Comparison of Lady Macbeth and Curley's Wife
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jackryanaemgmailcom (student)
Lady Macbeth
Both texts present women with regard to their relationships with their husbands. In Macbeth, this is no more clear than in Act 1 Scene 5, when Macbeth refers to his wife, Lady Macbeth, as his “dearest partner of greatness”. The use of the word “dearest” shows Macbeth love and respect for his wife and the use of “partner” shows he treats her as his equal, which supersedes the common role of women in Jacobean Scotland, particularly in positions of high standing. However, this equality between Macbeth and his wife may be the first glimpse at Lady Macbeth’s power over her husband which becomes further apparent later on in the scene.
Lady Macbeth is often thought to have great power over her husband and this is shown in Lady Macbeth’s monologue in Act 1 Scene 5. Lady Macbeth is well aware of Macbeth’s weakness. She states that he is “Yet I do fear thy nature, too full o’ the milk of human kindness” which refers to her doubt surrounding his ability to kill King Duncan, a plot that she has formed whilst reading Macbeth’s letter to her. This sentence shows her acknowledgement of his abilities, but it also shows Lady Macbeth’s discontent, “too full o’ the milk of human kindness” shows she believes Macbeth is unable to carry out her plan.
Furthermore, in Act 1 Scene 5 Lady Macbeth and Macbeth share their first on-stage dialogue. This first meeting between them is important because it contains some of the most important details about their relationship. One such detail is the ability of Lady Macbeth to read her husband’s face “as a book, where men may read strange matters”. The phrase “strange matters” in this sentence is important because it shows that she can tell what Macbeth’s facial expressions mean and how to interpret them which means she knows her husband well and, most importantly, how to manipulate him for her own nefarious purposes.
Another example of the complexity of Lady Macbeth and Macbeth's relationship is when Lady Macbeth urges her husband to kill King Duncan. “Your hand, your tongue: look like the innocent flower But be the serpent under’t” shows Lady Macbeth’s manipulative nature in order to subvert King Duncan’s rule and put herself and Macbeth in power. However, this sentence contains yet another, less obvious meaning, it draws clear parallels with the story of the Garden of Eden, in which a wife urges her husband to do something after being manipulated. I believe it was Shakespeare’s goal to showcase Macbeth and Lady Macbeth as a perfect couple, like Adam and Eve, who get betrayed by their own lust for power, a clear analogy for the forbidden fruit, and challenge King Duncan’s divine right as a king, another piece of religious imagery showing God’s only commandment to Adam and Eve.
A further example of Lady Macbeth and Macbeth’s complex relationship is in Act 1 Scene 4, when Lady Macbeth states "I would, while it was smiling in my face, have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums, and dashed the brains out, had I sworn, as you have done to this." This shows that she believes she is stronger than her husband, and also how easy he is to manipulate in her eyes. It shows that Lady Macbeth is just using Macbeth as a puppet so that she can control the throne. Lady Macbeth exerts her power over Macbeth through this manipulation, and this only becomes more evident later in the play.
Both texts present their female characters as powerful. The first instance in which this is displayed in Shakespeare's Macbeth is in Act 1 Scene 5, in which Lady Macbeth asks malevolent spirits to remove her womanly attributes so she has the cruelty and cunning to kill King Duncan and rise to the position of Queen. The clearest display of her power is when she calls the “spirits That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here”. The use of the imperative “come” shows the commanding nature of her tone and her ability to subvert others, paranormal or otherwise, to ...
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Both texts present their female characters as powerful. The first instance in which this is displayed in Shakespeare's Macbeth is in Act 1 Scene 5, in which Lady Macbeth asks malevolent spirits to remove her womanly attributes so she has the cruelty and cunning to kill King Duncan and rise to the position of Queen. The clearest display of her power is when she calls the “spirits That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here”. The use of the imperative “come” shows the commanding nature of her tone and her ability to subvert others, paranormal or otherwise, to her will.
Furthermore, Lady Macbeth's power is displayed in Act 1 Scene 7 when she is convincing her husband, Macbeth, to usurp King Duncan. She states “Was the hope drunk Wherein you dressed yourself?” This baiting of Macbeth is important in showcasing her power because the personification of hope, “Was the hope drunk”, shows her manipulative nature and her natural aptitude for controlling Macbeth through a series of well-placed jibes and taunts.
Examples of the display of Lady Macbeth's power through the insulting of husband are rampant throughout Act 1 Scene 7. The best example, in my opinion, is the phrase “look so green and pale” through which the use of the adjectives “green and pale” shows that she thinks her husband, or wants her husband to think, is ill and incapable of even the simplest of tasks. This is an effective display of her power because it gives us, the reader, the impression that she can alter her husband's actions remarkably easily.
