The Works

Macbeth vs. Great Expectations

How do Shakespeare and Dickens explore ideas about disturbed women through the characters of Lady Macbeth and Miss Havisham?

Shakespeare and Dickens explore ideas about disturbed women through their presentation of their female characters - Lady Macbeth and Miss Havisham - and their personality traits.

Shakespeare, throughout his play, uses subtle hints and foreshadows frequently about his character - Lady Macbeth - being disturbed.

During the 16th century, people were very involved with idea of witchcraft, the Devil, Heaven, and Hell; Shakespeare incorporates this idea quite often. Also, people blamed any illness to come about, on an alleged witch. Shakespeare's character says "...illness should attend it..." An illness can be infectious, or it can be associated with a mental disorder. The word "illness" is suggesting that Shakespeare's character Lady Macbeth, is trying to infect her husband with her manipulative ways; it foreshadows her unhinged ways later on in the play. This quote is also suggesting that Lady Macbeth is a Witch, as she is trying to create an illness to infect the people around her.

Dickens uses a much more direct way of referring to the disturbed nature of his character Miss Havisham. In his main character's (Pip) first visit to 'Satis House', straight away Dickens uses the words "strangest lady..." which is already an indication of her being disturbed, and foreshadows her personality for later on in the story. Dickens then went on to write "not quite finished..." this is suggesting that something disturbing has distracted her from finishing what she started which is also suggesting that the character started having strange thoughts which distracted her from her current task which prefigures her confession later on in the book, and confessions are something Catholics do as part of their religion, to redeem themselves of sins so they can go to Heaven, which is somewhere people during this era wanted to end up as they feared the Devil and Hell.

Shakespeare's way of slowly suggesting his female character's disturbed personality makes the reader slightly confused about her, suggesting the exact effect needed from the first part of the play, as if she is infecting the 'outer' people whereas Dickens uses a much more direct approach and makes it clear to his readers that this is who his character is.

Shakespeare then goes on to write for his character Lady Macbeth "I may pour my spirits in thine ear..." The word "spirits" suggests that his female character has some connection to witchcraft- that she is contacting evil spirits to assist her with her deed. This also links to the fact that two years before (1604) Shakespeare wrote his play (in 1606), people could be hanged for 'contacting evil spirits' making it seem as if his character (also the wife of a Thane) is breaking the law, which would have been shocking, as the rich enforced the law during that time.

Dickens then uses the word "uttered" to describe how his female character spoke the word "Broken!" There is a contrast between the adjective and speech; the exclamation mark makes the word seem abrupt, angry and urgent but the word "uttered" gives the impression it is quiet and almost inaudible. This suggests that the word, although abrupt and angry, was whispered. However, uttering words was and is associated with Witch's uttering spells to manipulate and control something to get what they want, suggesting that the character Miss Havisham also had a connection to witchcraft.

Shakespeare has a very obvious approach to introducing the idea and fascination with witchcraft, whereas Dickens uses an indirect bringing-up of the subject until later on, again foreshadowing.

Both Shakespeare and Dickens talk about their female characters associating with animals.

While Witchcraft was still a popular idea, someone came up with a theory: if an alleged Witch was seen associating with an animal, they were seen as their 'familiars' which was seen as if they were associating with the Devil while it is in animal form.

Shakespeare wrote "the raven himself is hoarse"; the word "raven" suggests she was associating with these animals and this is suggesting that the character Lady Macbeth had a plan that was so twisted, that not even the raven could say anything against it; this would have exaggerated how sick her plan was as a raven was and is used as a symbol of death. Where do sinners go when they die? - To Hell. Who is in Hell? – The Devil. It's as if Shakespeare was trying to say that Lady Macbeth was so abnormal that not even the Devil himself - the 'King' of Sins - had anything to say about it while he was in his animal form.

Dickens wrote "The mice have gnawed at it, and sharper teeth than the teeth of mice have gnawed at me" This is suggesting that his character, Miss Havisham, was so crazy she didn't care that animals were had "gnawed" at her. However, this links to the historical belief that if an alleged Witch had any sort of mark on them - wart, spot, boil, ulcer etc.- it was seen as the Devil's Mark, which meant that this Witch had let their familiar feed off of them to show their loyalty. Dickens is suggesting that Miss Havisham was a Witch and let the animals in her house (the Devil in animal form) feed off of her so that there was a sense of loyalty between the two.

Dickens used an obvious link between witchcraft, familiars and the strong religious belief in Heaven and Hell to hint to his readers about his characters true nature, and how sick she was. Whereas, Shakespeare used something which was much more thought provoking and subtle to show his audience how his character has a constant involvement with witchcraft, and how evil she can be that not even the Devil's pet – the raven - would speak.

Both Shakespeare and Dickens incorporated the patriarchal society where women were subservient to men. Women were seen as property - they could not own anything, so they could only get rich if they were to inherit their father's money. Traditionally and in religion, fathers would give their daughter a-way (away) at their wedding and hand them over to the husband so that they could take over the 'ownership'.

Shakespeare's character was married to a Thane [Prince], so was quite wealthy and powerful in terms of hierarchy, even though she was a female. Although, Lady Macbeth was still power-hungry, Shakespeare made her sound as if becoming Queen would satisfy her need to become powerful; it seems as if Shakespeare wanted to specifically make his character in this way so his audience would be shocked that a woman would want to rule over her husband, or her 'owner'. However, does status necessarily mean power? Just because Shakespeare made her Queen, does it make her powerful? Or was the use of status to cover up her weakness? Cover up the fact that during this period, it was nearly impossible for her to gain power of the men? Nevertheless, she still had to ask the spirits to make her more manly so that she could get the power she needed "Come you spirits...unsex me here..."

Dickens made us believe that his character, Miss Havisham, was very powerful, when really, she wasn't. Yes, she had a lot of money which she used to manipulate people, but it was inherited from her father. Also, the fact that she wore her wedding dress for the rest of her life and until the day she dies "When they lay me dead, in my bride's dress...", made us believe that even though she hated men and wanted to break their hearts, Dickens made his character still want to be tied to the man she lost because then it would show her weakness without her 'owner' beside her but still giver a sense of control and supremacy.

Shakespeare made his character want the status to fulfil her need for power, whereas Dickens made his character cover up her weakness, by using wealth as her protection and source for manipulation.

In conclusion, even though Shakespeare never directly called his character a Witch, he used the idea in his play with the 'three witches upon the heath' as it would have interested King James at the time (as King James was so interested in the concept, he wrote a book). However, Dickens used a much more direct approach and called his character - Miss Havisham - a Witch in Pip's second visit to Satis House: "she looked like the Witch of the place".

Shakespeare used soliloquy's and speech to hint and subtly describe the slow crescendo to Lady Macbeth's twisted and disturbed ways, whereas Dickens used direct, and constant description from his main character's point of view (even if it wasn't instantly noticeable) and some speech to show how weird and deranged Miss Havisham was.

But, was the mark Lady Macbeth saw when she lost her sanity, the blood of her victims, or the blood she shared with her familiar? Was the fact that Miss Havisham let animals feed on her, a loyalty pledge or pure idleness? The very idea of them having any involvement with witchcraft would have been abnormal enough; women that are disturbed usually have noticeable behaviour, but with these two characters, it seemed quite abrupt. One moment, they seem distant from normality, all of a sudden, their sanity snapped and peculiar ongoings started occurring.

Written in: 2015, 16 y/o