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Ф I Л А Л А Г I Ч Н Ы Я Н А В У К I
УДК 82-95:82-2(=821.111)
Ahmed Madlool Challab Al-Bdairi
Graduate student of the Department of Russian Philology of the third year of full-time education of the Yanka Kupala State University of Grodno Scientific Adviser: Ioskevich Olga Alexandrovna, Candidate of Philological Sciences, Associate Professor
DYNAMISM OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF FATHER / MOTHER CHARACTER IN THE PLAYS BY W. SHAKESPEARE «MACBETH» AND «HAMLET»
The article examines the specifics of the development of the images of father / mother in the plays by W. Shakespeare «Macbeth» and «Hamlet», traces the dynamism of the formation and disclosure of dramatic characters, analyzes the peculiarities of Shakespeare's interpretation of the categories of fatherhood / motherhood in cultural, historical and psychological contexts. W. Shakespeare reflects in his plays many different characters offather and mother as in «Macbeth» and «Hamlet», but no one of them is the ideal of a good father / mother. This reflects the tragedy of the discord of the human personality with itself and with the world.
Keywords: dynamism, character, father, mother, Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, Polonius, Gertrude, W. Shakespeare.
Introduction
Dynamism of character is the term that explains the development of the character within the course of the action. Sure, drama is the famous genre that is based on the artistic effects of the employment of character's dynamism. So, this study aims at presenting an evaluation to the images of father and mother in two dynamic texts of William Shakespeare, «Hamlet» (1603) and «Macbeth» (1606), by using different manners of literary criticism including modern approaches in psychiatry and psychoanalysis. The purpose of the article is to reveal the peculiarities of the dynamism of the development of the images of father / mother in the plays «Hamlet» and «Macbeth» by W. Shakespeare.
The novelty of the research is determined by a new approach to the study of the images of the father / mother in these plays by William Shakespeare, which is based on a systematic, comprehensive study of literary images in cultural, historical and psychological contexts.
The choice of research material is not random. Both plays mark a violent transition in the aspect of dynamism. There is a controversy about identifying the exact dynamic status of Macbeth and Polonius who try to cover their wickedness with appearance of goodness and behave as clever manipulators.
The perverse image of father in these plays is contrasted with the image of mother, which is represented by a woman who is driven by longing. Both mothers, Lady Macbeth and Gertrude, reflect shallow and negative images as far as the context of motherhood. But according to the aspect of characterization, each of them is basically a truthful character who has no hidden meaning in her action. In brief, the father who is transmitted from the official context to the domestic one and vice versa, shows his character to be the antithesis of the image of mother in their dramatic worlds.
Shakespeare's plays «Hamlet» and «Macbeth» are intensively studied in foreign literary criticism. The attention of modern researchers is attracted by the problems of gender and ethics in Shakespeare's plays (for example, the work of M. Tassi [1]), the specifics of the interpretation of the images of Macbeth and Hamlet in the aspect of psychoanalysis (studies by H. Bloom [2] and A.C. Bradley [3]), the study of the development of mechanisms of characterization in Shakespeare's works (for example, the monograph by P. Sadovsky [4]).
The relevance of our article is determined by a number of factors: first, the importance of father / mother images in W. Shakespeare's plays and the lack of special comprehensive research on this problem; secondly, the intensification of interdisciplinary research in modern Shakespearean studies, both foreign and domestic. The study of the specifics of the development of the images under consideration
© Al-Bdairi Ahmed Madlool Challab, 2022
allows not only to clarify the Shakespeare's artistic skill, but also to reveal the peculiarities of his own worldview in the field of family, moral and ethical relations of the Renaissance.
Research methodology
During the research, the following methods were used: comparative-historical, cultural-historical with elements of analysis in the aspect of psychopoetics.
Research results and their discussion
«Macbeth» Macbeth: Father
Macbeth is a brave soldier in King Duncan's army, «What bloody man is that?» (I, ii, 1). The king rewarded him with the title «The thane of Cawdor» (I, iii, 124) due to his great victory. Such a reward proves the prediction of three witches that met him in the way.
