"How do the authors portray love in their texts?" Macbeth By William Shakespeare, The Song of the Old Mother by William Butler Yeats, The Last Duchess by Robert Browning and Porphriya's Lover by Robert Browning

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Shakespeare and English Literary Heritage Controlled Assessment

How do the authors portray love in their texts?


Over here, I will be exploring the different ways in which love is portrayed by authors in their texts. We see love as being supportive in “Macbeth” and “The Song Of The Old Mother. As we progress, we also see love between individuals as being disturbed. We see this in “My Last Duchess” and “Porphyria’s lover,” as the speakers in the following poems are very possessive, but the way they treat their partners is very disturbing.

In many texts the authors portray love as being supportive and we see many examples of this in “Macbeth,” by William Shakespeare and in “The Song of the Old Mother,” by William Butler Yeats. The only major difference between these two is the supportive love is shown in two different relationships: in Macbeth it is shown between a husband and wife relationship and in the Song of the Old Mother it is shown in a parent child relationship.

Macbeth is a play written by the famous William Shakespeare in 1606, during the early reign of James I. James I originally was from Scotland but had just become the king of England and was a patron Shakespeare’s acting company, The King’s Men. 

In Macbeth, the relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth is a very close. They both love each other very much and we get to know this in Macbeth's letter to Lady Macbeth, where he calls her his “dearest partner of greatness.” They love each other a lot and we constantly see Lady Macbeth supporting and leading Macbeth in many different occasions.

We see her being concerned about his future a lot as she wants the best for him even by using the evil means, for example the murder of King Duncan. We also see that she also knows Macbeth’s nature very well. We see this right after Lady Macbeth reads the letter from Macbeth about the prophecies made upon the heath, she said:
“Yet I do fear thy nature: it is too full o’ the milk of human kindness to catch the nearest way....”
Shakespeare uses metaphors to show that Macbeth is pure; the metaphor “full o’ the milk of human kindness” tells us the Macbeth’s heart is white and pure like milk suggesting that he is very pure and generous. The phrase “to catch the nearest way” tells us that Macbeth is an honourable man and likes to earn his titles instead of taking short criminal ways. Over here Lady Macbeth is referring to the murder of Duncan about which Macbeth was really unsure about, however in the end he was convinced by Lady Macbeth. Some readers might think that Lady Macbeth is eager to see her husband as the king and wants it to happen as soon as possible even if he has to use wrong methods of earning better future. However others might think that Lady Macbeth is thinking about herself as she wants to get her hands on the fame and fortune more quickly.

She knows that very well that Macbeth will need her support in order to betray others and get the best. Before Macbeth has reached his castle she starts thinking of ways in which she can convince him. Then She found the perfect solution to her problem in which she will use the power of her tongue to convince him. She said:
“Hie thee hither that I may pour my spirits in thine ear and chastise with the valour of my tongue all the impedes thee from the golden round....”
Over here she decides to use the power of her tongue to clear all of Macbeth’s doubts. The phrase “pour my spirits in thine ear” suggests that she will inspire him with her passion  and her brave words will clear all the hesitations that he has. The phrase “chastise with the valour of my tongue” shows that she will tell him off for having any doubts. Now Shakespeare here uses a very powerful verb “chastise,” this verb is very harsh and is used by parents to tell their child off for being extremely naughty. This shows the dominance of Lady Macbeth over Macbeth, which is the total opposite of how husband and wife relationships were in the Elizabethan era. The phrase “impedes thee from the golden round” over here Lady Macbeth refers to the crown as the “golden round,” to emphasize its importance. Overall this phrase suggests that Lady Macbeth will help Macbeth overcome all the obstacles which are in his way. Over here the argument is the same as before, some will think that she is doing this for the welfare of Macbeth, while others will say she is doing it for fame and titles.

Much later on in the play, after Duncan’s murder Macbeth started hallucinating and brought the daggers with him. When Lady Macbeth orders him to put them back and smear the servants, he refuses as he was too afraid to go. So Lady Macbeth takes on the job and comes backs and gets Macbeth to wash his hand, at that point she insults him of being a coward. She said:
“My hands are of your colour: but I shame to wear a heart so white”
Lady Macbeth insults Macbeth by saying “a heart so white,” suggesting that she is saying that he was a coward and can’t handle a little blood. She then says “hands are of your colour,” suggesting that is supporting him She means to say that she is his accomplice in the crime. She might have said this due the condition he was in. Over all the argument for all these quotes above are the same as some think she did all this for Macbeth, while others suggest she did this for herself.

Now comes “The Song Of The Old Mother,” in which the poet shows love in a supportive manner in a parent child relationship. This poem is written by William Butler Yeats, who was born in Ireland in 1865. He was really fascinated by Irish history and culture. And this poem that he wrote in 1899 reflects his interest in the Irish peasantry.

In this poem we explore the relationship between an old mother and her selfish children. The mother complains how she has to all the work all by herself, while the young ones live a carefree life. Even though her children are inconsiderate and selfish, she carries on working just to support her family. In the start of the poem, we see that she lays a lot of emphasis on how she has to do the work all alone by herself. She even mentions the different types of work she has to do herself and make them sound hard working. We get to know this when she says:

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“And then I must scrub and bake and sweep”

Over her, the repetition of “and” make her work sound lengthy and hard working. She also uses “I”  to show that she works alone without getting any help. She also introduces to the type of work she has to do like “scrub,” “bake” and “sweep” to makes us feel sympathy for her as these kind of jobs needed a lot of manual strength during that time. 

As we are get in the middle of this short poem, we are introduced to the behaviour of the children toward their mother. We get to know ...

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