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Roopan Dhaliwal
Mrs. Lavender
ENG3U
June 2, 2014
The Importance of Females
For centuries now, Christian leaders have considered women as an evil necessity when they re-examine the story of Adam and Eve. This statement is proven through Shakespeare's Macbeth and William Golding's Lord of the Flies. Women are portrayed as evil creatures in Macbeth through the witches, Lady Macbeth, and Hecate, but the need for women to keep the story alive is shown in Lord of the Flies through the sow, Piggy, and Simon. The necessity of females to keep the story interesting are shown through the female influences in the two texts. Female roles are necessary in a books to build the story and to make it interesting.
The witches and the sow make these two stories interesting by the promises that they make. The witches are one component that makes Shakespeare's story engaging. They make Macbeth promises by giving him prophecies: "All hail, Macbeth, hail to thee, Thane/of Glamis!/All hail, Macbeth, hail to thee, Thane/of Cawdor!/ All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be King hereafter!" (Shakespeare 1.3.49-53).
The witches promise Macbeth these titles, and build his confidence to build the plot and climax. This keeps the reader involved to see how the prophecies play out and become true. The prophecies also allow events like Duncan's death to take place; which causes drama and creates action so the reader is not bored. The witches also promise Macbeth's survival with a second set of prophecies, which builds suspense and forces the reader to continue reading to see how the plans follow through: "Laugh to scorn/ The power of man, for none of women born/ Shall harm Macbeth". This gives Macbeth even more confidence because he feels invincible, which allows him to commit crimes to make the play interesting.