Macbeth stands on the stage as an honorable hero whose manly courage that is mixed with a realistic tendency and military rhetoric enables him to prove his being as a «worthy gentleman». Macbeth is a progressive character that marks a transition in his dynamism.
Macbeth himself views his character as an endostatic as he defines his role as a traitor, «I am Thane of Cawdor» (I, iii, 133) or when he hides his dark ambitious thoughts, «Glamis, and Thane of Cawdor: «The greatest is behind» (I, iii, 115-116). He lives with a guilty conscience because of his brutal act. Such insistence on the tragic events is intended by Shakespeare to achieve much theatrical excitement, even if it causes a wide gap between the character's action and the true sense of credibility. Moreover, sometimes Shakespeare intentionally ignores the adequate and plausible motives for Macbeth's evil action, just to present him both as a hero Macbeth and a criminal one. More has been said by Kenneth Muir, concerning this point: «In his characterization of Macbeth Shakespeare, it has been argued, made the bold experiment of mixing mutually exclusive qualities: a brave warrior who is a moral coward and a brutal murderer who is racked by feeling of guilt» [2, p. 153].
As a matter of fact, there is a great controversy over the definition of the exact dynamic status of Macbeth's character, since he passes through a transitional state between two different dynamic stages: statism and endodynamism. He starts his dramatic development as a static character who is highly attached to aspects of honor and loyalty, but later he follows an endodynamic tendency of accumulation power under the impact of his wife, Lady Macbeth, who evaluates and assesses his manhood in relation to the quest of power. So, Macbeth suffers from «characterological inconsistency» which is defined by A.C. Bradley as «the classic endostatic dilemma of a man whose conscious or reflective mind moves chiefly among considerations of outward success and failure, while his inner being is convulsed by conscience» [3, p. 11].
The first step in his characterological dilemma is formulated under the impact of his wife (the fourth witch).
Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair And make my seated heart knock at my ribs Against the use of nature? Present fears Are less than horrible imaginings. My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical, Shakes so my single state of man That function is smothered in surmise, And nothing is but what is not (I, iii, 148-155).
The gradual transformation in Macbeth's character starts from his submission to his ambitious partner whose actions prove her being as an endodynamic and masculinized woman. Here-upon, Macbeth commits «the horrid deed» (I, vii, 2) and turns «the dagger of the mind» (II, i, 38) into a real one in his hand as soon as passing the transformational period of dynamism, which reflects the death of his earlier moral existential being.
Had I but died an hour before this chance, I had lived a blessed time; for from this instant There's nothing serious in mortality. All is but toys. Renown and grace is dead. The wine of life is drawn, and the mere lees Is left this vault to brag of? (II, iii, 89-94).
Later, Macbeth enters the phase of extreme endodynamism, when he alienates himself from all humanity, and becomes a tyrant hero whose major language is violence and bloodshed. I am in blood
Stepped in so far that, should I wade no more,
Returning were as tedious as go o'er.
Strange things I have in head that will to hand,
Which must be acted ere they may be scanned (III, iv, 135-139).
Then the audience has been shocked by Macbeth's ambition of achieving «quasi-divine immortality» which can be described as an endodynamic dream. Macbeth thinks nobody can equate his dynamism and puts an end to his quest of power in this life, as it is predicted by the witch. But his disappointment is incomparable when he discovers the birth-story of Macduff, his principle's personal foe, who «was from his mother's womb / untimely ripped» (V, viii, 15-16). So, the extreme endodynamism leads to the ultimate loss.
Lady Macbeth: Mother
Lady Macbeth is one of the most powerful female characters in Shakespeare's drama; she is a highly dynamic character who believes that her husband psychologically depends on her power. She is his mother-like figure. «[She] has to guide, protect and mother her husband whose voice sounds pitifully human and almost child-like» [5, p. 117]. She never appreciates her husband gender as manly endostatic one, in the opposite she assures that herself has all the traits of endodynamic masculinity. From the early beginning of the play, the audience can notice her powerful nature through her happiness as she echoes the witches' prophesy concerning Macbeth's fortune: Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be What thou art promised. Yet do I fear thy nature; It is too full o' th' milk of human kindness (I, v, 15-17).
