“It is seeing which establishes our place in the surrounding world; we explain that world with words, but words can never undo the fact that we are surrounded by it” (Berger 7). In John Berger’s book, Ways of Seeing, Berger looks into the way people view the world and how that impacts them in their life. This idea of perception can be applied to both to play Macbeth by William Shakespeare and in the short story Yellow Woman by Leslie Marmon Silko to reveal how perception can change a person’s life forever.
Macbeth describes the tale of a man and his wife and how his perceptions of his life after knowing his future changed forever. Macbeth is seen as a hero because of his loyalties to the king, but he falls from this role as hero once he learns that he will one day be king. Macbeth’s views are guided by his manipulative wife, Lady Macbeth. Although Macbeth has the will to overcome his guiding wife, he sees his marriage as with significance and importance and would never jeopardize that. In addition, Macbeth’s heroic inner characteristics have been blinded by his greed. Another person in the play whose perceptions are fogged, is the first king, King Duncan. He sees Macbeth as a loyal man that would never do wrong. This pressure is another factor to Macbeth’s downfall. King Duncan needed to prepare himself for distrust, especially since his original Thane of Cawdor betrayed him. However, King Duncan remains blind to Macbeth’s true intentions because he cannot see past the good deeds Macbeth did while on the battlefield. In the end, both men are killed. Both murders show that perception and seeing the world with a clear eye is incredibly important to life.
Yellow Woman is a tale about a woman who leaves her family to follow a man who is supposed to guide her in her life. She has sexual intercourse with him and actually longs to be with him. She sees him as someone who can help her improve her life. However, seeing him makes her forget about her family at home. She has a husband, children, and parents. The man appears to the reader as a manipulative thief. His view of the world is that everything is at his disposal. However, when the time comes, he lets her go. This shows that perhaps he did care for her after all by letting her return to her stable life. The young woman continues to yearn for the man long after she leaves him and goes back to her family. This feeling will stay with her for the rest of her life. The woman has forgotten how she used to view the world, and only has eyes for the man. While it seems evident that the man will never change his ways. Both the guiding man and the young woman see the world in their own way and once their visions intertwine, it has changed their lives forever.
Everyone’s perceptions are different, whether it is how they see the world, or how they see others. But this vision influences how they see world. This idea of seeing is seen in both both to play Macbeth by William Shakespeare and in the short story Yellow Woman by Leslie Silko. In both texts, the way people see either cost them their life, or kept them yearning for something they will never be able to achieve.
