Women play many roles in the societies of today and those of past. They have been gatherers and they have been homemakers. These days they wear the new mask of the conformity of the business world. The suits hide their figures and their femininity is stripped away. This stripping did not begin in this decade nor the one before it and certainly not the one before that. This subject began long before then; women’s roles have always been confused and toyed with in our patriarchal societies. This essay will explore the types of female roles presented in The Crucible, Macbeth, and An Inspector Calls.
In An Inspector Calls, there are three female characters. The fact that they are outnumbered from the onset is a clue to the fact that thy play a more submissive role in the entire piece. This also reflects on how women expressed themselves very submissively in the time period being written about (1912).
The three women are: Sybil Birling, Arthur Birling’s wife, Sheila Birling, his daughter, and Edna, the maid. The fact that Edna is not even granted a last name places her in low standing, stating her role from the beginning. At the same note Sybil and Sheila are referred to as possessions, as His.
As an example in Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is a dominant character if not the lead. She aids, assists, and cajoles her husband into committing a horrible crime. Where, The Witches of Macbeth have a way of guiding the plot with the aid of their prophecies (“Hail to thee, Macbeth, Thane of Cawdor.”) and appearances. As well, in The Crucible the most dominant characters are that of Abigail Williams and her foil Elizabeth Proctor. Abigail takes on the role of the lover scorned and exerts her power in an effort to obtain the affections of John Proctor (Act I, pg 23, Abigail).
Macbeth Essay: Is Macbeth a sympathetic character?
In Shakespeare’s screenplay, tragedies usually arouse feelings of pity and fear. Yet is the gradual breakdown of Macbeth enough for the audience to feel sympathetic for him? Macbeth is taken place in Scotland. It explores themes like power, desires, ambition and gender etc.. In the story, Macbeth is a general that, due to three witches’ prophecies, fell from a hero into the trap of dark desires ...
On the other hand Elizabeth uses her sway with John to get him to bring their servant to the court in an attempt to show the courts Abigail’s treachery and reveal he plot.
An Inspector Calls deals with a time period in which women’s roles were simply cut and dry. In the 1910’s you were either a wife (Sybil), a daughter (Sheila), or a low class worker (Edna) meaning either a maid or possibly a secretary or teacher. In this play the direct classification of females as inferior and less deserving of choices is very clearly apparent. In the text, and in the dialogue, the way in which the female characters converse with their male opposites is very reserved and mousy. Their tones and reactions are subdued, and when there are any signs of a stressful or distasteful situation, they are asked to or decide to leave the room.
In conclusion, there are large differences between the female roles of these three plays. There are Abigail Williams and Elizabeth Proctor, in The Crucible, who do what they have to do regardless of the consequences. There are Lady Macbeth and the The Witches, in Macbeth. In this story Lady Macbeth’s ambition ends up rivaling that of her husbands (Act I, scene v, lines 36-52).
The Witches prophecies being the guiding force of the Scottish tale. Lastly there are the women of An Inspector Calls. Sybil Birling is only interested in the families’ reputation. She’s a very conservative and old-fashioned woman. Sheila Birling is at the beginning very egoistic and self-confident, but near the end she thinks more clearly and accepts responsibility. In the end there may be changes in character, but the women’s roles remain the same.