Lady Macbeth is a self-assured woman who takes the decisions firmly. She criticizes Macbeth for his being mild, meek and hesitant to seize the power from Duncan. She accuses him of being timid with no masculine power. In other words, she tries to distance his hesitance by making him feel as unworthy man. There is a kind of «gender reversion» and an exchange of characteristics that make the audience expect the opposite development in both characters. Gradually, Lady Macbeth takes the role of commander and forces Macbeth to bow to her desires exactly like a submissive woman. And then she sucks his «unconscious manliness» to appear as an endodynamic masculine figure who has no sense of femininity. She becomes a cruel manipulator and Macbeth is a puppet.
Dramatically speaking, «cross-gender imagery» is highly developed in this play. Lady Macbeth tries to escape from all weakness of femininity and motherhood: Come, you spirit
That tends on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, And fill me from the crown to the toe topfull Of direst cruelty! (I, v, 38-41).
She is ready to sacrifice everything even her dynamic sexual power and transform into «a masculinized creature of direst cruelty» [4, p. 285].
Now she is quite sure that the character of her husband Macbeth is inferior to her in maturity and dynamism. He appears as «too full o'th 'milk of human kindness» (I, v, 16-17). By these words, Lady Macbeth shows a kind of deliberate exaggeration in Macbeth's weakness, just to motivate his inner violent nature to commit the action of killing Duncan, since such description cannot be related to a great military leader who achieves a series of victories.
Lady Macbeth finds her husband is less mature than her in the serious realization and fulfillment of prophecy of witches. She tries to eliminate his static and passive personality: And yet wouldst wrongly win. Thou 'dst have, great Glamis,
That which cries «Thus thou must do», if thou have it, And that which rather thou dost fear to do, Than wishest should be undone (I, v, 18-23).
Actually, Macbeth is aware of the psychological deficiency within his inner world and the inability to make independent decisions or commit violent acts, although Lady Macbeth stimulates him greatly, «that I may pour my spirits in thine ear» (I, v, 26). Lady Macbeth is a very cunning and ambitious woman who is able to play the role of an excellent hostess that tempts her victim in her castle. Their
guest, Duncan will not see tomorrow sun, «O' I never / shall sun that morrow see!» (I, v, 60-61). As an endodynamic figure who fully realizes the static nature of her husband, particularly in a critical situation, she directs him with attractive Machiavellian instructions. To beguile the time,
Look like the time. Bear welcome in your eye, Your hand, your tongue. Look like th' innocent flower, But be the serpent under't (I, v, 63-66).
She is a female villain who turns her husband into an executor. She is a ruthless manipulator who has a remarkable strength of will. She is more manly character than a woman. She recurrently tries to remind him of his scale in the positions of honor, reputation and ambition: ... beast was 't, then,
That made you break this enterprise to me? When you durst do it, then you were a man; And to be more than what you were, you would Be so much more the man (I, vii, 46-51).
By these lines, Lady Macbeth embarrasses Macbeth's masculinity. As a fact, it is she who always tries to deprive him of his manhood, as in her request to the witches to «unsex her». She is a cruel and guilty mother who kills her own future infant and injured her husband's manhood. She highly affects her husband, and she is able to affect all other figures, as in the announcement of Duncan's murder, she pretends fainting to confirm her pure and weak nature in front of the surrounding men who believes in the surprise of the «fiendlike queen» [5, p. 118].
As far as the dynamism of Lady Macbeth, she passes the same transitional stage as she starts in an endodynamic form and ends as static. She is reversing that of her husband, Macbeth. By the third act, Macbeth psychologically frees himself from the control of Lady Macbeth. He does no longer depend on his wife power and decision, rather proves his new dynamic character. Independently, Macbeth takes the murderous conclusion. «To be thus [i. e., the king] is nothing, but to be safely thus» (III, i, 47). Power is nothing and empty when it does not give security, this is what Lady Macbeth and her husband realize. Naught's had, all's spent, Where our desire is got without content. 'Tis safer to be that which we destroy Than by destruction dwell in doubtful joy (III, ii, 4-7).
