When one has to differentiate between good and bad literary characters, it is usually quite simple. However, it is an entirely different task when one has to discuss the level of virtue and kindness of several different heroes or heroines. Shelley’s Frankenstein, Shakespeare’s Macbeth, and Austen’s Persuasion all contain numerous plot twists and peculiar characters. In each of these literary pieces, there are heroines that impress the readers with their positive attitude toward others and thoughtful acts. In this essay, the characters of Elizabeth from Frankenstein, Anne from Persuasion, and Lady Macduff from Macbeth will be analyzed. While Shelley’s Elizabeth and Shakespeare’s Lady Macduff undoubtedly possess positive features and represent amiable personalities, Austen’s Anne is the most virtuous since she is not only kind and charming but also caring and humble.
All of the characters under analysis are kind and good, owning such features as thoughtfulness, generosity, charm, and passion. Shelly depicts Elizabeth as the one who can “soften and attract” others (20). Meanwhile, Shakespeare’s Lady Macduff appears to be a woman passionate about her beliefs, particularly about being true to one’s motherland. She is represented as a woman of utmost decency and honor, able to call a spade a spade and admit that her husband is a traitor deserving to be in an “unsanctified” place (Shakespeare 4.4.76). The similarity between these characters is in their ability to draw the attention of others and share their worldview. However, Elizabeth expresses “compassion” rather than judgment (Shelley 144). Meanwhile, Austen’s Anne’s kindness is undervalued, which makes her the most virtuous of all heroines. She enjoys “to be thought of some use” and is always ready to help even if her interests may be hurt (Austen 29). Therefore, Anne’s self-abnegation is the first reason to consider her the most honorable of all.
Another point of comparison that serves to Anne’s advantage is their attitude to family. Undoubtedly, Elizabeth was caring and considerate toward the family that adopted her as she became the “comforter” to them “all” upon Caroline’s death (Shelley 25). Lady Macduff expresses concern about her children upon her husband’s decision to flee and “leave his babes” (Shakespeare 4.2.5). However, these expressions of love and care are quite natural. Meanwhile, Anne’s protectiveness is somewhat twisted as she is the one trying to save her parents’ financial situation. In doing so, she also kept a “much higher tone of indifference for everything but justice and equity” (Austen 11). Elizabeth’s pity toward her brother and Lady Macduff’s protectiveness concerning her children are obvious and expected. Meanwhile, Anne’s endeavor to save her father’s financial situation is a demonstration of an extreme level of wisdom and consideration. Therefore, Anne is the most virtuous of the three when it comes to family bonds.
Upon analyzing the three heroines’ most pronounced traits, it becomes evident that Austen’s Anne is the noblest of all due to her incredible protectiveness and willingness to subdue her own desires in order to remain on good terms with everyone. Although Shelley’s Elizabeth and Shakespeare’s Lady Macduff are both supportive and careful, they cannot compete with Anne in terms of doing her best to satisfy everyone. In fact, she probably denies herself many things in her attempt to make everyone around her happy. Probably this character should serve not only as a shining example of virtue but also as a warning against self-abnegation.
In Shakespeare’s time, it was much more common to speak of men’s power than of women’s one. Yet, as revolutionary as he was in his attitude toward theater and literature, Shakespeare did not mind empowering the female characters in his plays. In Macbeth, there are several prominent female heroines, each of them possessing a different degree of control: Lady Macduff, the three witches, and Lady Macbeth. While Lady Macduff seems to have no power over her situation or over other characters in the story, the rest of the mentioned females are mightier and have more impact on the development of the plot. The three witches, being rather strange characters, nevertheless manage to set the tone of the play through their chants. Meanwhile, Lady Macbeth is imperious and even somewhat masculine, which makes her the most powerful woman in Macbeth.
The female character with the least power in Macbeth is Lady Macduff. She is rather passionate about her point and fearlessly expresses her opinion about her husband’s behavior. However, this does not make her able to prevent the death of her children or her own one. The appearance of Lady Macduff in the play is rather brief but meaningful. However, impressive as it is, her character does not seem to possess any power since she mainly focuses on lamenting over her husband’s escape and pitying her children. Rather than listening to some positive characteristics given to her husband, she asserts that her son is “fatherless” despite being “fathered” (Shakespeare 4.2.26). The lack of a man’s support makes some women strong and potent, but this is not the case with Lady Macduff. The three witches are in the middle position on the scale of power, being not as weak as Lady Macduff yet not as important as Lady Macbeth. The very fact that they possess extraordinary power makes one think of them as fearful creatures able to do something bad to those who do not treat them well. Their chants around the boiling cauldron do not promise anything good. In fact, they speak about “Double, double toil and trouble” as they perform their rituals (Shakespeare 4.1.20). Most of all, however, the three witches’ power is traced in the phrase that has become the leitmotif of Macbeth: “Fair is foul and foul is fair” (Shakespeare 1.1.12). Since by the end of the play, it becomes clear that nothing is at it seems in the beginning, this prophecy of the three witches makes them look quite powerful.
However, as Lady Macbeth combines both feminine and masculine features and both human and witchy features, she is the most authoritative woman in Macbeth. In one of her opening monologs, she sounds more of a witch than the three witches, asking the spirits to “unsex” her and fill her “Of direst cruelty” (Shakespeare 1.5.39; 1.5.41). Hence, Lady Macbeth refuses from her female nature and wants to become less meek and more powerful. By the end of the play, however, she becomes too feeble, and the doctor says that “More needs she the divine than the physician” (Shakespeare 5.1.64). However, it is evident that she possesses the most power among all women in the play.
Upon analyzing the characters of Lady Macduff, the three witches, and Lady Macbeth, it is appropriate to conclude that the latter is the most powerful woman in Macbeth. Lady Macduff is an important character, but she is rather weak compared to others. Meanwhile, although witches are entirely mystical and intimidating characters, Lady Macbeth’s ability to combine the human and supernatural makes her more mysterious and frightening.
Works Cited
Austen, Jane. Persuasion. The Pennsylvania State University, 2007.
Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. Edited by Albert R. Braunmuller, Cambridge University Press, 1997.
Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft (Godwin). Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus. E-Books Directory, n.d.