Shakespeare and Robert Browning

symbolisement Shakespeare and cook both present the theme of rely through their central characters. Lady Macbeth (and Macbeth) is motivated by the impulse for ambition and authority in Macbeth whilst in the Browning soliloquys the monologists are driven by the desire of military unit and run across in Porphyrias Lover and punish in The laboratory. All of which depend to bind fatal conclusions as a result of each of their desires.As the texts were produced over 400years ago, audiences may deem constitute the works of Shakespeare and Browning highly thought-provoking and entertaining whilst contemporary audiences finding the different aspects of desire relatable to modern-day situations. Lady Macbeths need for authority in her famous soliloquy unsex me here reflects on the feelings of many women at that sequence longing for male monarch.Likewise, audiences of the the Laboratory are able to empathise with the protagonists desire for revenge upon their adulterous lover. I n Porphyrias Lover, Browning reveals an obsessive and controlling piece who can scarce satisfy his absolute love for his lover by strangling her, presenting his desire for control over others. Section 1 How do the writers introduce the central characters? LADY MACBETH Lady Macbeths inlet to the audience in Act 1, paroxysm 5 immediately strikes it clear of her intentions. Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, and fill me, from the crown to the toe, top-full of direst cruelty. As this is a soliloquy, it invites the audience in to gather in her inner thoughts and feeling and her true desire for power. * Her do of lordly verbs, jazz and fill me not only notifies the audience of her desire for power, but the lengths she is testamenting go to win it. Lady Macbeths mention of the super natural turn ups how epic she is for her desire as she craves to posses characteristics of a man by calling upon the spirits and this possibly confirms the dark connect ion she has to the witches prophecy as she practises commanding language come followed by supernatural references spirits and only calls upon them. * She says come to me womans breast and take my milk for gall. Stating the physical differences of males and females not only launchs the limitations of her desire (she is a woman), but reflects on the position of women at the time because she is pleading to have all her female traits emoved to attain her desire. * Likewise, when she says that tend on virtuous thoughts unsex me here she is asking the spirits to de-feminise and undo her natural order her as she wants to be emotionless and not feel guilty as she recognises that her desire goes against the moral order thus emphasising her loaded feeling of desire and how remote she will go. It could also be argued that the particular that women had to act in certain ways in the 16th century, for instance being completely against vehemence of any sorts, may have spurred on madam Mac beth to rebel and achieve her desire. Also, the reference to direst cruelty make thick my blood further supports her portrayal to the audience as an evil and corrupted character. The use of the semi-colon emphasises the use of the word cruelty which is a trait seen to be masculine not feminine * This may have been shocking yet entertaining to the Elizabethan audiences as women at that time werent expected to act and think in such a way. * The fact that when we meet her when Macbeth is not present (or any iodin else) shows her desire for power as she is telling us what she wants THE LABORATORY Similarly, in Robert Brownings monologue of The laboratory the audience are made fully aware of the narrators intentions from the beginning. May gaze thro these faint smokes curling whitely. The personae describes deadly arsenic fumes as something beautiful which suggests to the reader that she is somewhere where chemical reactions take place- and so the title. * The fact that we are introdu ced to her in this setting brings a dark atmosphere similar to intro of lady Macbeth * This may portray signs of insanity which questionable through break the poem. Reference to the devils smithy further enhances her desire for revenge as she knows she is doing something bad by release to a devils smithy * Poison to poison her- reinforces the narrative to pull down and the original glimpse to who the revenge is on (her) and doesnt mention the name * It shows how deranged the protagonists nature has become, who goes so far as to poison her rival in love The use of rhyming quickens the pace of the poem, adding to the womans change magnitude turbulence as the apothecary grinds up the mixture.Many of Brownings poems were written about people with an unusual nature. At first glance, the poem appears to be written as if she were talk to the apothecary, but reading into it shows that she may be thought to herself as at the start of the poem she tells the man to take his time, but as she thinks about the possibilities and power the poison will bring her she begins to hurry him. Her careless attitude towards her future crime suggests that she may have previously killed and does not care about being found out as she is proud of what she will have done. PORPHYRIAS LOVER the rain set early tonight- tonight is a time indicator and possibly foreshadows something that will happen tonight * Use of pathetic fallacy- weather mirrors feeling matte up by the narrator * Irregular rhyme pattern- may show narrators instabilltiy * No stanzas reflective of the narrators mental produce/personality * When obsessed cant stop talking about something * Build up of tensity at the beginning to get to the climax COMPARRISON OF ALL * All start in a ominous gloomy way * Section 2 How do the writers show that desire motivates and drives these characters?LADY MACBETH * Act 1, Scene 7- When you durst do it then you were a man shows Lady Macbeths play on masculinity as she uses the eve rlasting(a) tense were highlighting