Explore how the writers present choices in Macbeth by William Shakespeare and the Laboratory by Robert Browning.

tender ‘tis to love the babe that milks me. I would, while it was smiling in my face, have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums, had I so sworn as you have done to this.” In Macbeths opening soliloquy by interpreting its textual content “Firstly as I am his kinsman and his subject, strong both against the deed; then, as his host, who should against his murderer shut the door, not bear the knife myself.”  it is clear the motives that are at work to deter him from committing the murder, fear of the consequences in this world, mingled feelings of kinship, loyalty, and hospitality, admiration for Duncan's goodness, are not, perhaps, of the highest moral character; but in comparison with the reckless lust of power which urges him on, they are certainly motives for good. The conflict rages in his soul, and it seems as if the powers of good were dominating, until Lady Macbeth enters. Her taunts and jibes about his fears and ambivalence – along with mocking the idea of failure seemingly influence Macbeth and he goes out to carry out the deed. When we first meet Lady Macbeth she is depicted as overly ambitious and indomitable and she gives the impression that she will continue seemingly unsatisfied until her thirst for monarchical power has been sated. As she reads the letter sent from her husband Lady Macbeth's immediate thoughts may make her appear as thoroughly irreligiously callous and ambitious – though the following soliloquy that follows she calls on spirits to “stop up the access and passage to remorse” and “fill me from crown to the top toe top-full of direst cruelty” in order to make her inexorable to carry out this deed, seem to evoke the thought that she may have a weaker conscience than first assumed. In later scenes a dramatic metamorphosis of the character of Lady Macbeth confirm this as her guilt and penitence and shows that her conscience cannot bear the burden of such remorse as her mental wellbeing deteriorates rapidly. This deeply contrasts with the Lady in the Labatory as, although it is undetermined what her reaction was once the death had been carried out seems to take great gratification of the thought of her victim suffering an excruciating death – I can only assume her reaction after the deed was carried out – but the poem showed no traces of the Laboratory lady’s conscience being suppressed at the thought of carrying out this deed. However both women meticulously plan their murder and both their artful and sly abilities are portrayed to the audience as they show an almost pedantic attention to detail regarding the murders. In the Laboratory the poem depicts the bitter insecurities of a woman abandoned by her lover, who left her for a more feminine rival, and how she schemes to gain revenge. It shows how frenzied the protagonist's nature has become, who goes so far as to poison her rival in love. The use of rhyming quickens the pace of the poem, evoking the thought that the woman's anticipation and frenzy increases as she and the apothecary concoct the mixture. Her feelings and regards to the murder are of deep contrast to LM and revels at the notion of her victim’s agony. In the poem Robert Browning has chosen to exemplify her as an enormously, bitter scheming woman who has no remorse – in his time a woman such as this would be thought of as a witch. This poem was loosely based on the life of Marie Madeleine Marguerite D'Aubray, marquise de Brinvilliers (1630-1676) women who poisoned her father and her two brothers and along with her lover conspired to kill her husband – she was later charged with poison and witch-craft. Her sheer vindictiveness and cruelty oozes throughout each stanza of the poem as she savours the preparation this is interpreted by such phrases as “let death be felt and the proof remain!” – The structure of this poem is of contrast deeply to the content – the metre is anapaestic, which creates a rather sprightly effect – a juxtaposition of the intensity of the negative emotions depicted in the poem.Overall the writers William Shakespeare and Robert Browning evidently portrayed women in a rather misogynistic manner – Shakespeare chose to depict Lady Macbeth as a women who chose the easiest way to gain monarchial power and this evidently became her downfall as her conscience became a lot more susceptible to guilt than we first assumed – the last scene of her is of profound contrast to the first. Robert Browning illustrates The Lady in the Laboratory as an acrimonious woman who contains a deep bitterness stemming from her mistreatment, and who is disappointed in love and vows to seek vengeance though murder. Their choices are what have been considered witchlike in their time and overall both women break the convention of what is expected in their time, where they were oppressed and marginalized in society.