Sometimes people are just what they appear to be. Elvis Costello wrote this lyric in a song titled: “Miss Macbeth”, inspired by Shakespeare’s play Macbeth. In this song, Elvis explores Lady Macbeth and her pain derived from her actions. Lady Macbeth is portrayed differently in both works. Shakespeare demonstrates Lady Macbeth as a cruel, unforgiving lady willing to push the boundaries to achieve her goal. Elvis takes an alternate path and depicts Lady Macbeth as a more relatable person overcome with sadness and difficulty. In both works, she is devastated by internal conflict and forces out of her reach. Is Lady Macbeth a bitter person or is she a distraught lady trapped by her faults?
Lady Macbeth lacks all humanity in Macbeth. In her opening scene she calls upon spirits: “Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, and fill me from the crown to the …show more content…
It begs the question: Is she really evil, or just a pantomime? “And everyday she lives out another love song It's a tearful lament of somebody done wrong. Well how can you miss what you've never possessed.” Her life is occupied by grief. How can she be happy if she has never experienced it before? Society has depicted her as an evil woman and she ate the bait. Lady Macbeth in Macbeth had an empty heart and she was not influenced by society. In contrast, her burning desire to become queen forced her to be a gentlewoman in public to attract the king. She enticed the king into her castle so she could kill him. “We are your servants, your highness, and as always our house and everything in it is at your disposal, for after all, we keep it in your trust and we’re glad to give you back what’s yours” (act 1, scene 6). Lady Macbeth’s internal desires are portrayed differently in these works. Elvis shows that she despises being an outcast and how society has pushed her away. Shakespeare establishes Lady Macbeth as a selfish woman with evil
Lady Macbeth lacks all humanity in Macbeth. In her opening scene she calls upon spirits: “Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, and fill me from the crown to the …show more content…
It begs the question: Is she really evil, or just a pantomime? “And everyday she lives out another love song It's a tearful lament of somebody done wrong. Well how can you miss what you've never possessed.” Her life is occupied by grief. How can she be happy if she has never experienced it before? Society has depicted her as an evil woman and she ate the bait. Lady Macbeth in Macbeth had an empty heart and she was not influenced by society. In contrast, her burning desire to become queen forced her to be a gentlewoman in public to attract the king. She enticed the king into her castle so she could kill him. “We are your servants, your highness, and as always our house and everything in it is at your disposal, for after all, we keep it in your trust and we’re glad to give you back what’s yours” (act 1, scene 6). Lady Macbeth’s internal desires are portrayed differently in these works. Elvis shows that she despises being an outcast and how society has pushed her away. Shakespeare establishes Lady Macbeth as a selfish woman with evil