the difference now and before which provokes Macbeth and in turn manipulates him to go through with the death penalty of Macbeth with will get allow her to attain her desire for power (again shows how far she is willing to go to achieve happiness) * * Strong imagery and emotive lang-passionate * Blank verse instead of prose * Shakespeare uses a metaphor and contrast to show that Lady Macbeth is remorseless.In Act I scene 7, when Macbeth wants to back out of killing Duncan, she tells Macbeth I have given suck, and know / How tender tis to love the babe that milks me / I would, while it was smiling in my face, / Have pluckd my tit from his boneless gums, / And dashd the brains out, had I so sworn as you. * First, Lady Macbeth uses feminine language, showing she knows what it means to be tender and nurturing with words standardised tender love and milk. But then, she shocks the audience by using violent language such as dashed the brains out.Th is is an upsetting image it makes the audience watch that Lady Macbeth would put a promise before the life of her own child. * Lady Macbeth seems to have no problem with violence of the cruelest kind violence against a child. What makes Lady Macbeth sound even more ruthless are words like as boneless and smiling because the baby sounds defenseless, yet Lady Macbeth wont show it mercy. * By having Lady Macbeth talk about committing infanticide, Shakespeare makes her a villain in the eye of the audience, because in the 1600s, women were seen as soft and nurturing.Behaving this way would be seen as unnatural and would have shocked Shakespeares audience. * This shows how her she is driven by desire because for Lady Macbeth (who portrays a strong personae) to talk about how she knows what Is like to be a woman and be nurturing, which doesnt happen very often in the play, as a way to control her husband into getting into power shows how driven she is and again how far shell go. THE LAB * Browning also presents the reader with a character who is completely ruthless when it comes to fulfilling her desires.Although Lady Macbeth desires power whereas the speaker in The Laboratory desires revenge, they share the same determination to get what they want regardless of the consequence. When talking to the chemist about her plans for revenge the speaker says and Elize, with her head, and her breast, and her hands should drop dead . Just like the video display of Lady Macbeth, Browning also paints a vivid image of death and murder. Worryingly for the reader, Browning strongly suggests the speakers enjoyment of the mentation of her rivals death.By repeating the word and it suggests that she is relishing the idea of revenge and also that she has thought about it just as much. Section 3 How do the writers show how desire affects relationships in the text? Section 4 How do the writers show the results/consequences of desire? LADY MACBETH * In the final stages of the play the result of Lady Macbeths desire for power becomes clear when she loses her mental stability and starts to re-live the murder she and her husband committed. Whilst in her room she utters the phrase * Out damned spot * Out I say * The use of the command here clearly shows the fact that Lady Macbeth a once effective and desire driven woman is becoming increasingly unstable. Shakespeares use of the repetition of the word out shows how desperate she has become, how she has lost control. The repeated use of the exclamation marks highlights the intensity of her need for her hands to be clean. The spot to which she is referring to is that of the blood of King Duncan, however in this instance the blood is a metaphorical manifestation of her guilt, and one that will never go away.Her need for power has destroyed her she can no longer escape the consequences of what she has done. In this dialogue Lady Macbeth also alludes to the fact that she herself has been damned, just like she may neve r get the spot of blood off of her skin she will never be able to clean her own soul, she will never be able to escape what she has done. Through the use of the word damn Shakespeare successfully suggests the idea of hell, one which was key in Lady Macbeths sign soliloquy.In this scene many may feel a sense of sympathy for Lady Macbeth, as she is going through a traumatic experience, and yet there is no sign of Macbeth, once again taken over by desire he has abandoned his wife in her time of need. However, this scene may be considered to be appropriate by Shakespearean audiences as Lady Macbeth losing her mental stability is seen as a result of her dealing with aspects of life that are deemed to be not feminine. Conclusion present your own ideas about the varying successes of the different writers, evaluating which of the treatments you prefer and why exemplar to follow * Whilst Shakespeare presents highly stimulate characters in the shape of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, both of wh om are driven to self-destruction by their strong feelings of desire, it is Brownings monologist in The Laboratory that conjures this desire most convincingly. Grind away, moisten and mash up thy paste,/ ticktack at thy powder, I am not in haste Both the language and the form cause the reader to reluctantly empathise with the persona. We feel drawn into the conspiracy she has arranged with her apothecary, driven by the imperative commands she expresses through the use of alliteration, exclamations and commanding verbs. Moreover, the use of bilabial plosives paste pound owder attracts the reader, caught up in the excitement she feels as she anticipates the deadly outcomes of the concoction being created. Of course, she is in haste. What is interesting is that all three texts make desire tempting (even though we know that moral boundaries are being challenged and broken). Browning not only shows the corruption that strong feelings of desire can bring but also succeeds in corruptin g the reader as we stiff to her intentions