Macbeth

Macbeth-

       The blog is about the Feminist Reading of Lady Macbeth. Before talking about this, let's get some background important points on Macbeth.

Some introduction of writer:-

    William Shakespear was born in 1564 in Warwickshire in England. His father was a wood merchant and mother came of a good country family. Shakespeare attended school only upto the age of 13 and ghen he helped his family. As an Elizabethan boy he had to attend the church services regularly. Shakespeare is as great a dramatist as he is as a poet. Shakespeare written in Elizabethan and Jecobean era. Shakspea has also written comedy, history and tragedies. Ben Jonson mentioned in that line, 

'Not of an age, but for all time'.

This line is written in the preface of its 1st pholia. Shakespeare was an active writer till 1613. Shakespeare's burial is recorded in Stratford's parish register on 25 April 1616. We do not know the cause of Shakespeare's death. Maybe he died on 25 March, almost a month before he died, in which he describes himself as,

'in perfect health & memorie, god be praysed'. 

"Good friend foe Jesus forbeare, to dig the dust enclosed here. Blessed be the man that spares these stones, And cursed be that moves my bones"

This line is written on the grave where he was buried.

Shakespeare wrote at least 38 plays and over 150 short and long poems, many of which are considered to be the finest ever written in English. His works have been translated into every major living language, and some others beside and nearly 400 years after his death, they continue to be performed around the world.

Shakespeare's most famous work:

1 – Romeo and Juliet (1595):-

When was it written?

1594

What's it about?

The children of mortal enemies fall for each other. It all gets a bit :’(.

Why's it so good?

It’s the uber-love story, the template for every tale of doomed romance ever written. Everything else is just a variatTempest .

2.The Merchant of Venice:-

When was it written?

1596

What's it about?

Things get a teeny bit anti-Semitic when a Venetian noble defaults on a loan to a Jewish merchant.

Why's it so good?

Troubling and complex, it’s proven endlessly malleable as a comment on Christian Europe’s troubled relationship with its Jewish population (and Portia is one of the Bard’s great female characters).

3. The Tempest:-

When was it written?

1611

What's it about?

Sorcerer and single dad Prospero takes revenge on his enemies – magic style. 

Why's it so good?

Full of magic and spectacle, Shakespeare’s deeply layered  final play also tends to look bloody spectacular when staged.

4.Othello:-

When was it written?

1604

What's it about?

What happens when race relations in sixteenth-century Venice don’t go terribly well.

Why's it so good?

The most powerful play about racism ever written, but moreover a terrifying study in the destructive power of jealousy.

5. King Lear:-

When was it written?

1605

What's it about?

A father-of-three takes early retirement and goes a little bit nuts.

Why's it so good?

The last of Shakespere’s great tragedies, this wild, elemental play about a tyrant losing his mind in old age is a haunting vision of collapse.

6. Much Ado About Nothing

When was it written?

1598

What is it about?

Extreme sassiness in the Sicilian countryside.

Why's it so good?

Full of gags and one-liners, it's one of Shakespeare's biggest crowd pleasers about how bloody hilarious it is when people make a big hullabaloo about nothing. Lol.

7. Midsummer Night's Dream:-

When was it writteNothing:

What's it about?

A bunch of insane fairies attempt to solve the romantic problems of some mortals lost in a wood.

Why's it so good?

People love this exuberant magical comedy – it’s the ultimate crowd-pleaser and the perfect summer play.

 8. Macbeth:-

When was it written?

1605

What's it about?

A Scottish lord is persuaded to commit brutal murder by his wife, who promptly gets all guilty about it.

Why's it so good?

Short, thrilling and charged with the supernatural, this dark tragedy about the consequences of a Scottish lord’s terrible lust for power is probably Shakespeare’s most ‘modern’ and accessible play.

9.Hamlet:-

When was it written?

1600

A student ponders the meaning of life when he should be on a killing spree.

Why's it so good?

What is there left to say about ‘Hamlet’? It reputation is so towering it’s hard to be objective about it, but this epic about a young man contemplating his own mortality while attempting to avenge his father is certainly a pretty hot contender for the greatest thing ever written in English.

