Premium Essay

Comparing Women In Macbeth And Othello

Submitted By
Words 413
Pages 2
In William Shakespeare’s plays Macbeth and Othello, the roles of women during the time period are examined. During the Shakespearian age, women are expected to be subservient and loyal to their husbands. However, in Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is a complete foil to the ideology of how women should behave. On the other hand, Desdemona represents the perfect concept of how females are to act. Through William Shakespeare’s plays, Macbeth and Othello, the contrasting viewpoints of how women are supposed to appear is exemplified through the foil characters of Lady Macbeth and Desdemona. Through soliloquies and interactions with her husband, the abnormal and domineering personality of Lady Macbeth is revealed. Lady Macbeth’s strong-willed and domineering characteristics causes her to “speak to [her] husband” (Shakespeare 15) and convince Macbeth to “kill [King Duncan]” (13). Moreover, Lady Macbeth desires to “be [her] own self” (38) and to make her own “decisions” (42) in life. Lady Macbeth wishes to “unsex [herself]” (11) in order to carry out what she believes Macbeth is incapable of doing. In the drama, Lady Macbeth uses her “brain” (24) to make her choices and strives to “control” …show more content…
Desdemona is a “humble” (1367) and “innocent” (1328) lady who “loves [Othello]” (1335). Moreover, Desdemona is a “faithful, honest [woman]” (1316) who is submissive to her husband’s wishes. Desdemona, even “pleads for [her] life” (1358) when Othello is about to her and ends up an “innocent victim” (1359). Throughout the drama, Desdemona is “dutiful” (1346) and desires to be seen as “worthy” (1347) in Othello’s eyes. When Desdemona is “slapped” (1340) in public by Othello, she simply asks how she has “wronged [him]” (1340). Throughout the play Othello, Desdemona’s personality reveals an idealistic submissive woman, a type of woman that ladies in Shakespeare’s time are expected to act

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Lady Macbeth

...Lady Macbeth found via Google - not my own work In typical Shakespearean tragedies, female main characters aren't always treated brilliantly. In Hamlet, Ophelia goes down the "I shall obey, my lord" route. In Othello, Desdemona goes down the "To you I am bound" route. Yet in Macbeth, this isn't quite the case. The most important female figure is Lady Macbeth, a cunning and manipulative woman who is associated with the supernatural. Instantly it can be argued that Lady Macbeth fits in with the later idea of certain Gothic women being 'sinister predators', or 'femme fatales'. | Dame Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth | Lady Macbeth has been the subject of much debate for hundreds of years. Her role in the play is incredibly important and she is the subject of various interpretations. Her first appearance in the play is in act one, scene five. She opens by reading Macbeth's letter; instantly this seems to present her as a typical Shakespearean woman (when I say typical, I mean typical in terms of main female characters in tragedies being passive), since her first words are that of her husband's, as though she is bound to him. Then she stops reading the letter, and we start to realise that she isn't at all typical. She instantly states that Macbeth will be "what thou art promised", which shows a determination and strength of will that we may not have been expecting. She goes on to criticise her husband's nature, since he is "too full o'th'milk of human kindness". A wife...

Words: 2312 - Pages: 10

Free Essay

Las Vegas

...Test and Testing, Writing English Composition Essays - Analitical, Autobiographical, Argument, Cause/Effect, Classification, Compare/Contrast, Comparison, Conversation, Creative+Writing, Critical, Deductive, Definition, Descriptive, Description, Dialog, Division, Exploratory, Expository, Informative, Interview, Inquiry, Journalistic, Narration, Observation. Personal Narrative, Place, Profile, Process, Proposal English Literature and Literary Analysis - Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, A & P, Antigone, Apocalypse Now, Araby, The Awakening, Barn Burning, Beowulf, Beloved, Bible, Birthmark, Blade Runner, The Bluest Eye, Candide, Canterbury Tales, Catcher in the Rye, Cathedral, Chrysanthemums, A Clockwork Orange, The Color Purple, Comparing Literary Works, Crime and Punishment, Death of a Salesman, Death in Venice, Desiree's Baby, A Doll's House, Dr. Faustus, Epic of Gilgamesh, Everyday Use, A Farewell to Arms, Frankenstein, The Grapes of Wrath, Great Gatsby, Great Expectations, Glass Menagerie, Gulliver's Travels, The Handmaid's Tale, Heart of Darkness, The Iliad, Invisible Man, Jane Eyre, The Joy Luck Club, The Lottery, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, Metamorphosis, My Antonia, My Papa's Waltz, Neuromancer, The Odyssey, Oedipus Rex, On the Road, Oresteia, Paradise Lost, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Pride and Prejudice, A Raisin in the Sun, A Rose for Emily, The Scarlet Letter, Siddhartha, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight...

