Lady Macbeth and Lady Macduff Essay

Shakespe ar cleverly creates wo for peeress Macbeth and chick Macduff through various techniques such as order of their scenes, their keep comp both on stage and most importantly by their circumstances. In the miscue of Lady Macbeth we k immediately her from the start of the play sequence in the part of Lady Macduff we be introduced to her with no prior knowl coast only in Act 4 scene 2. moreover with the use of dramatic mockery Shakespeare lets the reference know certain up to nowts ab bring out to happen which natur tot anyyy mould the emotions of viewers. Even cubic yardgh we feel sorrow for both the ladies thither is a considerable difference in the range and type of sorrow. The basic affinity in their situation is that they can non be helped. Shakespeare uses the basic humankind tendencies such as the urge to help the baffled, who in this case are both the Ladies, to enlarge the feelings of sorrow and pity.We rede dame Macduff first time in turn of events 4 scene 2 talking with her cousin Ross a spicy ranking nobleman. She is angry with her husband for fleeing the land without them as can be inferred from lines 8-16. She feels that he has left them in mortal danger. Thus we know that the dominant emotion she experiences is fear. The f incite that he ran away without any obvious precedent scares her more. The hearing already knows through Macbeths manner of speaking- the castle of Macduff I will surprise..,give to the edge of sword his wifes, his babes, and all unfortunate souls that trace him in his line (act4 sc1 171-174) that he is going to massacre Lady Macduff and her children. We come to know a traffic coterie about this woman through the company of people that Shakespeare places with her. First of all we start Ross who clearly as her cousin does her the honor of visiting her and consolatory her. His replies to all of her questions are short and terse. They do not give any new information but do the task of soothing her f eelings. His wrangling in lines 25-30 I take my leave of youTo what they were in the lead.-My pretty cousin, Blessing upon you evince that she is a woman of honor and he does not wish to defame that honor by staying longer with her considering that she is alone.Next we have her conversation with her word of honor which reveals that she is aware that it is not her sons fault that his father has fled and that she will not belt him for Macduffs mistakes. Lady Macduffs jokes with her son are based on reality, yet are pleasing and tell of a loving relationship between her and her son. Moreover by using the weakest group of people that is woman and children Shakespeare creates an added feeling of sorrow. The entre of the messenger extends the tension and heightens emotions as it is right after(prenominal) a razz and normal dialogue. His linguistic communication are the harbinger of evil acts and they warn chick Macduff and advise her to run swiftly to safety. The very fact that the messenger is voluntary to put his life in jeopardy in order to attempt to save her life is testimony to her character. Specifically his lines 76-78 To fright you thusis too nearby your person. tell us that he not telling her this cruel right would be more evil than telling it to her as she was a person of high stature in his look.Her response Whither should I fly? I have done no harm. But I remember now I am in this earthly.Do I put that womanly apology To say that I have done no harm? (Lines 81-87) to the admonishment shows political awareness and wisdom. At this point she knows that she is about to die and there is nothing anyone can do about it. Her end also tells the audition that she is a loyal wife for in lines 90-91 she says I hope in no place so unsanctified where such as thou mayst find him. . Her son dies so as to give his mother time to run and save herself. Thus Shakespeare creates the ultimate concept of Good vs unrighteous but instead of allowing sa fe to triumph he lets evil rule. Lady Macduffs end is that of an scared, confused, loyal, loving, honorable, wise and defenseless woman dying a tempestuous death for no reason whatsoever.On the other hand we have Lady Macbeth with whom the audience has been acquainted for a long time. Till act 5 sc 1 we have un end pointly markn Lady Macbeth as an forceful, ruthless and intelligent woman who has no remorse. In this act we see her through the eyes of a set up and an bird. It is obvious that she is ill for a long time. Her company is not an jolly one, they are a doctor and a gentlewoman who after hearing and seeing her state of disposition pity and feel sorrow for her. The gentlewoman has seen her in this state before whereas the doctor who sees her for the first time is clearly shocked. All her torments and troubles are inside her mentally which is why no doctor can cure her. The words spoken by lady Macbeth speak of such iniquity and stock certificate that the doctor and t he gentlewoman dare not repeat them to anyone else. All of her words in lines 37-42 refer to her past murders and crimes except for the sentence Hell is murky.Her language and sentence structure is terse and tense. It is almost as if she reporting all her deeds. It is very different from the loud convincing diction of the lady Macbeth we see in previous acts of the play. Even though she talks of her crimes, she never even once confesses or accepts her crimes. She is also scared and fears the blood spots on her hands will never be cleaned (lines 53-55). She is also extremely triskaidekaphobic of the darkness which is why she has commanded that she always have light beside her. She fears her past actions and that she always pushed Macbeth when he hesitated in murdering. Macbeth had not confided in her about the murder of lady Macduff which suggests that Macbeths taste for murder has out crowing hers.These fears are shown symbolically through her fear of darkness which compares w ith evil and her fear of dirty and bloody hands which compares with guilt. What is however flagitious and is the greatest factor in creating sorrow for her is that her execrable cannot end. She is locked in a circle of pain and only she can break out of it, no one can help her. The only way out of this circle would be by asking for forgiveness, by redeeming herself in the eyes of god. But to show remorse one needs to be sane and sadly as seen from her sleepwalking and other unnatural acts she is clearly mentally ill. Her pain is never-ending and everlasting. She is bound for hell and she cannot escape it.There are several similarities and contrasts between the two woman and the sorrow we feel for them. I personally felt more sorrow for Lady Macbeth than Lady Macduff since the torture of Lady Macduff was short and raw while Lady Macbeth is never ending and painful. Lady Macduff suffered externally though physical pain while lady Macbeth suffered mentally. In case of Lady Macduff she was innocent and the suffering was brought upon her by Macbeth while in case of Lady Macbeth she herself had brought his suffering upon themselves. Lady Macbeth had a intransigent past and faces a grim future while Lady Macduff had a loving past and faces a heavenly future. Even though everyone treasured to help Lady Macduff they could not, similarly even though the doctor and gentlewoman wanted to help Lady Macbeth they could not.When death came Lady Macduff faced it by growing stronger but Lady Macbeth grew weaker. The diction of Lady Macduff drew out fear while Lady Macbeths diction imbibed it. Both the woman support intense emotional suffering before they die. Both of them are helpless and isolated. Though people would like to help them they cannot. Both of their husbands are not with them. Macduff went to England thinking that his wife and children would be safe while Macbeth has probably grown so addicted to murder that he has forgotten his wifes suffering. As an a udience the impact of these two sorry tragedies is huge and they come right after each other thus amplifying the impact.By playing upon natural human tendencies, cleverly placing the right characters and creating a sense of helplessness for both women Shakespeare leaves the audience with deep sorrow. Shakespeare also cleverly places brief interludes between intense scenes to increase the overall effect. The emotions depicted are intense and break the hearts of the audience. The death of Lady Macduff is unwarranted while the death of lady Macbeth is too painful and horrific. The main ideas that Shakespeare uses are that we empathise with the weak and helpless, we want to see good triumph evil and that no one wants to give anyone everlasting suffering without a ray of hope. He uses these instinctive human feelings to create sorrow for Lady Macduff and Lady Macbeth.