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Macbeth is a tragedy.It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. Macbeth is the only of Shakespeare's plays set in Scotland. Witchcraft was the hot topic at the end of 16th and beginning of 17 th century. James 1 was exited about witches hunting them down. Kim James was happy enough with the play Macbeth is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and tell us the story of a brave scottish soldier named Macbeth.Before knowing about Lady Macbeth in detail, let's know about all the characters.

• Macbeth:

Macbeth is in the play as a warrior hero, whose fame on the battlefield wins him great honor from the king. He is known as the Thane of Glamis. As a reward for his valiant fighting, he is also named the Thane of Cowder.

• Lady Macbeth:

 

Macbeth's wife, Macbeth less in decisiveness Lady Macbeth makes up for in bloodthirsty just for power and wealth. She manipulates her husband to kill on Dunkon.

Banque:-

general Dunkan's army along with Macbeth, Throne of Lochaber.

Duncon:-       

 

• Macduff : 

He is scottish nobleman and refuses to recognize Macbeth as a king, Thane of fine.

Lady Macduff:

Macduff ' s Wife. She is killed along with her children after Macduff bless scotland.

Three witches:-

The Three witches, also known as the Weird Sisters or Wayward Sisters.

All these characters we see here, we see in detail about Lady Macbeth.Macbeth is based on the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those who seek power for its own sake.People of the society show a woman her place in the house. However, Lady Macbeth, one of William Shakespeare's dramatic characters, represent an image of the powerful woman, because she enabled her husband Macbeth to ascend the throne of Scotland. Shakespeare show how surpassing and challenging the societal boundaries can impact negatively on the person and those surrounding them. Accordingly, Lady was labeled as a femme fatale and a disastrous woman. Introduced to the audience in Act - 1 scene 5.

             

First, a bit of historical context about the role of women in Shakespeare 's time women belonged to their husbands fathers and then their husbands when they married. 

• They could not attend school or university.

•  They could not purchase property.

• They could not vote.

• They were not allowed on stage.

We don't need a history lesson to explore attitudes to women in 'Macbeth'. The play itself contains numerous moments which tell us something on this topic.

In act 2 scene 3, Macduff doesn't want to inform Lady Macbeth about the murder of kind Duncon telling her that ,

"The repetition, in a woman's ear would murder as it fell."

Meaning that to tell this news to a woman would kill her. This presents women as weak, in particular weaker than men.

In Act 4 scene 3, Macduff states.

I could play the woman with mine eyes meaning that he could werp like a woman.

In the same scene Ross says that Macduff's return to Scotland would be so inspiring 'it would make our women fight'. As a woman of ambition living in a partriachal world that allows no outlet for her intelligence, she becomes motivated to seize power through her husband.

In other scene Macbeth decides that 'we will proceeds no further in this this business' and all his Macbeth distroys his resolve and all his convincing arguments in less than fifty lines of dialogue. Remember, this is Macbeth the warrior, the fearless leader in battle and he appears to be verbally manipulated  and coerced by his wife. She tackles him using a number of different techniques. Firstly, she says that he is inconsistent and changes his mind often.

Secondly she uses his love for her against him saying that he obviously doesn't love her if he won't do this

Thirdly,Lady Macbeth says that her husband is no better than someone who is drunk all the time ,decoding things when intoxicated then changing their mind when hung over the next day

Finally, and most importantly,she changes his manhood when you durst do it,then you were a man.

 

This is the most effective attact  on her husband because his entire reputation is Founded upon his bravery and courage and Lady macbeth is basically calling him Shakespearan equivalent of chicken. She calls him 'Coward',poor cat' and says 'than you were a man 'until he given in.

So here Lady Macbeth comes across as persuading her reluctant husband to kill the king.

Another powerful moment for lady macbeth is seen in the banquet scene in Act 3 scene 4.Fls Macbeth falls apart in front of his guests, it is lady macbeth who takes wntrol she both challenges her husband asking him 'Are you a man? and directs the banquet guests, telling them first to 'sit', then to 'speak not' and finally to 'go at once'. Lady Macbeth is very much in charge in this scene.

Many people argue that Shakespear was proto feminist seeing as feminism, as it exists today, did not exist in Shakespeare's time. 

Thus Shakespeare has also shown women to be strong in that era.

  

       Thank you !!!!!!