Words: 503 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Macbeth

...A TEACHER’S GUIDE TO THE SIGNET CLASSIC EDITION OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE’S MACBETH LINDA NEAL UNDERWOOD S E R I E S E D I T O R S : W. GEIGER ELLIS, ED.D., ARTHEA J. S. REED, PH.D., UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA, EMERITUS and UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA, RETIRED A Teacher’s Guide to the Signet Classic Edition of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth 2 INTRODUCTION William Shakespeare developed many stories into excellent dramatizations for the Elizabethan stage. Shakespeare knew how to entertain and involve an audience with fast-paced plots, creative imagery, and multi-faceted characters. Macbeth is an action-packed, psychological thriller that has not lost its impact in nearly four hundred years. The politically ambitious character of Macbeth is as timely today as he was to Shakespeare's audience. Mary McCarthy says in her essay about Macbeth, "It is a troubling thought that Macbeth, of all Shakespeare's characters, should seem the most 'modern,' the only one you could transpose into contemporary battle dress or a sport shirt and slacks." (Signet Classic Macbeth) Audiences today quickly become interested in the plot of a blindly ambitious general with a strong-willed wife who must try to cope with the guilt engendered by their murder of an innocent king in order to further their power. The elements of superstition, ghosts, and witchcraft, though more readily a part of everyday life for the Renaissance audience, remain intriguing to modern teenagers. The action-packed...

Words: 8499 - Pages: 34

Premium Essay

Harold Bloom

...Bloom’s Classic Critical Views W i l l ia m Sha k e Sp e a r e Bloom's Classic Critical Views alfred, lord Tennyson Benjamin Franklin The Brontës Charles Dickens edgar allan poe Geoffrey Chaucer George eliot George Gordon, lord Byron henry David Thoreau herman melville Jane austen John Donne and the metaphysical poets John milton Jonathan Swift mark Twain mary Shelley Nathaniel hawthorne Oscar Wilde percy Shelley ralph Waldo emerson robert Browning Samuel Taylor Coleridge Stephen Crane Walt Whitman William Blake William Shakespeare William Wordsworth Bloom’s Classic Critical Views W i l l ia m Sha k e Sp e a r e Edited and with an Introduction by Sterling professor of the humanities Yale University harold Bloom Bloom’s Classic Critical Views: William Shakespeare Copyright © 2010 Infobase Publishing Introduction © 2010 by Harold Bloom All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher. For more information contact: Bloom’s Literary Criticism An imprint of Infobase Publishing 132 West 31st Street New York NY 10001 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data William Shakespeare / edited and with an introduction by Harold Bloom : Neil Heims, volume editor. p. cm. — (Bloom’s classic critical views) Includes bibliographical references...

Words: 239932 - Pages: 960

Free Essay

Asdfasdf

...Elements of Drama by: Christina Sheryl L. Sianghio Character Most simply a character is one of the persons who appears in the play, one of the dramatis personae (literally, the persons of the play). In another sense of the term, the treatment of the character is the basic part of the playwright's work. Conventions of the period and the author's personal vision will affect the treatment of character. Most plays contain major characters and minor characters. The delineation and development of major characters is essential to the play; the conflict between Hamlet and Claudius depends upon the character of each. A minor character like Marcellus serves a specific function, to inform Hamlet of the appearance of his father's ghost. Once, that is done, he can depart in peace, for we need not know what sort of person he is or what happens to him. The distinction between major and minor characters is one of degree, as the character of Horatio might illustrate. The distinction between heroes (or heroines) and villains, between good guys and bad guys, between virtue and vice is useful in dealing with certain types of plays, but in many modern plays (and some not so modern) it is difficult to make. Is Gregers Werle in The Wild Duck, for example, a hero or a villain? Another common term in drama is protagonist. Etymologically, it means the first contestant. In the Greek drama, where the term arose, all the parts were played by one, two, or three actors (the more actors, the later the...