Lady Macbeth is psychologically destructed as it is reflected in sleep walking scene, but she still has the possession of evil passion. In the final scene that enacts her past crime, she appears as helpless, isolated and with no self-control. She loses her presence of mind and becomes «an anxious, nervous childlike wreck» [3, p. 324], but her death motivates no remorse or grief for her husband Macbeth. She is no longer his «dearest love», nor his «dearest partner of greatness», but a guilty lady whose lack of humanity causes her tragic end.
«Hamlet» Polonius: Father
In Shakespeare's play «Hamlet», the first appearance of Polonius is in the official context of the court scene as the councilor of state and he is looking for the permission for his son's request to return to his study in France:
He hath, my lord, wrung from me my slow leave By laboursome petition, and at last Upon his will I seal'd my hard consent: I do beseech you, give him leave to go (I, ii, 58-62).
He appears as a man of principle who shows his own dutiful and formed responsibility towards the monarch. Really, he starts as an endostatic character that effortlessly suits for such political position he occupies. But in the next private scene that is characterized by its familial context, Polonius appears as a talkative man who embarks on a long conversation with his son Laertes. He gives his son several instructions. He advices him to be in the safe, «beware of entrance to a quarrel» (I, iii, 169), and give little speech, «give everyman they ear, but few they voice» (I, iii, 72), stay out of troubles, «neither a borrower nor a lender be» (I, iii, 80) and above all he has to be true to himself and be a man of self-respect, «this above all to thine own self be true» (I, iii, 108).
The role of advisor continues even during his meeting with his daughter Ophelia who exchanges a long speech with him about her love for Prince Hamlet. But Polonius's style of advice has been changed
here, since he views Ophelia as «a green girl unsifted in such perilous circumstance» (I, iii, 113). As a father, he forces his daughter to break off relation with Hamlet who is a source of danger for her and no more:
Believe so much in him that he is young, And with a longer tether my he talks Than may be given you (I, iii, 142).
Ophelia responds so politely («I shall obey, my lord» (I, iii, 145)) to her father whose speech takes the notion of an «authoritarian» and not of a mere advisor.
The dynamic advisor Polonius succeeded in his lecturing such static listeners, Laertes and Ophelia. Polonius plays the role of an endostatic character, which is consistently reflected in the play. Suddenly, the dominant, protective, and fatherly attitudes have been changed into unsentimental businesslike approach of a manipulator.
According to his endostatic character, his curious desire to discover and know everything, inability to comprehend the subtleties of human emotions, and exploiting his past experience as a player, «was accounted a good actor» (III, ii, 95) turns to be a «stage manager» in the nunnery scene [6, p. 164]. In this scene, Polonius willingly «loosing» Ophelia to Hamlet, since he is completely convinced that Hamlet is really in love with Ophelia, and this love may lead to a noble marriage.
Polonius becomes so active and reflects his dynamic character when he takes the role of «a director» as he hands his daughter, Ophelia a divine book of prayer to perform the act of piety and purity in order to «catch Hamlet as a devil» [6, p. 147].
Your loneliness. - We are oft to blame in this Tis too much proved- that with devotion's visage And pious action we do sugar o'er The devil himself (III, i, 108).
Polonius tries to cover up evil with the appearance of goodness. In this act, Polonius descends to unpleasant actions, while earlier he warned Ophelia against it. Apparently, he behaves like a cleaver manipulator, but as soon as Hamlet takes on the role of a theatre director Polonius's foolishness is proven, and it is his vital trait and the main reason for his fatal end in the closet scene, «thou wreched, rash, intruding fool, farewell!» (III, iv, 33). As an endostatic character, Polonius goes through various developmental roles from his first appearance to the moment of death in order to prove his parental role as a protector and a mediator.
Gertrude: Mother
Gertrude is the mother of Prince Hamlet. She is basically a truthful character who has no hidden subtext in her actions. But dynamically, she is a static character who leaves decision-making to her surrounded dynamic characters such as Claudius and Polonius.
