Essay about macbeth and antigone - 1110 Words

Nguyen 1 Diana Nguyen Tanaka Honors Humanities 01 October 2013 Macbeth Antigone: Make Me a Man? Feminism is a method of analyzing women’s positions in society by examining the gender role and how/why some behaviors are stereotyped towards a certain gender. A concept of feminism, patriarchy is a male centered and controlled society and is arranged to make women feel inferior to men in every occupation whether it be religion, family, politics, economics, legal or art. Women are then seen lacking in male organ,which is representative of male power and male character traitsÍ ¾ they wind up being referred to as objects because of their non ­masculinity and lose their respect as human beings because they are women lacking male†¦show more content†¦. Lady Macbeth wants to acquire males traits because males are seen as ruthless while females are seen as forgiving, so Lady Macbeth asks for masculinity allowing for her to be â€Å"cruel† and merciless. Only then can Lady Macbeth commit ruthless acts to gain control of the throne without being weighed d own by her femininity. In Sophocles’s Antigone, Antigone announces, â€Å" I am on my way,/ I will raise a mound for him, for my dear brother†(Sophocles 95). Her loyalty, is seen when she breaks the law and buries her brother, who has been deemed a traitor. Although Antigone is merely a woman, who according to gender roles should be submissive and timid, she takes on male traits like willfulness, bravery, and maintaining her own opinions and actions about burying her brother not only against others’ disapproval but also against the King’s law. Antigone is very loyal and family oriented and takes on a male trait so she can bury her brother at peace, while Lady Macbeth shows male traits, simply because she wants to kill Duncan, the king. In this case both Lady Macbeth and Antigone succeeded in doing what they originally sought to do when they acquired masculine traitsÍ ¾ Duncan is murdered and Polyneices is buried. The attainment of masculine characteristics of cleverness and manipulativeness, andShow MoreRelatedWomens Role in Macbeth and Antigone Essay1563 Words   |  7 Pageswomen’s role to support the main characters in both the plays of Macbeth and Antigone. In Macbeth and Antigone the authors created guilt for the women to use against the main characters for their advantage. Macbeth exploits Lady Macbeth to balance Macbeth in the play; many say that Lady Macbeth put guilt on Macbeth into killing for the throne; others disagree and believe that he has his own will power, but it is not as strong as Lady Macbeth. (Shakespeare 50) â€Å"My hands are of your color, but I shame toRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s Macbeth And Antigone 1022 Words   |  5 PagesHumanities 03/03/16 Macbeth and Antigone Essay A tragedy is a story which is centered on a character who does something terrible, and as they realize what they have done, the world around them crumbles. Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, is about how Macbeth and Banquo are met by three witches bearing prophetic greetings. Macbeth is told that he will become king. The rest of the play follows Macbeth into the depths of darkness as he seeks the crown not caring about the consequences. Antigone, by SophoclesRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s Macbeth And Antigone1540 Words   |  7 Pages Throughout the plays of Macbeth (1611), by Shakespeare, and Antigone (441 BC), by Sophocles, they demonstrate a significant role played by males who dominate by using power, which is the ability to influence or control the behavior and actions of others. 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Examples †¢ Anakin Skywalker (Darth Vader) of the Star Wars series †¢ Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy VII †¢ Creon from Antigone by Sophocles †¢ Eddie, from Arthur Miller s A View from the Bridge †¢ Ethan Frome from Edith Wharton s Ethan Frome †¢ Hamlet from Shakespeare s Hamlet †¢ Jack Bauer from the television series 24 †¢ James Gatz (Jay Gatsby) fromRead MoreThe Renaissance and It’s Affect on William Shakespeare’s Works2369 Words   |  10 Pagesby the Church. The genre of tragedy is rooted in the Greek dramas of Aeschylus (525-456 B.C., e.g. the Oresteia and Prometheus Bound), Euripides (ca. 480?-405 B.C., e.g. Medeaand The Trojan Women) and Sophocles (496-406 B.C., e.g. Oedipus Rex and Antigone). While Shakespeare probably did not know Greek tragedy directly, he would have been familiar with the Latin adaptations of Greek drama by the Roman (i.e. Latin-language) playwright Seneca (ca. 3 B.C.-65 A.D.; his nine tragedies include a Medea