Words: 9002 - Pages: 37

Premium Essay

Animal Farm

...A TEACHER’S GUIDE TO THE SIGNET CLASSIC EDITION OF GEORGE ORWELL’S ANIMAL FARM By HAZEL K. DAVIS, Federal Hocking High School, Stewart, OH S E R I E S W. GEIGER ELLIS, ED.D., E D I T O R S : UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA, EMERITUS and ARTHEA J. S. REED, PH.D., UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA, RETIRED A Teacher’s Guide to the Signet Classic Edition of George Orwell’s Animal Farm 2 INTRODUCTION Animal Farm is an excellent selection for junior and senior high students to study. Although on one level the novel is an allegory of the 1917 Russian Revolution, the story is just as applicable to the latest rebellion against dictators around the world. Young people should be able to recognize similarities between the animal leaders and politicians today. The novel also demonstrates how language can be used to control minds. Since teenagers are the target not only of the educational system itself but also of advertising, the music industry, etc., they should be interested in exploring how language can control thought and behavior. Animal Farm is short and contains few words that will hamper the reader’s understanding. The incidents in the novel allow for much interactive learning, providing opportunities for students to dramatize certain portions, to expand on speeches, and to work out alternative endings. The novel can be taught collaboratively with the history department as an allegory of the Russian Revolution, allowing students to draw parallels...

Words: 9582 - Pages: 39

Premium Essay

Prose Fiction

...SECOND DRAFT Contents Preamble Chapter 1 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Background Rationale Aims Interface with the Junior Secondary Curriculum Principles of Curriculum Design Chapter 2 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 1 Introduction Literature in English Curriculum Framework Strands and Learning Targets Learning Objectives Generic Skills Values and Attitudes Broad Learning Outcomes Chapter 3 5 7 9 10 11 11 13 Curriculum Planning 3.1 Planning a Balanced and Flexible Curriculum 3.2 Central Curriculum and School-based Curriculum Development 3.2.1 Integrating Classroom Learning and Independent Learning 3.2.2 Maximizing Learning Opportunities 3.2.3 Cross-curricular Planning 3.2.4 Building a Learning Community through Flexible Class Organization 3.3 Collaboration within the English Language Education KLA and Cross KLA Links 3.4 Time Allocation 3.5 Progression of Studies 3.6 Managing the Curriculum – Role of Curriculum Leaders Chapter 4 1 2 2 3 3 13 14 14 15 15 16 16 17 17 18 21 Learning and Teaching 4.1 Approaches to Learning and Teaching 4.1.1 Introductory Comments 4.1.2 Prose Fiction 4.1.3 Poetry i 21 21 23 32 SECOND DRAFT 4.1.4 Drama 4.1.5 Films 4.1.6 Literary Appreciation 4.1.7 Schools of Literary Criticism 4.2 Catering for Learner Diversity 4.3 Meaningful Homework 4.4 Role of Learners Chapter 5 41 45 52 69 71 72 73 74 Assessment 5.1 Guiding Principles 5.2 Internal Assessment 5.2.1 Formative Assessment 5.2.2 Summative Assessment 5.3 Public Assessment 5.3.1 Standards-referenced...

Words: 41988 - Pages: 168

Free Essay

The Outline of English Literature

...Министерство образования и науки Республики Казахстан Кокшетауский государственный университет им. Ш. Уалиханова An Outline of British Literature (from tradition to post modernism) Кокшетау 2011 УДК 802.0 – 5:20 ББК 81:432.1-923 № 39 Рекомендовано к печати кафедрой английского языка и МП КГУ им. Ш. Уалиханова, Ученым Советом филологического факультета КГУ им. Ш. Уалиханова, УМС КГУ им. Ш. Уалиханова. Рецензенты: Баяндина С.Ж. доктор филологических наук, профессор, декан филологического факультета КГУ им. Ш. Уалиханова Батаева Ф.А. кандидат филологических наук, доцент кафедры «Переводческое дело» Кокшетауского университета им. А. Мырзахметова Кожанова К.Т. преподаватель английского языка кафедры гуманитарного цикла ИПК и ПРО Акмолинской области An Outline of British Literature from tradition to post modernism (on specialties 050119 – “Foreign Language: Two Foreign Languages”, 050205 – “Foreign Philology” and 050207 – “Translation”): Учебное пособие / Сост. Немченко Н.Ф. – Кокшетау: Типография КГУ им. Ш. Уалиханова, 2010 – 170 с. ISBN 9965-19-350-9 Пособие представляет собой краткие очерки, характеризующие английскую литературу Великобритании, ее основные направления и тенденции. Все известные направления в литературе иллюстрированы примерами жизни и творчества авторов, вошедших в мировую литературу благодаря...

