Exploring The Novel Poisonwood Bible And Macbeth English Literature Essay

The drama Macbeth by William Shakespeare and the fresh Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, are literary plants that explore the deep desires of self fulfilment. While many different literary devices are outstanding in both plants, this paper will concentrate on the intervention of subjects by both writers. Namely the subjects of power and control. These subjects are best highlighted in Lady Macbeth from Macbeth and Nathan Price from the Poisonwood Bible. These two characters best develop the subjects of power and control through their shared features of aspiration, use and pitilessness.
Ambition is a reoccurring tool of character development in both The Poisonwood Bible and Macbeth, employed by the writers to stress the overall subjects of power and control. Nathan is a clergyman from America in the Congo trying to conform the small town of Kilanga to the Catholic religion. His aspiration and motivations are powered by fright and blind religion in God, coupled with desire for personal power-which he self interestedly translated into taking control of the small town and holding power over the people. He besides believes that if he does non finish the undertaking he will be unable to come in heaven. His aspiration begins to over power his judgement, his ability to ground and his construct of household, which causes the small town people to beat up against him to seek and re derive their freedom and independency hence exercising their ain signifier of power and re-enforcing the overall subjects. Unlike Nathan ‘s gradual and increased aspiration, Lady Macbeth ‘s aspiration is instantly apparent from the beginning of the drama, and merely grows as the desire for the throne and its power direct her over the border. She right off begins to piece a program to kill King Duncan in order to put her hubby Macbeth in line for the throne. This compulsion drives her insane, and like Nathan her ability to ground, her judgement and her scruples are clouded by her demand for power and control. She acted in ways that showed that she would halt at nil in order to derive the throne even if it meant slaying. Both characters became so ambitious in their efforts to derive power and wield control, that it finally drives them to their ain deceases.
Manipulation is another changeless, though more subtly employed, word picture tool in both plants. She manipulated Macbeth into killing Duncan, in order to derive the rubric of King and Queen. Lady Macbeth ironically, felt excessively guilty to kill Duncan herself-due to resemblance to her father-however, had no scruple or concern for Macbeths witting when she manipulated him into killing his friend. In order to carry through this she began oppugning Macbeth ‘s manhood, seeking to convert him that he was emasculate -hence weaker so she, so she and that he could non step up to the undertaking of killing Duncan. This mental use made him oppugn his judgement, which led to him going really baffled. In the terminal her uses were successful, assisting her achieve the power and control she so greatly desired. Nathan like Lady Macbeth, abused his household in order to acquire what he wanted. The villagers had become so fed up with Nathan seeking to command them and their faith that they rebelled, killing all the white people in their small town. Nathan ‘s married woman and kids are in secret fixing to get away to America, but Nathan, out of fright of solitariness, begins to mistreat and pull strings his married woman, and endanger the lives of his kids, in order to acquire them to stay in the small town and let him to go on his quest. This maltreatment and use allowed Nathan to recover power and control over his household, while doing them even more anguish as they impotently watch the deceases of many people they loved. Both Lady Macbeth and Nathan ‘s uses and evident deficiency of guilt over them, show to the audience merely how pitiless both characters are.

This pitilessness is a 3rd of import manner the characters are both developed and the subjects enriched. Nathan is so determined to complete the quest God sent him to make that he forgot his ethical motives and committed awful Acts of the Apostless in order to obtain power over the small town people and control over his household ensuing in the loss of many guiltless lives. His chief distressing act of pitilessness was working his girls and coercing them to remain in the Congo so that he could keep his control over them while the villagers fought for their freedom. These egoistic actions resulted in the decease of his four girls and married woman, go forthing him entirely. Lady Macbeth was far more pitiless so Nathan, upon hearing that Macbeth was to be king she immediately began to inquire God to do her into more of a adult male in order to be able to perpetrate slaying. “ Come, you spirits that tend on moral ideas, unsex me here, aˆ?aˆ?And make full me, from the Crown to the toe, Top-full of direst inhuman treatment. aˆ?aˆ?A Make midst my blood. “ ( Lady Macbeth- Act 1 scene V ) . She lost her scruples wholly and began to move without witting in the effort to derive the throne, her symbols of power and control. Lady Macbeth increasingly becomes more pitiless, until she does non even question the idea of killing Duncan in order to be following in line to the throne, she is over whelmed in her ain desires, that she forgot about everything else that use to affair.
Throughout both Macbeth and the Poisonwood Bible both writers develop their several characters of Lady Macbeth and Nathan Price by foregrounding their picks and actions through aspiration, use and pitiless action. These characters therefore serve to foreground the overall subjects of power and control in both plants. Both Nathan and Lady Macbeth sacrificed everything for power and control non recognizing the true cost. Nathan losingss his full household and is left to populate entirely, and Lady Macbeth looses her saneness, driving herself to take her ain life. Their battle for power and control wrecked many lives and in the terminal their several triumphs was so little that it all did non look worth the attempt.
COMPARATIVE ESSAY
Having…
Lady Macbeth from Shakespear ‘s Macbeth
and
Nathan Price from the Poisonwood Bible
By: Tori Skot
For: Ms.Zaikos
January 7, 2008