A further example of Lady Macbeth's strength in Act 1 Scene 7 is when she taunts her husband by saying “Screw your courage to the sticking place” which is particularly effective in motivating her husband into killing the King because he is a senior soldier and for his courage and bravery to be called into question by a woman, even if it is his husband, is something he cannot allow to pass unreconciled.
Lady Macbeth is quite unlike John Steinbeck’s female character Curley’s Wife in that, while she isn’t masculine, she is most certainly not feminine. This is no more clear than in Act 1 Scene 5. In Act 1 Scene 5 we see Lady Macbeth learning of her husband’s fortune and knowing she will not be able to help him fulfill it in her womanly state, she calls upon the powers of the occult “Under my battlements. Come, you spirits That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, And fill me from the crown to the toe topful Of direst cruelty!”. This quote is arguably the most revealing section when it comes to unveiling the mysteries surrounding Lady Macbeth’s femininity. The idea that she wants to have “spirits” “unsex” is incredibly interesting because it shows not only that she understands that she is ‘weak’ as a woman, but that she has to sacrifice her womanhood, “come to my woman’s breasts And take my milk for gall”, in order to have the power to carry out her plot shows how little she values her femininity.
Another contrast between Lady Macbeth and Curley’s Wife is also presented here[a][b]. Lady Macbeth never brings across any ideas of innocence throughout the play and any preconceived notions the reader may have had about her innocence are swiftly dashed in Act 1 Scene 7. In this scene, Lady Macbeth is trying to convince Macbeth to go through with the murder of King Duncan, and in order to stop Macbeth from backing out of his promise states “But even as the babe was smiling up at me, I would have plucked my nipple out of its mouth and smashed its brains out against a wall if I had sworn to do that the same way you have sworn to do this”. This complete lack of humanity further divides Lady Macbeth and Curley’s Wife due to her utter disregard for human life, and her loss of innocence.
The idea that her femininity is Curley’s Wife’s greatest asset is a stark contrast to Lady Macbeth, who believes her femininity makes her weaker. She knows her womanly features would only drag her down in carrying out her devious plot, so knowing she needs help, calls down the “spirits that assist murderous thoughts” in order to remove the ‘woman’ from her. However, this idea of “spirits” gives way to some ideas as to the setting of the play. The play, being set in Jacobean-era Scotland which was a place where beliefs in the occult were common, shows us that the idea of Lady Macbeth being a ‘witch’, or other practiser of the supernatural, is not entirely impossible. She has the ability to beckon spirits to follow her mischievous tasks, and witches also feature twice in the play, both times meeting Macbeth to give him a prophecy, which Lady Macbeth whole heartedly believes. And Lady Macbeth herself makes a prophecy “The fatal entrance of King Duncan”, this ability to prophesise is something only four characters share, the three witches and Lady Macbeth.
Shakespeare and Steinbeck portray the deaths of their female characters in vastly different. Lady Macbeth’s death in Act 1 Scene 5 is actually off-screen with the majority of her last moments occurring in Act 5 Scene 1. One of the most iconic moments in all of Shakespeare's works occurs as we begin to see Lady Macbeth’s rapid descent into madness “Out damned spot! Out I say!” is particularly effective because it is a perfect case of irony. Earlier in the play, Lady Macbeth persuades her husband to kill King Duncan and reassures him that “A little water will clean us of our misdeeds”. This irony perfectly encapsulates the demise of Lady Macbeth because she cannot rid herself of the blemish that marks her part in the murder.
The clearest theme running throughout Act 1 Scene 5 is Lady Macbeth’s fragility. Once a power-hungry woman prepared to do anything to rise to power, even removing her womanly attributes, Lady Macbeth has been overwhelmed with guilt following her part in King Duncan’s murder. “Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?” is an important part of Lady Macbeth’s collapse because it is the first time in the play Lady Macbeth truly feels remorse for her part in the murder. This is important because we later learn that Lady Macbeth seems to commit suicide, revealing the guilt was more overwhelming than previously thought.
Curley’s Wife
Curley's Wife plays a very important role in John Steinbeck's 'Of Mice and Men'. Her relationship with the men in the novella is the main driving force in the narrative. Curley's Wife's role on the ranch is quite clear from the outset. George, having only arrived that same day, calls her a “rat-trap” and thinks “she'd clear out for twenty bucks”. This immediate classification of Curley's wife shows how little respect she receives from everyone on the ranch.
The clearest evidence of Curley's Wife's status, like Lady Macbeth, is in her name. “Curley's Wife”, through the use of the possessive apostrophe, shows she is only important in regards to her husband, she 'belongs to him'. The apostrophe indicates possession which shows Steinbeck intended for her to be Curley's trophy wife, valued only on her superficial assets. This shows that the relationship between Curley and his Wife is not based on love but on looks and sexual fulfilment, something Curley's Wife seems to strongly dislike.
