Compare and Contrast Essay Sample on Macbeth and Wuthering: A Literature Analysis

Example Essay on Macbeth and Wuthering:

Macbeth and Catherine are two characters from the books Macbeth and Wuthering heights respectively. The two characters have some similar characteristics like the many conflicts they have in their life. Macbeth faces difficulty when he is trying to kill his friend Duncan. His wife urges him to do it. Duncan is a good soldier with a good character. The death of Duncan would hurt many people. This makes it hard for him to kill his friend. His wife tells him he will leave him if he does not kill him. He finally agrees to do it. His conflict with himself does not leave him in peace. He finally decides to deal with it in the after life. Macbeth feels forced to pick between his friend and his wife and finally picks his wife. This is evident when he says

“It were done quickly. If the assassination
Could trammel up the consequence, and catch,
With his surcease, success; that but this blow
Might be the be-all and the end-all -here,
But here, upon this bank and shoal of time,
We’ld jumps the life to come. But in these cases
We still have judgment here that we but teach
Bloody instructions, which being taught return
To plague the inventor.”

Catherine on the other hand also faces conflict with herself. She is not sure whether to marry Edgar or Heathcliff. Her desire for power and luxury finally forces her to marry the distinguished Edgar. Heathcliff is disappointed and goes away for three years. The urge for wealth and power awakens when she visits the Lintons for the first time. She describes Heathcliff as a poor man with no manners.

“Heathcliff is: an unreclaimed creature, without refinement, without cultivation; an arid wilderness of furze and whinstone “Catherine

Both statements show the desire and the will of the characters to get ahead in life. The theme of power displays itself in both plays. Macbeth desires to be King and Catherine to be wealthy.

Macbeth is a man who is not sure of his actions. He constantly seeks the council of his wife before making a decision. He tells his wife that he is disturbed about the act of killing his friend. His wife tells him not to think about evil thoughts. He washes his hands after killing his friend Duncan. His wife persuades him that this will make him feel clean. (act two scene two

Stepp’d 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 scann’d.

At the beginning of scene five in act three, Macbeth begins to act strangely during the dinner. He claims to see the ghost of Banquo. His wife comes to his rescue and tells him to sit because the ghost is not present .He fights with his conscience over killing his friend.

Catherine place of burial displays a lot of conflict. She lays to rest near the moor between Edgar and Heathcliff. This symbolizes her conflict with the two men. She constantly betrays her husband by retaining her friendship with Heathcliff. Her husband is always jealous. Isabella often feels anger because she knows of Catherine’s affair with her husband. She extends this conflict up to her after life. Nelly describes this in chapter XVI. She says Catherine lies

“In a corner of the kirkyard, where the wall is so low that heath and bilberry plants have climbed over it from the moor.”

These two statements show how Macbeth will not rest until he kills all those in his way. The statement by Nelly shows how even at rest Catherine still wants to have both men. The moor is the place where she loved to play with Heathcliff.