My teachers aren't marking practice questions atm because we just finished our mocks so theyre busy with that. would anyone be able to briefly mark this answer out of 34? i didnt finish it yet, i usually aim for 4 and a mini 5th one (not including my intro and conclusion). im beginning to start aiming to including 4 quotes in each paragraph, but im bad at memorising quotes so this is my raw knowledge. i usually memorise quotes like 1 day before the exam, my long term memory sucks.
"Explore how Shakespeare presents the relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth.
At the beginning of the play, Macbeth’s relationship between Lady Macbeth is portrayed to be equal and fair. The audience is exposed to Macbeth’s letter to his wife, whom he claims “my dearest partner in greatness,” which highlights how he views Lady Macbeth as his equal. Macbeth’s use of the key noun “partner” clearly suggests that his perspective on his wife is that he believes she is someone of his own league. Audiences may think that Shakespeare wrote this line at the start of the play to give them the impression that their relationship is equal. Alternatively, jacobean audiences may interpret this as immoral. This is because a woman and a man in a relationship should not be equal, in fact the man should have a higher status. Jacobean audiences may link this to how Lady Macbeth may have sought power in order to be referred to as the same league as her own husband. Therefore, Shakespeare has portrayed their relationship as abnormal, regarding the fact that Lady Macbeth appears to have gained power in a relationship where she shouldn’t have. This use of collective language and equality is seen as Macbeth also regards her of his status when he says that “we shall proceed no further in this business,” using collective pronouns. The collective pronoun “we” furthermore suggests that Macbeth truly believes that his wife is equal to himself, as she is referred to as the same kind of person as him. Moreover, Jacobean audiences may feel shocked that their relationship is equal and shares power, as they may think that Lady Macbeth is not supposed to have this kind of power.
Throughout the play, Macbeth’s relationship between Lady Macbeth appears to be unfair and imbalanced regarding power. Lady Macbeth’s assertive character clearly dominates against Macbeth’s vulnerable, emotional one. Lady Macbeth’s conniving messages to Macbeth, telling him to “look the innocent flower but be the serpent under’t” clearly illustrate how Lady Macbeth easily tries to torment Macbeth into obeying her commands. The idea of being an “innocent flower” links to positive connotations of purity and honesty. This is significant as it heavily juxtaposes against the following statement regarding the command of being “the serpent under’t”. The key imperative verb “under’t” highlights how Lady Macbeth commands Macbeth to be sly and sneakily be a “serpent”, an evil and deceiving character, whilst portraying himself as a pure and “innocent flower”. This clearly demonstrates how Lady Macbeth confidently embraces her power and superior character against her inferior husband. A Jacobean audience may feel appalled at Lady Macbeth’s behaviour, as a woman of this time should not be commanding a husband. She should be the one under his command. Shakespeare intentionally wrote his characters in this way so that the audience would automatically understand the power indifference between the two characters and their relationship, rather than offering the generic doting wife and the commanding husband.
Moreover, Lady Macbeth’s vociferous character continues to command her husband as she uses very assertive words that enforce her dominating allure. Lady Macbeth demands Macbeth to “give” her the daggers, rather than asking for it politely as expected during the Jacobean era. The imperative verb “give” significantly portrays the power indifference within Lady Macbeth and Macbeth’s relationship, as it furthermore emphasises on how Lady Macbeth feels as though she is the one who holds the power in their relationship. Lady Macbeth continues to use this type of imperative language throughout the play, commanding him to “go get” water. Shakespeare’s use of imperative language through Lady Macbeth’s character carefully portrays Lady Macbeth’s character, and how she easily dominates him without feeling a hint of fear. Jacobean audiences would be able to link her character to their relationship, as it clearly alludes the idea that Macbeth does not hold as much power in a relationship compared to the typical relationship during the Jacobean era.
Throughout the play, Macbeth begins to gain power in the relationship again as he
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