Curley and his wife have quite the dysfunctional relationship. They are never seen together in the story and it seems that they didn't seem to see much of each other for most of their marriage. This is clearly evident in the phrases “Any of you boys seen Curley?” and “I'm lookin' for Curley”. This shows they don't see much of each other because Curley's Wife is constantly looking for him. We are lead to believe that, because of this, Curley and his Wife are not truly in love, which is confirmed when Curley's Wife states “I don't like Curley. He ain't a nice fella”.
Yet another example of the importance of Curley’s Wife from the viewpoint of the men is how she lacks a title compared to the other female characters in the novella. Curley’s Wife, despite being one of only four women in the entire story, is unique in the fact that the other three characters; Aunt Clara (Lennie’s aunt), Suzy (a whorehouse owner), and Clara (Yet another Clara and yet another whorehouse owner), are all named. This not only signifies the fact that Curley’s Wife is of such a low position that she is completely disregarded, but is also a comment by Steinbeck about the state of marriages in the 1930s, many men were forced to leave their wives to find work and Curley’s Wife is just another reminder of the sacrifice they have made, and as such unmarried women like Suzy are treated with more respect because they aren’t inadvertently ‘taunting’ the man about the previously stated sacrifices.
Both women in 'Of Mice and Men' and 'Macbeth' are powerful, but Curley's Wife is undoubtedly the weaker of the two. However, this is not to say Curley's Wife is weak. Curley's Wife show her power through the treatment of others. She is able to bully the weaker men like Crooks, Lennie, and Candy because of her inherent power as a young, white woman. She can threaten Crooks, who is black, with a lynching “Well, you keep your place then, Nigger. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain't even funny” because she is, at a time when racial segregation was the norm, a more reputable source.
Curley's Wife is also able to assert her power in much less subtle ways. She knows her beauty is her power, and she uses it to flirt with the ranch hands and make her husband jealous. This is an effective use of her power because she is incredibly lonely on the ranch, and she has to make her own entertainment in the form of this jealousy. This is made clear when the character Whit states that “She ain't concealin nothing” and that he has “never seen nobody like her”.
Another way Curley's Wife asserts her power is through her relationship to Curley and, to an extent, the ranch owner. She knows that no-one would dare question her because, as the wife of the son of the boss, she can have someone fired with very little hesitation, which, at a time of economic depression and incredibly high unemployment rates, could potentially spell death or worse.
Curley’s Wife is one of the main characters in ‘Of Mice and Men’ and her femininity is one of her main features. She shows off her feminine attributes in various sections of the novella, most notably when she first meets George and Lennie. “Full, rouged lips and wide-spaced eyes, heavily made up” is a perfect example of how Curley’s Wife shows off her femininity and by “leaning against the doorframe so that her body was thrown forward” she attempts to use it to ‘tempt’ George and Lennie. The fact that her eyes are “heavily made up” gives us the impression that her face is a mask, a facade through which she can see the world.
Another aspect of Curley’s Wife’s femininity is the portrayal of her own ‘American Dream’. Curley’s Wife had always dreamed of being a movie star and believes she “coulda made somethin’ of myself”. This is no more evident than when she states “a show come through, an’ I met one of the actors. He says I could go with that show”, this sentence shows the fact that her ‘American Dream’ is tied to her femininity, they are linked and without one the other could not exist. There is also a certain amount of irony in this, because Curley’s Wife married her husband to be liberated from the oppressive grasp of her mother, only to be even more controlled by Curley.
Curley’s Wife’s Death towards the end of the book presents a stark contrast between her death and Lady Macbeth’s. Her last appearance has a drastic effect on how she is presented in the novella. One of the most interesting pieces of imagery used by Steinbeck is also present here. Her dream of being in the limelight is unrealistic as all she ever does is attract negative attention. In the story it states that when she entered the barn the "sunshine in the doorway was cut off", This not only shows the fact that she herself is preventing herself from following her ‘American Dream’ but it also foreshadows her eventual death.
The clearest details about Curley’s Wife’s Death is the innocence she has before her eventual death, and how this is carried with her into her death. The true pureness of her character is expressed only after she has died, where her face is described as being, "sweet and young" and the "ache for attention was all gone for her face" The use of the word ache shows not only that Curley’s Wife’s crave for attention was strong, but that it causes her great pain and eventual misfortune. This is shown throughout the novella when she clearly seeks attention, and seems dejected to be denied it. This attention-craving is also consistent with that of someone much younger than her, further reinforcing the idea of her purity, particularly in the fact that she was so young.
[a]Compare to Curley’s Wife’s innocence before this in Feminine attributes.
[b]Made a comment