Shakespeare Comparison Paper

Claire Hinkley
Peifer 4
English 10 IB
18 March 2009
Shakespeare Comparison Paper
“Man in his time plays many parts.” This quote is representative of all humans, for everyone grows and changes throughout their lifetime. Perhaps this is why it is included in many great works of literature. The great William Shakespeare included it in many of his plays, including Macbeth and As You Like It. In these plays especially, the four characters that can most relate to this quote are probably Rosalind, Macbeth, Oliver, and Lady Macbeth, for each go through at least one transformation in the course of the play.
Rosalind, the protagonist in As You Like It, changes so many times throughout the story it can become a bit confusing for the readers. At first she is herself, Rosalind. Then she pretends to be a man (“Ganymede”) when she travels into the Forest of Arden. Finally, she pretends to be a man acting like a woman. “Were it not better,/ Because I am more than the common tall,/ That I did suit me all points like a man?… And therefore look you call me Ganymede.” (Shakespeare 1.3.121-132) She becomes Ganymede most practically for protection, for two women traveling alone in the forest would be dangerous to both. Later, when she is “acting” like Rosalind, it is driven by her curiosity to find out more about the one whom she loves. Rosalind’s switching of identities shows she is courageous, brave, smart, and resourceful. Shakespeare is also possibly making a point that women can be just as strong and brave as men when given the opportunity to be without judgment. Rosalind receives this opportunity because everyone she meets believes her to be a boy.
Macbeth starts out the play as a good thane, loyal to his king and country and happy with his position in life. However, the witches’ prophecy changes that. The notion of unlimited power is a poisonous seed in Macbeth’s mind, and it rapidly grows into a thorny vine that smothers all his guilty thoughts and remnants of his conscience. Macbeth becomes ruthless, ambitious, and bloodthirsty, and he stops at nothing in his quest for power. “I have no spur/ To ##### the sides of my intent, but only/ Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself/ And falls on th' other.” (Shakespeare 1.7.25-29) This change in character is helped along by his wife, Lady Macbeth, but eventually he surpasses her in greed and they separate, to meet again only in death. Macbeth’s change in character is a vivid warning of what happens when one becomes too powerful. The author could also have been suggesting that women are not to be trusted, since Lady Macbeth pushed her husband into more sin when he hesitated. He also could have been showing the audience a tyrant to make them appreciate King James.
Oliver, from As You Like It, is another character who does a complete turnaround in the role that he plays. At first he is malicious and cruel to his younger brother Orlando. “Oh, that your Highness knew my heart in this:/ I never loved my brother in my life” (Shakespeare 3.1.13-14) However, after Orlando saves his older brother from a lioness, Oliver becomes thoughtful and kind. “I do not shame/ To tell you what I was, since my conversion/ So sweetly tastes, being the thing I am.” (Shakespeare 4.2.161-163) Oliver’s change in character is meaningful because it shows how people can change through love, time, and life-or-death situations. Shakespeare also makes an interesting point on how there is good in everyone -- it sometimes just needs time to come out.
Lady Macbeth is a woman who plays many parts during the portion of her life captured in the play. In the beginning, she is very ambitious, and pushes her husband to kill Duncan. Then, slowly, we see her composure slipping, until she finally goes mad with guilt and commits suicide. The difference between the poised, ambitious, greedy Lady Macbeth at the start of the play and the shaking, guilt-ridden, sleepwalking woman at the end is enormous and startling. “Out, damned spot! Out, I say!—One, two. Why, then, 'tis time to do 't. Hell is/ murky!—Fie, my lord, fie! A soldier, and afeard? What need we fear who knows/ it, when none can call our power to account?—Yet who would have thought the/ old man to have had so much blood in him.” (Shakespeare 5.1.25-28) It sends a ringing warning to everyone in the audience. This change of character is important for many reasons. Lady Macbeth’s slipping sanity acts as both a comparison to her husband, who on the contrary grows colder and more greedy with every day; and also is a startling measure of the severity of the deeds committed by the couple. Though at first the lady’s suicide might seem like a symbol of the weakness of woman compared to men, it really shows the range of emotions women are capable of feeling. The guilt and sadness Lady Macbeth feels, though physically caused her death, ultimately might have saved her immortal soul from damnation. Macbeth was unable to feel regret, and this could be a much more far-reaching and deep flaw than the mental breakdown his wife experienced.
In the two plays As You Like It and Macbeth, the four characters Lady Macbeth, Oliver, Macbeth, and Rosalind especially make many changes to both their physical and mental characters throughout their respective stories. These different aspects to their personalities prove that everyone is multi-faceted and one should never judge another right away, for there is always more than meets the eye. As people grow, they change, and will always adapt to different situations. There are many forces acting upon everyone, and people will play many parts during their life, for nothing lasts forever.