Sympathy and Emotion

Macbeth is a play which has an incredible number of thematic elements at work throughout. While the main premise seems political, the ideas of fate and destiny are also prominent and even love and family come into play at times. Each theme serves a different purpose and many of the characters are put against one another in a constant game of compare and contrast. In Act IV, scene III, one of the biggest contrasts occurs when we see how emotional the characters are capable of being. It is a very real scene when Macduff finds out what has happened to his family, and Ross is shown too as being a character that is very full of human sympathy and emotion. While there are other characters in this play and in other Shakespearean works who have had these traits, this scene for some reason just really stood out. This is probably because it is in such stark opposition to Macbeth, the character who the reader is mostly being shown throughout the exposition of this story who has very little natural human emotion. 

When Ross originally goes to tell Macduff what has happened, he cannot even bring himself to do so. He tells him that he left his family “at peace” which is technically true, but obviously beating around the point of what he needs to say (p. 2622, 4.3.180). He continues the conversation and doesn’t tell Macduff the truth for several minutes. Finally, when Macduff is let in on the horrible reality that his family has all been killed, we get another very real look at human emotion. Macduff cannot even handle the news. He keeps repeating everything being said to him even though it is simple to understand simply because of his own emotional refusal to understand. For example, he asks about his wife twice in a row, and this moment really just made me sympathize with him. 

Finally, the ultimate display of human emotion comes into play when Malcolm tells Macduff that he must seek revenge. Macduff replies that he “shall do so, but [he] must also feel it as a man” first (p. 2623, 4.3.222-223). His refusal to merely get angry and hunt down the murderer but rather to allow himself a grieving period for a bit first really embodies the idea of human sympathy and emotion, and this places him and Macbeth in complete opposition in a very right vs. wrong type of way.

The Colorful and Compelling Lady Macbeth

The Colorful and Compelling Lady Macbeth

This is my first time reading Macbeth and I must admit to my surprise upon seeing such a fierce and fiery female character.  Lady Macbeth is quite a colorful and intense woman.  Reading her lines after recently completing King Lear makes me recall Regan and Goneril, two other bloodthirsty Shakespearean ladies.  If all three women were in the same play, I think they would be great “frenemies.”  Lady Macbeth, as seen with Regan and Goneril, can be just as brash and ferocious as the male characters of Shakespeare.  Shakespeare cares a great deal about giving a fair representation of power corrupting both genders.  Macduff’s lines after learning of King Duncan’s death  in 2.3 reveal the view of women that is commonly held when thinking about Shakespearean women: “O gentle lady,/ ‘Tis not for you to hear what I can speak./ The repetition in a woman’s ear/ Would murder as it fell” (59-62).  Shakespeare gives us such an ironic speech from Macduff that as a reader one almost can chuckle.  It is interesting how he calls her “gentle lady,” as her actions and eagerness to perform cutthroat duties for power definitely are not tender or “gentle.”  Also the fact that Macduff cannot even imagine uttering what has occurred to Lady Macbeth because it “would murder as it fell” is fascinating.  He believes to be sparing her, when she is the last one that should be spared.  As the reader, we are granted access to some fabulous Shakespearean dramatic irony. 

                In 2.2 a great use of antithesis can be seen with Macbeth and his wife.  Macbeth appears to be a thinker and somewhat more sentimental. These are traits traditionally thought of as “female”.  After the murder he committed he doubts that the entire ocean could cleanse him from this wrongdoing: “Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood/ Clean from my hand?” (58-59).  Macbeth immediately thinks to the grand scale and suffers from the guilt of his action.  Whereas a couple lines down, Lady Macbeth views here assistance and guilt quite differently:  “A little water clears us of this deed” (2.2.65).  She believes that only “a little water” will save her and her husband from their wicked deed. Shakespeare gives the reader opposites with “Neptune’s ocean” and “a little water” that are extremely well played in this scene. 

                Lady Macbeth’s hasty nature and feistiness reminded me of Henry IV’s Hotspur.  Her attitude, and intense focus on action are interesting but do not bode well for her character.  In 2.2 she states to Macbeth: “These deeds must not be thought/ After these ways.  So, it will make us mad” (32-33).  Her focus on the immediate is a major character flaw.  She even seems to take pleasure in her treasonous involvement.  The lady essentially yells at her husband for his inaction: “Infirm of purpose!/ Give me the daggers.  The sleeping and the dead/ Are but as pictures.  ‘Tis the eye of childhood/ That fears a painted devil” (2.2.50-53). Again her attitude reminds me much of the reckless warrior mindset of Hotspur.  She is ready to do whatever it takes and has holds an impetuous approach.  It will be great to see how Lady Macbeth’s character unfolds throughout the text.