Hamlet and Macbeth were written by William Shakespeare. The plays have the characters Lady Macbeth and Ophelia in them. Hamlet is a play about a man named Hamlet, who wants revenge for the murder of his father. Ophelia is Hamlet’s love interest in the play. Macbeth is about a man named Macbeth, who receives a prophecy that one day he will be king. Lady Macbeth is Macbeth’s wife in the play. Lady Macbeth is one of the main characters in Macbeth, while Ophelia is more of a side character more than a main character in Hamlet. Lady Macbeth and Ophelia have their similarities and differences that will be ocused on.
Lady Macbeth and Ophelia impact the reader in a similar way, because they receive no sympathy from the reader, but Lady Macbeth and Ophelia have attitudes, desires, and deaths that impact the plays in different ways. Lady Macbeth and Ophelia are similar, because get no sympathy from the reader when they go mad. Lady Macbeth gets no sympathy from the reader, because of all the bad things she had done in Macbeth. Lady Macbeth talked Macbeth into killing Duncan, so he can become king. She even questioned Macbeth’s manhood a couple of times, so Macbeth can go through with evil actions.
Even though she starts the play off as a ruthless character, she starts to regret these actions. Lady Macbeth then has a lot of guilt about the murder of Duncan later in the story. She goes mad because of it. When she has guilt about the murder, she says, “I still have the smell of blood on my hand. All the perfumes of Arabia couldn’t make my little hand smell better. Oh, oh, oh! ” (Macbeth 5. 1. 43-45). Lady Macbeth dies shortly after this. Lady Macbeth gets no sympathy from the reader, because she should have thought about how she really feels about murder and the consequences that soon ome of it.
Ophelia doesn’t get any sympathy, because she let the men in her life rule her, and she had never taken control of her life. Ophelia let Hamlet verbally abuse her. Ophelia also let Polonius and Laertes influence her decisions in her relationship. She goes mad and sings this, “He is dead and gone, lady, He is dead and gone, At his head is a patch of green grass, And at his feet a stone. ” (Hamlet 4. 5. 31-34). She went mad, because Hamlet rejected her, Laertes was gone in France, and Polonius was dead. The men in her life were gone, and she didn’t know what to do with herself.
She was used to being controlled by the men and never thought for herself. Ophelia died after she went mad. Ophelia receives no sympathy from the reader, because she should have stood up for herself. Lady Macbeth and Ophelia have different attitudes that impact the plays in different ways. Lady Macbeth was a ruthless and strong character. When Macbeth was hesitating about his plan to kill Duncan in the beginning of the play, Lady Macbeth was there to pick him up. Lady Macbeth convinces Macbeth to kill Duncan by saying, “From now on this is what l’ll think of your love’s worth. Are you afraid to match your acts with your ambitions?
Can you want that glittering prize–the crown- yet be a self-confessed coward: ‘d like to, but I daren’t, like the poor cat in the proverb that wanted fish but wouldn’t get its feet wet? ” (Macbeth 1. 7. 38-45). Lady Macbeth had to insult Macbeth in order for him to kill Duncan. Lady Macbeth made Macbeth have enough courage to kill Duncan and become the king. Lady Macbeth impacted the play by making this event happen, and making the play move forward. If Macbeth backed out of his plan to kill Duncan and Lady Macbeth didn’t convince him to kill Duncan, the play’s plot couldn’t move forward the way it did.
Ophelia was the opposite of Lady Macbeth. Ophelia was weak, because she didn’t make decisions on her own. Another characteristic she had, was that she obeyed everything that she was told to do. When Polonius told her that she should break up with Hamlet because he was only using her for sexual desires, she replied, “I’ll do as you say, my lord. ” (Hamlet 1. 3. 142). Ophelia never thought of what was best for her. Ophelia’s attitude doesn’t impact the play that uch, but she impacts Hamlet’s mindset of women. When Ophelia breaks up with Hamlet on Polonius’ command, Hamlet’s perspective of women changes.
Hamlet starts to think that women are two-faced and deceptive. Lady Macbeth and Ophelia have different desires that impact the plays in different ways. Lady Macbeth’s desire was to have power. Lady Macbeth wanted to convince Macbeth to kill Duncan, that Macbeth would become the king, and Lady Macbeth would become the queen. When she reads the letter from Macbeth that says that a prophecy told him he would be king, she replied, “My brave ords will overcome the scruples standing between you and the golden circle–the crown that fate and the supernatural seem to have destined for you! (Macbeth 1. 5. 25-29).
Lady Macbeth’s ambitions impacted the play, because her ambitions lead to Macbeth becoming the king and Lady Macbeth becoming the queen. Ophelia’s desire is different from Lady Macbeth’s desire. Ophelia wanted love, not power. When Ophelia and Polonius was talking about Hamlet, Ophelia says, “He has, my lord, tendered his affection for me frequently of late. ” (Hamlet 1. 3. 105-06). Polonius then scolded Ophelia, saying that Hamlet s only using her for sexual desires. Polonius says this to defend his argument that Hamlet doesn’t really love her.
Ophelia respects Hamlet, and she speaks highly of him, but Polonius orders Ophelia to break up with Hamlet. Ophelia’s desire for love impacts the play, because Ophelia serves as a possible reason for why Hamlet was mad. Lady Macbeth and Ophelia have deaths that impact the plays in different ways. Lady Macbeth is announced to be dead when Seton says, “The queen, my lord, is dead. ” (Macbeth 5. 5. 16). Macbeth wants to mourn her death, but he was preparing for war at the moment. Lady Macbeth’s death impacts Macbeth, because his viewpoint of life changes when she dies.
Macbeth realizes that he let his ambitions ruin his life. Macbeth thinks that his life is meaningless, because he realizes that everyone is after him for all the things he has done before and after becoming the king. Macbeth now fights for his life that he now thinks, is meaningless. Ophelia’s death impacts the play, because her death made Laertes angrier at Hamlet. Laertes was already mad at Hamlet, because Laertes learned that Hamlet killed Laertes’ father, Polonius. Ophelia’s death is announced when he queen says, “One sorrow follows on the heels of another, they happen so quickly.
Your sister has drowned, Laertes! ” (Hamlet 4. 7. 178-79). Ophelia’s death made Laertes want to fight Hamlet even more, because Laertes thinks that Hamlet is the reason why Ophelia went mad and committed suicide. Lady Macbeth and Ophelia had their parallels and their contrasts in the plays Hamlet and Macbeth. Their actions affect the reader to think of them in a similar way. They both have their contrasts that impacted the plays in various ways, with those being their demeanors, ambitions, and their fates.