The play begins after the death of King Hamlet and her new wedding with his brother, King Claudius. In short, she is Hamlet's mother/aunt and the wife/former sister-in-law of King Claudius. She is a very interesting dramatic character whose personality has been subjected to many interpretations, although she is obviously not as attractive and colorful as the other central dynamic characters of the play.
In the opening court scene, Gertrude appears as a caring mother who begs her son Hamlet, who is thinking about going back to Wittenberg, to stay with her in Denmark, «Let not thy mother lose her prayers, Hamlet / I pray thee stay with us; go not to Wittenberg» (I, ii, 18-19). Gertrude loves Hamlet and Claudius, and she tries to win over the both who really don't like each other. She accepts the position of Claudius, which expresses death as the natural end of life, and asks Hamlet to accept the inevitable law of nature.
GERTRUDE:
Do not for ever with thy vailed lids Seek for thy noble father in the dust: Thou know'st 'tis common; all that lives must die, Passing through nature to eternity (I, ii, 70-73).
It is true that death is a common law of nature, and it is inevitable, but Gertrude is unable to appreciate the peculiarities of Hamlet's emotional connection with his dead father. Gertrude is a shallow woman who is driven by her passionate desire. Like a child, she is busy with material pleasures and finds her highest charm in gifts. She ignores her son's need and suffering and yields only to Claudius and her own desires. From the very beginning of the play, Gertrude proves that her character is the complete opposite of her son Hamlet, who is a very intelligent scholar. She behaves like a stupid or ignorant
woman. Her ignorance is the main cause of her son's suffering, and it is the main reason that leads to her death. She ignores the great days spent with King Hamlet and ignores the feelings of her young son, but never ignores the sensual voice of her femininity. A few days after her husband's death, she becomes a wife again. «She married; O most wicked speed to post» (I, ii, 156).
Gertrude's preoccupation with only her own pleasure causes many problems and leads to her being described as a frivolous character, a sexually active woman. She is a guilty woman due to her lustful relationship with Claudius before her husband's death. Such information, which is part of the play's backstory, is revealed by the Ghost:
With witchcraft of his wit, with traitorous gifts, -
O wicked wit and gifts, that have the power
So, to seduce! - won to his shameful lust
The will of my most seeming-virtuous queen. (I, v, 43-46).
Shakespeare insists on presenting Gertrude as a shamelessly sensual woman with a superficial character, as he reinforces the idea of her remarrying for sexual needs with the words of her son Hamlet: O shame! where is thy blush? Rebellious hell, If thou canst mutine in a matron's bones, To flaming youth let virtue be as wax (III, iv, 82-84).
Such sexual and shameless traits confirm her passive and static character that is easily seduced by the surrounding dynamic characters, like Claudius. That's why the Ghost forbids Hamlet to punish his mother, «contrive/ Against thy mother aught» (I, v, 85-86). The Ghost excuses her bad action and ill-thought by her ignorance and passivity and tries to defense her from her son's wrath. Because she is guarded by the Ghost, she also shields Hamlet and takes the role of a protector as it is documented by Claudius when he explains to Laertes the reason for his idle view of the crime of killing Polonius: The queen his mother Lives almost by his looks; and for myself -My virtue or my plague, be it either which -She's so conjunctive to my life and soul (IV, vii, 11-14).
Gertrude remains sincere in her feeling for Hamlet. She keeps her promise not to reveal the exact details of the accidental murder of Polonius in the closet scene and assures Hamlet's madness, «mad as the sea and wind when both contend» (IV, i, 7).
In this scene, Gertrude becomes more private and more emotional in her frank conversation with her son. She discovers the depth of her «sick soul» [4, p. 146], that's why she asks Hamlet: O Hamlet, speak no more: Thou turn'st mine eyes into my very soul; And there I see such black and grained spots As will not leave their tinct (III, iv, 89-92).
And again, the protector and the shelter Gertrude saves Hamlet from the cunning of Claudius when she drinks Hamlet's poisoned goblet in the fencing scene. . the drink, the drink, - O my dear Hamlet, - The drink, the drink! I am poisoned. [Dies] (V, ii, 396-397).
