Beatrice also insists that ‘Adam’s sons are my brethren ‘, that she would be committing incest by marrying all men. Beatrice does not really believe that she is a blood-sister to all men; this is just another way for her to ridicule the concept of marriage. In Act 2 Scene 1 of MAAN,
New Time, Same Problems: False Ambition in Shakespeare’s Macbeth and Peter Jackson’s Heavenly Creatures When looking at these works we see that their characters portray similar characteristics and dilemmas. Pauline from Heavenly Creatures gets influenced by Juliette to believe that if they get rid of Pauline’s mother, Honora, they will be able to achieve all the goals they have; this is short lived when they get separated anyway. Similarly, Macbeth is convinced by his wife that the killing Duncan is the right way to become king, after the murder takes place he realizes that there are more obstacles to over come till he becomes king; obstacles he cannot over come. William Shakespeare’s Macbeth is similar to the film Heavenly Creatures by Peter Jackson because of the character parallels
"He's here in double trust: First, as I am his kinsman and his subjects, Strong both against the deed; then as his host, Who should against his murderer shut the door, Not bear the knife myself" (1.7.12-16) This is where Lady Macbeth comes into Macbeths fall. Because of Lady Macbeths strong will, she convinces Macbeth to kill Duncan so that he may become king. She becomes so obsessed about this crime that she even contiplats doing it herself. "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." (1.6.35-38) Her drive behind Macbeth drove him to kill Duncan.
Macbeth does not believe the witches’ predictions until he does become Thane of Cawdor; then he begins to contemplate if the rest will become true as well. Here Macbeth’s emotions first start taking over and being the foremost factor on why he does the evil actions. His wife succumbs to this quite a bit quicker than Macbeth does because she was less restrictive, morality wise, on her free will. After Lady Macbeth heard the witches’ prophecy she believed that Macbeth deserved to be king and should do anything to become it, including murder. “Still it cried 'Sleep no more!'
This again, throws the reader for a loop, as it seems that Macbeth and his wife have switched roles, making him seem frail and uncertain while Lady Macbeth is motivated and confident. Though she seems to posess the masculine atributes her husband lacks, Lady Macbeth does not fail to use her famine powers to get ahead. Lady Macbeth, like most women, posseses the power of manipulation. Shes uses this to convince her husband to murder. Which is somewhat typical considdering women generally use words to get a head while men are more likely to resort to violence (3).
If any woman is to be held responsible for Macbeth’s demise, let it be Lady Macbeth, for rather than warning Macbeth against the witches’ prophecies, she decides to encourage her husband to kill the King. Lady Macbeth is obviously the dominant partner of the two when that role should naturally fall to the male partner. She is the mastermind behind all of Macbeth’s evil deeds. Lady Macbeth has such greed and desire to be Queen of Scotland, that she will do practically anything to seize the throne. She immediately forces Macbeth to act on the witches prophecies and murder Duncan in his sleep.
Shakespeare, however, seems to use her, and the witches, to undercut Macbeth’s idea that “undaunted mettle should compose / Nothing but males” (1.7.73–74). These crafty women use female methods of achieving power—that is, manipulation—to further their supposedly male ambitions. Women, the play implies, can be as ambitious and cruel as men, yet social constraints deny them the means to pursue these ambitions on their own. Lady Macbeth manipulates her husband with remarkable effectiveness, overriding all his objections; when he hesitates to murder, she repeatedly questions his manhood until he feels that he must commit murder to prove
This challenges Macbeth emotionally causing him to reconsider his manhood, ‘’Prithee, peace: I dare do all that may become a man’’. Lady Macbeth would have startled the audience considering that women in the Elizabethan society were seen as sub servant. Women were expected to have good manners and obey their husbands, since Lady Macbeth does have a high social status, she would be expected to be gentle and dignified. Whereas the Lady in The Laboratory has another approach to manipulating the person making her poison sexually, ‘’You may kiss me old man’’. This suggest she is using physical sexual attraction to manipulate the person because a ‘’kiss’’ is
Then appears Scheherazade. She is described in the story as a woman who was “intelligent, knowledgeable, wise and refined” (Nights, 1575). Scheherazade, the daughter of the man who kills the king’s wives each morning, chooses to be given in marriage to King Shahrayar in an effort to save the people with her plan to keep Shahrayar from killing her. Some commentaries attempt to portray Scheherazade as a woman who disproves the king’s thought that women are so deceitfully cunning. But, according to Eva Sallis, “sleight and even profound trickery are an obvious part of her plan” (Sallis, 155).
Lady Macbeth quietly whispers to herself, "... Make thick my blood./ Stop up the access and passage to remorse/ That no compunctions visitings of nature/ Shake fell my purpose, nor keep peace between/ The effect and it. Come to my woman's breasts/ and take the milk for gall..." (Shakespear 1.5.40-45). Lady Macbeth actually asks to become a man because she believes it will complete her and reward her with all the power. Since this request can not come to fruition the next best thing would be her husband come to power and rule the kingdom. Ultimately, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth differ in their drive but Lady Macbeth's asserts herself meaining Macbeth takes a back seat and complete's all of her wishes.