Which should one do first, read the book or watch the movie? This is a common question asked by many, because each interpretation of the story can highlight different aspects of the plot. The book may highlight certain literary concepts, while the movie may emphasize the tone and speech of the story. However, despite this divergence in emphasis, both mediums can still convey the same theme. Shakespeare’s Macbeth is no exception to this divergence in focus. The original book was set in Medieval Scotland, during the age of royalty and regicide, while the moderm film interpretation is set in a 20th century militaristic society, yet it retains the same plot. Though these two mediums naturally highlight different elements of the story, they both manage to demonstrate a similar theme .
Lady Macbeth’s imperative syntax in Shakespeare’s Macbeth, as well as the inflammatory and assertive tones of Lady Macbeth in Goold’s film Macbeth, suggest the theme that women achieve ambition through manipulation. Women achieve ambition through manipulation stemming from the influence they hold over others. Women manipulate others with their influence to control situations that are otherwise uncontrollable to them. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Lady Macbeth scolds Macbeth after the murder of Duncan, hissing, “You do unbend your noble strength to think/ so brainsickly of things. Go get some water/ and wash this filthy witness from your hand” (49- 51). In this quote, Lady Macbeth is ordering Macbeth to clean his hands, in order to exonerate them from any suspicion by removing all evidence of the murder, save that which they themselves have planted. Normally, women in this time period did not command their husbands, and were actually the property of their husbands.
However, Lady Macbeth can manipulate Macbeth by attacking his sense of manhood and pride. Her verbal assaults on his “noble strength” incite a need in Macbeth to disprove Lady Macbeth’s words, therefore granting Lady Macbeth influence over Macbeth’s actions. Without this influence, Lady Macbeth would have been powerless to convince the guilt-stricken Macbeth to put aside his grief and erase the incriminating evidence of their sin. Additionally, Women manipulate others to protect their power. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Lady Macbeth orders the lords out of the castle, to prevent them from witnessing the guilt-ridden and hallucinative Macbeth, saying, “Stand not upon the order of your going/ but go at once” (120-121).
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In this quote, Lady Macbeth is ordering the lords out of the castle to prevent them from hearing the incriminating confessions that Macbeth is crying out. Lady Macbeth conjectured that if they heard even a fragment of Macbeth’s rant, they would have rose up in rebellion and ousted Lady Macbeth and her husband from the throne. Lady Macbeth did not want to lose her power that she planned so deviously to obtain, so she exercised her influence as royalty and as hostess to send away the lords. The lords obeyed, as feudal loyalty was of the utmost importance in medieval times, and it was this loyalty that gave the king and queen absolute authority and influence over their subjects. Lady Macbeth was obsessed with this power, and so she did whatever action necessary to preserve her possession of it.
Thus, women use their influence to manipulate others, in order to fulfill their ambitions. Similarly, the inflammatory and assertive tones of the actors in Goold’s Macbeth create the theme that women achieve ambition through manipulation. Inflammatory tones help women achieve ambition by manipulating the emotions of others. In Goold’s Macbeth, during the kitchen scene where Macbeth suggests they stop their scheme against Duncan, Lady Macbeth viciously counterattacks by insulting his manhood. Lady Macbeth does this because she knows that Macbeth’s pride will not allow him to ignore this assault. Macbeth is incited, and he resolves to kill Duncan, if only to preserve his manhood. This is the result of Lady Macbeth’s manipulation. She intentionally targeted his pride, because she knew that the anger it caused would make Macbeth carry out the murder, which was exactly what Lady Macbeth desired. Macbeth was jeopardizing Lady Macbeth’s plans for ambition, so she insulted him in an inflammatory tone in order to rally him to carry out the murder plot.
Furthermore, assertive tones help women achieve ambition by enticing others to do their will. Later in the same scene mentioned before, Lady Macbeth demonstrates her frustration with Macbeth’s reluctance by asserting that she would kill her own infant had she made a promise that she would. In this scene, Lady Macbeth’s assertion of infanticide is a way of saying that Macbeth should be true to his word, as she would be if she were in his situation. This subtle attack on Macbeth’s trustworthiness is an attempt to convince him that he must fulfill his promise f killing Duncan. Lady Macbeth’s assertion that she is a woman of her word manifests self-doubt in Macbeth, that if his woman is true to her word, should not he be as well? This causes Macbeth to accept the burden of his promise and to fulfill the murder, to Lady Macbeth’s satisfaction. Lady Macbeth’s assertion helped her achieve her ambition by convincing Macbeth that he must murder Duncan. Case in point, inflammatory and assertive tones help women achieve ambition by manipulating the emotions and thoughts of others.
Despite the two contrasting mediums, Lady Macbeth’s imperative syntax in Shakespeare’s Macbeth, in conjunction with the inflammatory and assertive tones use by Lady Macbeth in Rupert Goold’s Macbeth, demonstrate the theme that women achieve ambition through manipulation. Women can achieve ambition through manipulation of the emotions, thoughts, and actions of others. This theme is shared by the film and the b0ok, despite the contrasting mediums. The emphasis of different elements while still conveying the same theme serves to expand understanding by showing multiple perspectives of the theme. Using this principle, movies and books have equal value in terms of demonstrating key concepts and expanding one’s mind.
