Compare & explore the ways power is presented in Shakespeare's 'Macbeth' & Browning's Poetry

Gender
1. Browning
  1. 'Made my cheek lie there'
    1. Imagery/Connotations of Support/Dependence
      1. ...reinforced by 'Heart fit to Break
    2. Imperative=Command/Control/No choice. Pronoun=His/Total
      1. Female has Total Control
2. Shakespeare
  1. "Leave all the rest to me"
    1. Imperative=Command/Control. Quantifier=Total
  2. "My hands are of your colour, but I shame to wear a heart so white"
    1. Pronouns= My & Your NOT Our/Separate/Superiority
    2. ...reinforces mocking, female has more courage than male
      1. Female is stronger than male
        Gender is a FALSE power
Social Power
1. Shakespeare
  1. 'He was a gentleman I had placed an absolute trust on"
    1. "Go pronounce his present death, and with his former title greet Macbeth
      1. Pronoun- Duncan controls Thane personally
        Weakness= Hierarchy only king is supreme
      2. "What he hath lost, noble Macbeth hath won" Juxtaposition highlights
        Weakness= What is given can be taken away, unstable/fragile
        Social Power is an FRAGILE power for all except for those at the top with 'true power'...
2. Browning
  1. Duchess. Connotations, social power, safe
    1. 'she ranked my gift'
      1. gift, given/taken. pronoun/ranked= possession hierarchy 'my duchess'
        Social power is dangerous, hierarchy means people below feel below are in danger of abuse.
    2. 'I gave commands; then all smiles stopped together'
      1. Pronoun/commands=Total control. Given can also be taken away
        Difference: Shakespeare hierarchy good. Browning hierarchy bad
Leadership
1. Shakespeare: Basilikon Doron/Malcolm=Perfect King
  1. To test Macduff's honour, Malcolm pretends that he's even worst than Macbeth he says that there's "no bottom, none, In my voluptuousness" (4.3 60-61)
    1. justice, verity, temperance, stableness, Bounty, perseverance, mercy, lowliness, Devotion, patience, courage, fortitude (4.3 91-94)
      1. "abjure the taints and blames I laid upon myself"
        By making Malcolm the hero of the play and creating his character according to the Jacobean perception of the perfect monarch, Shakespeare convinces the audience of the validity of James I as King and how he only can hold 'true power' because he's strong and wise enough to handle it, also stating a warning to the audience of what happens to those that try and seize power unjustly, with the character of Macbeth a point even more relevant after the gunpowder plot of 1605
  2. "My thanes and kinsmen, henceforth be earls"/"We will perform in measure, time and place" (5.9)
  3. Be devoted to God, A good king is everything the tyrant isn't, surround yourself with trusted and wise friends, well acquainted and loved by subjects. Divine Right of Kings
  4. "We'd jump the life to come" (1.7 7) His Greed outweighs heaven. Regicide
2. Browning
  1. Lab.:
  2. MLD: 'I choose never to stoop'
  3. P's Lover: 'She was mine' 'it has its utmost will...I, its love am gain'd instead'
True Power
1. Shakespeare
  1. Duncan "pronounce" responsibility of life, subjects. good
    1. "So clear office"
      1. Misuse macbeth
        "to th'edge o'th'sword his wife, his babes and all unfortunate souls that trace him in his line"
        aside/mental/possession
        "our suffering country under a hand acurs'd"
        "full of scorpions is my mind"
        Juxtaposition! DANGER! Leader!
2. Browning
  1. "Brand, burn up, bite into its grace"
Introduction
1. Both Shakespeare & Browning were accomplished writers, who used their texts to explore ideas & issues and influence their audience's/reader's opinions. Power is an idea that Browning and Shakespeare both explore, presenting their ideas on 'what is true power?' and 'who should have power and why?'. Both writers show that 'true power' is the responsibility of life, all other forms of power are false or fragile. They combat the common idea, in both patriarchal Jacobean & Victorian society that women are subservient and dependent of men, presenting gender as a false power. They also challenge the notion that social class brings power, a belief held in both societies -more so in the Victorian society, where the industrial revolution made the class boundary more prominent- both show how hierarchy makes it unstable power as you are always beneath someone more powerful, and highlight how just as social power can be given it can also be taken away, showing social power is fragile.
  1. 'True power' is so great it can bring happiness and security as well as untold misery and destruction, as such it should only be handled by people strong enough, a leader. This is where the similarity ends, Shakespeare and Browning both present different ideas on 'who should be the leader and why?'. Shakespeare argues that only a monarch can have true power, they are the perfect leader as they have been divinely appointed and made supreme, whereas Browning argues to be a leader and have true power, you need not be anyone specific but rather place the needs of others before yourself or you are sure to be doomed.
Conclusion
Context
1. Shakespeare: 15th Century/Jacobean Society/'Divine right of Kings/Gunpowder Plot -1605- betrayal, regicide = ultimate sin/James I unstable reign due to religious and social instability/James I wrote the Basilikon Doron a book which described how to be a perfect monarch
2. Browning: 17th Century/Victorian Readers/ Strong patriarchal society, women seen as subservient and dependent of men questioned as Victoria took throne/ Industrial Revolution, social class divide becomes more prominent and powerful, workers & owners

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Compare & explore the ways power is presented in Shakespeare's 'Macbeth' & Browning's Poetry

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	Created by milkslayer over 10 years ago