Words: 82733 - Pages: 331

Free Essay

Miaws

...A TEACHER’S GUIDE TO THE SIGNET CLASSICS EDITION OF G EORG E B E R N A R D S HAW ’S PYGMALION By LAURA REIS MAYER BUNCOMBE COUNTY SCHOOLS, ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA S E R I E S E D I T O R S JEANNE M. MCGLINN, Ph.D., University of North Carolina at Asheville and W. GEIGER ELLIS, Ed.D., University of Georgia, Professor Emeritus 2 A Teacher’s Guide to the Signet Classics Edition of George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion TABLE OF CONTENTS An Introduction .......................................................................................3 Synopsis of the Play .................................................................................3 Prereading Activities .................................................................................6 During Reading Activities ......................................................................13 After Reading Activities .........................................................................21 About the Author of this Guide .............................................................29 About the Editors of this Guide .............................................................29 Full List of Free Teacher's Guides...........................................................30 Click on a Classic ..................................................................................31 Copyright © 2007 by Penguin Group (USA) For additional teacher’s manuals, catalogs, or descriptive brochures, please email academic@penguin.com or write...

Words: 11837 - Pages: 48

Premium Essay

Reading a Novel in 1950-2000

...Reading the Novel in English 1950–2000 i RTNA01 1 13/6/05, 5:28 PM READING THE NOVEL General Editor: Daniel R. Schwarz The aim of this series is to provide practical introductions to reading the novel in both the British and Irish, and the American traditions. Published Reading the Modern British and Irish Novel 1890–1930 Reading the Novel in English 1950–2000 Daniel R. Schwarz Brian W. Shaffer Forthcoming Reading the Eighteenth-Century Novel Paula R. Backscheider Reading the Nineteenth-Century Novel Harry E. Shaw and Alison Case Reading the American Novel 1780–1865 Shirley Samuels Reading the American Novel 1865–1914 G. R. Thompson Reading the Twentieth-Century American Novel James Phelan ii RTNA01 2 13/6/05, 5:28 PM Reading the Novel in English 1950–2000 Brian W. Shaffer iii RTNA01 3 13/6/05, 5:28 PM © 2006 by Brian W. Shaffer BLACKWELL PUBLISHING 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148-5020, USA 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK 550 Swanston Street, Carlton, Victoria 3053, Australia The right of Brian W. Shaffer to be identified as the Author of this Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs, and...

Words: 123617 - Pages: 495

Free Essay

Literatures I English Cape Syllabus

...re tu ra li CAPE Modern te ng Languages Literatures nE e siniEnglish ur e at l er g it En sin ur e at er it L Caribbean Examinations Council ® SYLLABUS SPECIMEN PAPER CSEC® SYLLABUS,MARK SCHEME SPECIMEN PAPER, MARK SCHEME SUBJECT REPORTS AND SUBJECT REPORTS Macmillan Education 4 Crinan Street, London, N1 9XW A division of Macmillan Publishers Limited Companies and representatives throughout the world www.macmillan-caribbean.com ISBN 978-0-230-48228-9 © Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC ®) 2015 www.cxc.org www.cxc-store.com The author has asserted their right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988. First published 2014 This revised version published 2015 Permission to copy The material in this book is copyright. However, the publisher grants permission for copies to be made without fee. Individuals may make copies for their own use or for use by classes of which they are in charge; institutions may make copies for use within and by the staff and students of that institution. For copying in any other circumstances, prior permission in writing must be obtained from Macmillan Publishers Limited. Under no circumstances may the material in this book be used, in part or in its entirety, for commercial gain. It must not be sold in any format. Designed by Macmillan Publishers Limited Cover design by Macmillan Publishers Limited and Red Giraffe CAPE® Literatures...

Words: 121889 - Pages: 488

Free Essay

Essay

...Essays Essays Part II. 2, 2.] Part II. 2, 2.] Essays The Project Gutenberg EBook of Essays, by Ralph Waldo Emerson This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net Title: Essays Author: Ralph Waldo Emerson Editor: Edna H. L. Turpin Release Date: September 4, 2005 [EBook #16643] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ESSAYS *** 1 Essays Produced by Curtis A. Weyant , Sankar Viswanathan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net ESSAYS BY RALPH WALDO EMERSON Merrill's English Texts SELECTED AND EDITED, WITH INTRODUCTION AND NOTES, BY EDNA H.L. TURPIN, AUTHOR OF "STORIES FROM AMERICAN HISTORY," "CLASSIC FABLES," "FAMOUS PAINTERS," ETC. NEW YORK CHARLES E. MERRILL CO. 1907 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION LIFE OF EMERSON CRITICAL OPINIONS CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF PRINCIPAL WORKS THE AMERICAN SCHOLAR COMPENSATION SELF RELIANCE FRIENDSHIP HEROISM MANNERS GIFTS NATURE SHAKESPEARE; OR, THE POET PRUDENCE CIRCLES NOTES PUBLISHERS' NOTE Merrill's English Texts 2 Essays 3 This series of books will include in complete editions those masterpieces of English Literature that are best adapted for the use of schools and colleges. The editors of the several volumes will...

