotypical representation of men and women, Shakespeare introduces the reversal of gender roles in his play. Shakespeare’s portrayal of the relationship and characteristics of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth diverged from the stereotypical representation of both men and women. The author, William Shakespeare’s use of reverse gender roles which contradicted with the traditional gender roles, is what

In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the title character Macbeth and his wife are both exceptionally ambitious, often taking rather radical measures to accomplish their goals. While this ruthless drive to power is seemingly prosperous at first, it quickly crumbles to naught as guilt infects their minds with grim consequences to follow. Macbeth transforms from a noble general to a guilt-ridden and despaired murderer, while Lady Macbeth’s usually stoic and masculine persona deteriorates into a pitiful and anxious shell of her former self. The feeling of remorse quickly plagues the two characters and overpowers ambition through manifesting itself through nightmares, ghosts, and paranoia, and ultimately leads to their demise.

Guilt is a very strong and uncomfortable feeling that often results from one’s own actions. This strong emotion is one of the theme ideas in William Shakespeare, “Macbeth”. Both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth feel guilt, but they react in different ways. Guilt hardens Macbeth, but cause Lady Macbeth to commit suicide. As Macbeth shrives to success guilt overcome’s Macbeth where he can no longer think straight. Initially Macbeth planned was to kill Duncan but it wasn’t enough he also had to kill Banquo and Macduff’s family. On the other hand Lady Macbeth had to call upon the weird sister to unsexed her so she had no true feeling towards anything as if she was a man. However, the true guilt of the murder

This is apparent when she deals with Macbeth leaving the gory daggers at the site of the murder, “Give me the daggers. The sleeping and the dead/ Are but as pictures; ‘tis the eye of childhood/ That fears a painted devil.”(scene 2 act 2 56-58). Macbeth is portrayed as emotionally unstable and soft as he is afraid to even go back into the room where the murder took place, “I’ll go no more/ I am afraid to think what I have done”(scene 2 act 2 54-55). This interaction between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth really shows the unusual roles one another play in there relationship because in a situation where someone is murdered or their is a serious crime, women aren’t usually the ones who are brave and strong minded about it, men are.

The guilt over being a party to murder drives Lady Macbeth to madness and eventually suicide. Furthermore, the use of Lady Macbeth in this way may be a reference to the Book of Genesis and the story of Adam and Eve. Macbeth is inspired to murder by his wife in the same way Eve convinced Adam to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Including the three witches and the goddess Hecate all the figures in the play who manipulate Macbeth are female. Perhaps this is reference to femininity as the origin of sin.

In William Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth, different characters deal with the guilt they feel in different ways. Lady Macbeth’s guilt pushes her into madness, and while Macbeth’s guilt does the same, it also pushes him to commit further atrocities. However, Macduff uses his guilt over his family’s death to avenge them. Although the ways in which Lady Macbeth, Macbeth, and Macduff deal with their guilt differ, all of their guilt catalyzes many deaths, including those of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Guilt and accountability therefore are key elements of Macbeth.

In the old Shakespeare play Macbeth, women wear the pants, while the men wear the dresses, this is the theme throughout the play. It focuses on the marriage of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth takes the lead role, while she convinces her husband to kill Duncan. Shakespeare play concerning gender roles, shows the untraditional marriage in Scotland; what one sees is not what one gets. It also show how one starts is not how they end. The story of Macbeth shows power and betrayal. It shows power because it shows how one can take charge and get it done. It shows betrayal because he kill Duncan just to get the crown.

account thy love. Art thou afraid to be the same in thine own act and

No matter how many times females have been judged for their mental and physical strength, the females in the plays demonstrate both their strengths and their weaknesses.In the first scene, Antigone is plotting to

Villains are crafty and skillful while using their mastery of manipulation in an attempt to gain power. Shakespeare presents the tragedies, Macbeth and Othello as plays filled with plots driven by manipulation. Shakespeare uses the power of language in the characters Iago and Lady Macbeth by using influential rhetoric to sway those around them and also lead to the deadly downfall of Othello and Macbeth. In both of their cases, Shakespeare reveals the power of power because when things do not go according to plan, their own downfall is inevitable as well. In Macbeth, Lady Macbeth’s actions show that women too can have the ambitions that men have and perhaps be just as devious and evil. It is this ambition and ease of cruelty that fuels her

Sophocles’ Antigone is the third of the three Theban plays written, but has been considered the first; the play was written in or before 441 B.C. In Antigone, Sophocles uses women as a strong and independent figure of the society. This play is the first to display women differently in a male dominated society. He also uses this play to describe women as able to make their own decisions and capable of living without the attention of males. The play Antigone shows the personalities of three women in society: Antigone, the strong, independent one, Ismene, the weak, traditional one, and Eurydice, Creon’s wife and an older traditional woman. Each character represents a woman’s way of living and what is expected and expected of women. Each of these women display many differences, some being the fine line between good and evil and life and death. Going into depth with each female character, the reader could tell that the differences in each character is not displayed in the others. For example, Ismene’s weakness and Antigone’s strong will. Although strength can be important in the play, there is the bravery and the passion