In Shakespeare 's "Macbeth" and Oscar Wilde 's "The Importance of Being Earnest", the women in the two plays do not fit the cookie cutter roles of normal women in their era 's societies. While both plots are focused on the men in the play, the women 's roles shape everything the men do. This makes their parts essential. The witches and Lady Macbeth in "Macbeth" and Gwendolyn and Cecily in "The Importance of Being Earnest" all step out of their normal "housewife" role to create strong influences on the male characters in the plays. Thus these plays would not be as influential without the women. Women have acquired various roles in society over centuries. Homemakers, maids, mothers, and cooks are only some of the positions women have taken over …show more content…
She is constantly doing the opposite of what is expected of her. She falls in love with Ernest against her mother 's will. In the Victorian age, men were chosen for the women to marry by their families. She is flirty and very outgoing when it comes to what she wants. Gwendolyn 's obsession with a man her mother does not approve of is not a norm in her societal role. Gwendolyn also has a habit of going against her mother Lady Bracknell 's rules. She is forbidden to talk to Ernest, but she goes to the country and sees him nonetheless. "Ernest, we may never be married. From the expression on mamma 's face I fear we never shall. But although she may prevent us from becoming man and wife, nothing that she can possibly do can alter my eternal devotion to you." (The Importance of Being Earnest line 270-272) Along with her misbehavior, she talks back to her mother, which is not expected of daughters to do back then. Gwendolyn falls in love with Ernest even though he is not as rich as her, this is another abnormal thing in Victorian times. Many women are drawn to more wealth than they have. In her case, she was drawn to the complete opposite. Gwendolyn may have been raised by a perfect Victorian woman, but she is drawn to a more modern way of …show more content…
The female characters are so important to the play because they add depth that would not be their if they were not. Lady Macbeth is never given a name in "Macbeth" to constantly emphasize the fact that she is a lady and still has more power than the men. The women in "The Importance of Being Earnest" both were so captivating, Jack and Algernon were both about to change their names to Ernest to marry them. This is ironic because in marriage women change their last name for their husband, but because the roles were reversed in some ways, it was the other way around. Both play 's titles had the male role in them, yet it was the women who made the plays what they became. Each writer "gives women as much power as males, as long the females display the same careless tendencies as males." (eNotes) This proves to be true in both plays and the roles of women have continued to advance. The plays with these dominant female character 's maybe one of the reasons for
In each of these plays, the protagonist is a woman who has a very independent mindset, but is limited by society in how much she is able to do for herself. For example, after Antigone buries Polynices, she tries to defend what she did to Creon. However, he refuses to listen to her because he doesn’t want to seem like he would listen to a woman (Sophocles 37). His refusal shows that men are supposed to be dominant over women and a man who listens to a woman is not masculine. It also represents the idea that during this time period, women have no valuable opinion. Additionally, in A Doll’s House, Nora is criticized for taking out the loan on her own, like when Mrs. Linden says, “Why, a wife can’t borrow without her husband’s consent!" (Ibsen 151). This criticism demonstrates the idea that women are unable to make their own decisions and decide things for themselves. It also shows the belief that only men have the sense to make a business deal, and w...
Macbeth rejects conformation to traditional gender roles in its portrayal of Lady Macbeth’s relationship with her husband, her morals and their effect on her actions, and her hunger for power. Her regard for Macbeth is one of low respect and beratement, an uncommon and most likely socially unacceptable attitude for a wife to have towards her spouse at the time. She often ignores morality and acts for the benefit of her husband, and subsequently herself. She is also very power-hungry and lets nothing stand in the way of her success. Lady Macbeth was a character which challenged expectations of women and feminism when it was written in the seventeenth century.
In the early 1600’s, William Shakespeare penned an Aristotelian tragedy ‘Macbeth’ which provides his audiences both then and now with many valuable insights and perceptions into human nature. Shakespeare achieves this by cleverly employing many dramatic devices and themes within the character of ‘Macbeth’. Macbeth is depicted as an anti-hero; a noble protagonist with a tragic flaw that leads to his downfall. This tragic flaw of Macbeth’s, heavily laden with the themes of ‘fate or free will’, and ‘ambition’, is brought out by Shakespeare in his writing to present us with a character whose actions and final demise are, if not laudable, very recognisable as human failings.
Gender roles are one of the most controversial topics in the history of humanity. Some people approve of them, while others disagree with them. Gender roles are defined as “the behavior learned by a person as appropriate to their gender, determined by the prevailing cultural norms”. There are times throughout history where gender roles were very unfair. However, some individuals still defied them in both open and discreet ways. One of these individuals was the famous literary figure, William Shakespeare. Although Shakespeare may have defied gender roles in some of his other literary works, the scope of this essay will be limited to his stellar play, Macbeth. In Macbeth, Shakespeare mostly uses three characters to defy gender roles: The Three
“If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me Without my stir?” Macbeth ponders after three witches foresee that he will become king in the tragic play Macbeth written by William Shakespeare (349). Macbeth is wondering how he could become king of Scotland without him intervening as he is not in line for the throne. He believes that he will have to take action to gain this position. Macbeth was right to doubt fate, because his choices led to his ascension to the throne and, later in the play, to his downfall.
In Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, the protagonist, Macbeth, murders the king of Scotland and eventually murders several other people. In the end, Macbeth meets his tragic fate of being killed by the nobleman Macduff. Throughout the play, Macbeth makes decisions that affect his fate, but other characters manipulate his choices and his actions. Early in the play Macbeth, Macbeth has control over his actions, but due to the influence of other characters and his subsequent insanity, by the end of the play, Macbeth has no control over his fate.
In the plays Antigone by Sophocles and Macbeth by Shakespeare, the lead feminine protagonists Antigone and Lady Macbeth are two women with strong beliefs, ambition, and personalities. They are both female characters with underlying power, and must fight the feminine social stereotypes in order to succeed. These women live in a time where men are ultimately superior, but end up having more mentality than any of the men in their plays anyway. These characters are both willing to do anything to achieve what they want, even if it is turning against the rules of society that have been built around strong feminine stereotypes. While these two women are trying to achieve two completely different tasks for two very different reasons, their ambition and motivation is rooted in similar places due to their personalities, similar situations, strong wills, and sense of determination.
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.
Throughout Macbeth, Shakespeare dramatically shows what can happen when our common gender roles are broken. He shows the power that people can have over others when they aren’t acting the way they’re expected to.
Splendid Productions adaptation of ‘Macbeth’ was performed on the 13th of December 2016, at the RADA studios, London, and was performed by Scott Smith, Genevieve Say and Mark Bernie. The original version of Macbeth was written in 1606 during the Jacobean era, and the adaptation created in the 21st century. I would agree with the statement as the interpretation by Splendid was created to be enjoyed, engaged and relevant to the audience of the 21st century.
Throughout history women have fought for the same rights of men. In the time of William Shakespeare they were seen in society as weak and vulnerable. They were seen to be good, caring and not as powerful as men. Men were the superior and ruled the land. Shakespeare has taken the stereotypical image of the women of the time and turned it on its head in ‘Macbeth’. Lady Macbeth is shown as a very powerful, strong woman. She has an evil about her that Shakespeare has used to make ‘Macbeth’ a supernatural play. Women were seen to be good and not as powerful as men, in ‘Macbeth’ Lady Macbeth is the dominate character and commands and persuades Macbeth to commit the murders and crimes that he does.
William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, first published in 1606, is an endearing tale outlining the dangers of unchecked ambition and moral betrayal. In the subsequent centuries after first being performed, Macbeths critics have been divided upon whether Macbeth himself was irrevocably evil, or if he was guided by the manipulation and actions of the women in the play to his ultimate demise. Although Lady Macbeth and the witches were influential with their provocations in the opening acts, it is ultimately Macbeth’s inherent immorality and his vaulting ambition, that result in the tragic downfall. It was Macbeth’s desire for power that abolished his loyalty and trustworthiness and led him down a path of murder. It is evident through his actions and words
Traditionally, men have been the superior partner in a relationship. Throughout time men have always been the one who is outspoken and dominant in marriages. Shakespeare tends to move away from these traditional gender roles and write woman who are strong and independent. In his play, Macbeth, Shakespeare has Lady Macbeth take on a more dominant, cruel and “manly” role in the marriage while Macbeth submits to his wife’s demands thus giving him a more “womanly” role. Both of these characters go through many role reversals between the two of them and subsequently their greed for power leads them to their downfall.
In Shakespeare’s tragic play Macbeth, Shakespeare creates the ruthless character Macbeth, who is willing to go beyond any measure in order to attain the power of being king, including murder, deceit, betrayal and overpowering the chain of being. Macbeth was first tempted by the idea of kingship when three witches presented him with their portent of Macbeth becoming the next King of Scotland. Ebullient, Macbeth, immediately informed his wife of the news and they both pondered the thought of having the power to rule all of Scotland. Lady Macbeth, a power seeker herself, promptly schemed a plan to kill King Duncan in order for her and her husband to rule, displaying her ready ambition for power. Macbeth’s thirst for power ate away at his conscience
The play Othello is presented as a male-dominated society where women are only recognized as property; objects to own and to bear children. Women in the Elizabethan society and in Shakespeare society were not seen as equal to men and were expected to be loyal to their husbands, be respectful, and to not go against their husbands judgements or actions. Shakespeare presents Desdemona, Emilia , and Bianca as women in the Elizabethan time where they were judged based on their class, mortality, and intelligence. Shakespeare makes his female characters act the way they would be expected to act in an Elizabethan society. The role of these women in Othello is crucial because they show how women were treated and how unhealthy their relationships between men really were in both Elizabethan and Shakespeare's society.