Words: 97797 - Pages: 392

Free Essay

Ggggg

...IMPORTANT This electronic version of The Century Vocabulary Builder (1922) has been prepared by Serenson Pty Ltd for www.write-better-english.com. This PDF follows the pagination of the original (hard copy) book and includes hypertext links that we have inserted, which look like this. Please do not remove links. Reformatting the original text into this PDF has been no easy task; it is possible that the process has introduced errors or caused omissions. As a result, we make no guarantee about the accuracy or completeness of this version of the Vocabulary Builder. If you find an error or omission in this PDF, please check the original book and contact us so that we can fix the error or omission. Please check your local copyright laws before accessing this PDF. If you are serious about building your vocabulary, we highly recommend you try the popular vocabularybuilding program called Ultimate Vocabulary Want the ultimate vocabulary builder? Click www.write-better-english com/ultimate-vocabulary.aspx THE CENTURY VOCABULARY BUILDER BY GARLAND GREEVER AND JOSEPH M. BACHELOR NEW YORK THE CENTURY CO. Want the ultimate vocabulary builder? Click www.write-better-english com/ultimate-vocabulary.aspx PREFACE You should know at the outset what this book does not attempt to do. It does not, save to the extent that its own special purpose requires, concern itself with the many and intricate problems of grammar, rhetoric, spelling, punctuation, and the like; or clarify...

Words: 97231 - Pages: 389

Premium Essay

Policies of Tcs

...of JAWAHARLAL NEHRU The Discovery of India JAWAHARLAL NEHRU The Discovery of India DELHI OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS OXFORD NEW YORK Oxford University ATHENS (Press, Walton Street, Oxford 0X2 61X2 OXFORD AUCKLAND CAPE TOWN CALCUTTA FLORENCE NEW YORK BANGKOK ISTANBUL MADRID PARIS BOMBAY DELHI KARACHI MELBOURNE SINGAPORE DAR ES SALAAM HONG KONG MADRAS NAIROBI TOKYO KUALA LUMPUR MEXICO CITY TAIPEI TORONTO and associates in BERLIN IBADAN © Rajiv Gandhi 1985 First published 1946 by The Signet Press, Calcutta Centenary Edition 1989 Sixth impression 1994 Printed at Rekha Printers Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi 110020 and published by Neil O'Brien, Oxford University Press YMCA Library Building, Jai Singh Road, New Delhi 110001 To my colleagues and co-prisoners in the A h m a d n a g a r Fort Prison C a m p from 9 August 1942 to 28 March 1945 FOREWORD My father's three books — Glimpses of World History, An Autobiograpy and The Discovery of India — have been my companions through life. It is difficult to be detached about them. Indeed Glimpses was' written for me. It remains t h e best introduction to the story of man for young and growing people in India and all over the world. The Autobiography has been acclaimed as not merely the quest of one individual for freedom, b u t as an insight into the making of the mind of new India. I h a d to correct the proofs of Discovery while my father was away, I think in Calcutta, and I was...

Words: 198694 - Pages: 795

Free Essay

Interpretation of Dreams

...The Interpretation of Dreams Sigmund Freud (1900) PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION Wheras there was a space of nine years between the first and second editions of this book, the need of a third edition was apparent when little more than a year had elapsed. I ought to be gratified by this change; but if I was unwilling previously to attribute the neglect of my work to its small value, I cannot take the interest which is now making its appearance as proof of its quality. The advance of scientific knowledge has not left The Interpretation of Dreams untouched. When I wrote this book in 1899 there was as yet no "sexual theory," and the analysis of the more complicated forms of the psychoneuroses was still in its infancy. The interpretation of dreams was intended as an expedient to facilitate the psychological analysis of the neuroses; but since then a profounder understanding of the neuroses has contributed towards the comprehension of the dream. The doctrine of dream-interpretation itself has evolved in a direction which was insufficiently emphasized in the first edition of this book. From my own experience, and the works of Stekel and other writers, [1] I have since learned to appreciate more accurately the significance of symbolism in dreams (or rather, in unconscious thought). In the course of years, a mass of data has accumulated which demands consideration. I have endeavored to deal with these innovations by interpolations in the text and footnotes. If these additions do...

Words: 226702 - Pages: 907