The Relationship between Gender and the Woods in Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Tempest - Essay Example

? 21 September The relationship between gender and the woods in Shakespeare's "Macbeth" and "The Tempest" Prospero and the witches occupy similar positions in their plays. The witches of Macbeth and Prospero of The Tempest resemble each other in the fact that they were the prime plotters of all events and incidents that happened in the woods of the respective plays, though there was a lot of difference between the ways in which the two made things happen. The witches played their role by making the predictions. They did not facilitate Macbeth in his way of accomplishing the milestones they predicted he would. They predicted the fortune for Macbeth. If Macbeth was destined to enjoy all ranks they predicted for him, he would have attained them whether or not he practically indulged in such activities that would lead him to attaining them. It was Macbeth’s personal wickedness, evilness and greed that convinced him to take fortune into his hands and do all the evil things he did, though he was never as wicked as Lady Macbeth! He was about to retreat from his evil machinations when Lady Macbeth stopped him. Lady Macbeth says to Macbeth, “Your hand, your tongue: look like the innocent flower, But be the serpent under’t” (Shakespeare 15). On the other hand, Prospero practically involved himself in all the activities that put Antonio and others into bewilderment. The three witches and Prospero also differ in their intentions that governed their actions. The three witches apparently don’t seem to have any concern with Macbeth. They seem to have predicted his future like they would predict the future of any fortunate man. May be they like spreading the good news around. But this can not be said for sure because what is fortunate for one is unfortunate for another. An example for this is their prediction of Banquo as the father of future kings along with the prediction of Macbeth as the King of Scotland. Macbeth was happy to learn that he would be the King of Scotland but displeased with the fact that the power would ultimately end up in the hands of Banquo’s children. Whatever the reason may be, the witches are not shown in the novel anywhere but in the woods, and apparently the audience can not make any prediction about their intentions. Prospero’s intentions, on the other hand, are quite obvious. Prospero just wants to teach his family members a lesson. Long ago, Prospero’s kingdom had been usurped by Antonio while he was immersed in studies and Antonio was supported in his act by the King of Naples. Antonio not only put Prospero and Miranda into exile, but also arranged for their murder. This being the history, Prospero would not have been cruel even if he killed Antonio when he was caught in his island, but he was too noble to do that. The difference between the witches’ and Prospero’s characters makes the two entirely different. In order to teach them the lesson, Prospero plots things for them that they can not understand and are thus badly frustrated, annoyed and overwhelmed. But the end is good because Prospero’s original intentions were good. There is a strange commonality among many novels of Shakespeare with respect to woods. Woods have frequently been used by Shakespeare as magical places. In the Mid Summer Night’s Dream, it is the woods where the donkey sprinkles the potion of love upon the eyelids of Titania. In Macbeth, it is the woods where he encounters the witches who predict their future. In The Tempest, it is again the woods in the isolated island where Prospero uses magic to upset and bewilder the visitors. Hence, woods have been used as the insignia for magic by Shakespeare. Another common feature regarding the woods is the fact that the characters practicing magic upon others or influencing others with magic live in the woods. The audience gets the feeling that woods inculcate magical powers in the inhabitants. Another similarity between the two plays, Macbeth and The Tempest is of the characters that do the magic. In Macbeth, the witches do the magic and predict Macbeth’s future. In The Tempest, Prospero does not personally do the magic. He gets it done using Ariel that happens to be the spirit. Prospero gets hold of this spirit after he manages to outcast Sycorax, that ruled the island before Prospero and that also was a witch. It is Ariel who causes the tempest and develops conspiracies. Ariel says to Prospero, “I come to answer thy best pleasure; be’t to fly, to swim, to dive into the fire, to ride on the curl’d clouds” ( Shakespeare and Dyce 10). Hence, entities practically doing the magic are witches or spirits, not humans. The three witches succeed in their plan of flaring up the greed in Macbeth. Macbeth could otherwise have thought of Duncan’s murder, but he would spare the idea because he would not have been so sure than the power would land in his hand by doing so. Macbeth derived his surety fundamentally from the fact that the witches’ first prediction of Macbeth becoming the thane of Cawdor had already come true. There is one point worth paying attention towards! Witches in Macbeth belonged to the female gender and were wicked in their intentions. Prospero in The Tempest belonged to the male gender and was noble in his intentions. Sycorax in The Tempest belonged to the female gender and was wicked in her intentions like the witches. This comparison essentially depicts how Shakespeare has used the female gender as a source of evil in the world. Even Macbeth’s evil intentions were flared up by Lady Macbeth that again belonged to the female gender. Macbeth would not have indulged in Duncan’s murder if his thoughts were not reinforced by Lady Macbeth’s greed. Yet, the fact that Miranda, Prospero’s daughter belonged to the female gender, and had a nice conduct compliments the notion that Shakespeare wanted to stereotype women as evil. Miranda is Prospero’s strength and is a fundamental reason why The Tempest ends in a very nice manner. In addition to that, Miranda also lives in the woods like her father but she is not shown involved in any magical activities. This compliments the notion that Shakespeare wanted to stereotype woods as places that inculcated magical sense in the inhabitants. Hence, if Macbeth portrays women as evil, The Tempest portrays them as noble. Likewise, if Macbeth portrays women living in the woods as magical, The Tempest denies it. If it is looked at with respect to the male gender, Macbeth and The Tempest are again found in conflict with each other. Macbeth is evil despite the fact that he does not live in woods whereas Prospero is noble despite having lived in the woods for years. Therefore, if Shakespeare’s Macbeth and The Tempest are analyzed and compared, it becomes obvious that there is no apparent relationship between wood and gender’s evilness or magical skills. Irrespective of the character of women in Macbeth and The Tempest, they have been presented in the plays as powerful and influential both in the woods (the witches and Miranda) and outside (Lady Macbeth). Such a projection of women in Shakespeare’s plays was in contrast with the perceptions of women in the time the plays were written. Women were considered as individuals of the weaker gender, and they had little, if any, influence upon the men. Men dominated them and subdued the rights of women in numerous ways. By emphasizing upon the potential of women to influence men for the better or the worse through such plays as Macbeth and The Tempest, Shakespeare has made an attempt to bring a complete revolution in the societal roles of the women as well as in their stereotypical images. In light of the points discussed in this paper, the ways in which Prospero and the witches occupy similar positions become obvious, but they were different in their intentions which led The Tempest to a happy ending and Macbeth, to a tragedy! Works Cited: Shakespeare, William and Dyce, Alexander. The Tempest. Leipzig Bernhard Tauchhnitz, 1868. Print. Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Macbeth. USA: Aquitaine Media Corp., 2009. Print. Read More