Macbeth and Brave New
World have the following in
common:
- A tragic
hero: Macbeth is ruled too much by ambition and the occult; John is ruled
by his inability to reconcile the past and present worlds. Both die as a result of
these tragic flaws. - Suicide as a mark of
guilt and fateful choices: Lady Macbeth kills herself because of the
guilt in Duncan's murder; John kills himself because of the guilt of overindulging in
soma and orgy-portgy. - A conflict between
the natural and supernatural / unnatural world: Macbeth subverts the
natural order by using the witches (supernatural) as advisors; John escapes the natural
world (the Savage Reservation) and is thrown into the unnatural world of the Brave New
World. - A caste/class system in which women,
in particular, are victimized: In Macbeth, Lady
Macbeth must live vicariously through her husband. The witches are the bottom of the
social ladder. Lady Macduff, too, is powerless. In Brave New
World, the women, Linda and Lenina in particular, are playthings to men.
They are second class citizens (Betas to the male
Alphas). - A subversion of family values and
education of children: the Macbeths do not have children and would make
terrible parents. In the play there are bloody children (Macduff), the murdering and
attempted murdering of children (Banquo's and Macduff's sons), and Lady Macbeth's
admission that she would dash her baby's brains out. In Brave New
World, children are unwanted naturally; instead, their test-tube equivalents
are brainwashed to hate education and nature. Both authors depict dystopias in which
children are unloved and unwanted.
No comments:
Post a Comment