The goodly Duncan and other innocents are murdered so that he can gain safe passage to the throne - and keep it. But this is not all that the play is concerned with. ... The three witches collude to meet with Macbeth 'upon the heath'. ... Macbeth is distraught by the impending murder and when Duncan arrives, it is Lady Macbeth who greets him, prompting the king to question: Where is the Thane of Cawdor?' ... She offers an allusion to a tragic past when she admits she has 'given suck and know[s] how tender 'tis to love the babe' she had – but there is no f...

• Word Count: 1419
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Though conventional patriarchal beliefs seem to perpetuate the dominance of men and subordination of women, Shakespeare and Sophocles seem to question the validity of those beliefs in their plays, Macbeth and Antigone, with their radically heterodox female characters-they neither conform with the loving tenderness nor the acquiescence and tendency to submit to authority commonly associated with women. ... Stop up th' access and passage to remorse, That no compunctious visitings of nature Shake my fell purposeCome to my woman's breasts And take my milk for gall, you murd'ring mi...

• Word Count: 1748
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: Undergraduate