With this final cry of truth, Gertrude breaks the limits of her «stereotypical dumb» character and steps as a very strong one. It is a too late transformation of the flat line of her characterization in this final scene; it destroys the image of the narcissist who cannot see the world outside herself. By her final action, as it is stated by the scholar Marguerite Tassi: «Fulfilling her tragic role, the end crowns all; in the final moments of her life, she performs an extraordinary act that gives Hamlet motive and cue for killing the king» [1, p. 195].
Really, Shakespeare achieves a turning point in the dynamism of Gertrude's character at the end of the play where she mostly appears as a static and effectual female character.
Conclusion
W. Shakespeare reflects the diversity of images of father and mother characters in his plays with different lines of dynamism, as in «Macbeth» and «Hamlet», mature tragedies, demonstrating the progressive dynamism of a dramatic character.
Shakespeare achieves a remarkable turning point in the dynamism of the mother character, Lady Macbeth and Gertrude, at the end of the play when they finally realize their weakness and limitation of
their stereotypical negative image of mother whose final cry of truth does not save her from the fatal tragic end.
As he mirrors the weakness of motherhood, Shakespeare intends to evaluate the sense of fatherhood and assess their true human nature through the characterization of Macbeth and Polonius. Each one of them appears as an ambitious man who is driven by uncomfortable thoughts that put him on unstable spot that is twisted between the outward success and the inward failure.
Macbeth, Polonius, Lady Macbeth and Gertrude represent the dilemma of a person whose inner consciousness is gradually weakened by the death of her/his former moral existential being.
LIST OF MAIN SOURCES
1. Tassi, M. A. Women and Revenge in Shakespeare: Gender, Genre, and Ethics / M. A. Tassi. -Selinsgrove PA : Susquehanna University Press, 2011. - 344 p.
2. William Shakespeare's Macbeth: New Edition. Bloom's Modern Critical Interpretation / Ed. : H. Bloom. - New York : InfoBase Publishing, 2010. - 187 p.
3. Bradley, A. C. Shakespearean Tragedy: Lectures on «Hamlet», «Othello», «King Lear», «Macbeth» / A. C. Bradley. - Reprint. - London : Penguin Books, 1991. - 500 p.
4. Sadowski, P. Dynamism of Character in Shakespeare's Mature Tragedies / P. Sadowski. -London : Rosemont Publishing & Printing Corp, 2003. - 327 p.
5. Honigmann, E. A. J. Shakespeare, Seven Tragedies: The Dramatist's Manipulation of Response / E. A. J. Honigmann. - L. ; N. Y. : The Macmillan Press, Harper and Row, 1976. - 202 p.
6. Hamlet. The New Arden Shakespeare / Ed. : H. Jenkins. - London : Methuen, 1982. - 574 p.
THE SOURCE OF EXAMPLES
1. Shakespeare, W. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare / W. Shakespeare. - Oxford : Wordsworth Editions, 1996. - 1245 p.
Поступила в редакцию 17.01.2022 E-mail: ahmedmadlooll@gmail.com
Ахмед Мадлул Чаллаб Аль-Бдайри
ДИНАМИКА РАЗВИТИЯ ОБРАЗА ОТЦА / МАТЕРИ В ПЬЕСАХ У. ШЕКСПИРА «МАКБЕТ» И «ГАМЛЕТ»
В статье исследуются особенности развития образов отца / матери в пьесах Уильяма Шекспира «Макбет» и «Гамлет», прослеживается динамика становления и раскрытия драматических персонажей, анализируются особенности шекспировской трактовки категорий отцовства / материнства в культурно-историческом и психологическом контекстах. У. Шекспир изображает в своих пьесах множество разных образов отца и матери, как в «Макбете» и «Гамлете», но ни один из них не является образцом хорошего отца / матери. В этом отражена трагедия разлада человеческой личности с собой и с миром.
Ключевые слова: динамика, характер, отец, мать, Макбет, Леди Макбет, Полоний, Гертруда, У. Шекспир.
