...ROUSSEAU’S THANE OF CAWDOR Considering the variety and the extension of William Shakespeare’s work, it’s not only intricate but obstinate to even try to select under objective criteria one writing as prominent among his many crucial plays. It is rather a matter of personal choice and preference, casting one’s lot with a specific composition. Yet, most critics consent in widespread statements and observations concerning Shakespeare’s universe, many of the prevailing allegations are debatable. Macbeth, his shortest and bloodiest tragedy tells the story a Scottish general who receives the prediction from a trio of witches that he’ll soon be King of Scotland. Driven by ambition and the influence of his wife, he spurred in action and murdered King Duncan in order to gain the crown. His mind, being clouded with fear and guilt, rapidly results in a tyrannical reign and a succession of murders to protect what he acquired from enmity and suspicion. Circumstances promptly consummate the one reputed hero into madness, ending in a miserable death. Macbeth, weighed as one of Shakespeare’s most powerful and emotionally intense tragedies, radiates madness from its opening to its conclusion. As previously said, one can be overwhelmed with the diversity of analysis done in Shakespeare’s creations, to which Macbeth is not exempt. The article written by J. Lyndon Shanley,Macbeth: The Tragedy of Evil offers plenty of elements to dissect. Therefore, taking the mentioned text in reference and the...
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...Macbeth is one of William Shakespeare’s most famous plays. The theme is about how one’s ambition can lead to their fall if they let it get out of hand. Lady Macbeth is one of the most aggressive and ambitious characters of Shakespeare’s plays. Much of the fame of Macbeth should be credited to her because it was her ruthless and almost man-like nature that set her apart from other women in Shakespeare’s plays. She is a round and dynamic character in this play because she changes and develops as the story’s proceedings unfold and conflicts emerge. Throughout the play, Lady Macbeth gradually changes from being driven nearly entirely by ambition, to being manipulative of her husband to get her ways, and finally to becoming the complete opposite of her once strong-willed self. Lady Macbeth is seen as a woman of ambition in the beginning of Macbeth. Upon her discovery of Macbeth’s prophecies to become king, she immediately started to think about how to fulfill them. As her ambitious and cold nature overcame her conscience, she mapped out the murder of King Duncan with Macbeth. She came off as being very strong in the opening of the play. Shakespeare’s indirect characterization of her makes her unique from other female characters in his works, which is what sets Macbeth apart from the rest. Lady Macbeth has just as much ambition driving her as Macbeth has, if not more. Lynn M. Zott writes that Lady Macbeth’s ambition may be more aimed towards Macbeth’s successes and not solely hers...
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...Was Macbeth’s murder of Duncan an act of fate or free will? In Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, a Scottish general who becomes king after three witches report his future to him, murders the King of Duncan to obtain the throne. Shakespeare utilized the philosophy that free will is paramount in the development of the character and clearly Macbeth chose his own path causing his ultimate demise. Throughout the story, Shakespeare uses his tone to show how Macbeth’s future is determined by his free will. In plenty of instances, like the murder of Duncan, Macbeth chose to act upon this in order to further his chances of obtaining the throne. The Witches proclaimed to Macbeth, explaining his fate but he denied it, preaching this, “For in my way it lies. Stars, hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires” (29.55). This quote is evident because Macbeth's motivation to become king represents his free will in possessing the throne. Macbeth knows that being king is meant for him, but is willing to do whatever it takes to make sure it remains in his grasp. As well as that, Macbeth also states that he will commit to anything to...
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...A TEACHER’S GUIDE TO THE SIGNET CLASSIC EDITION OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE’S MACBETH LINDA NEAL UNDERWOOD S E R I E S E D I T O R S : W. GEIGER ELLIS, ED.D., ARTHEA J. S. REED, PH.D., UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA, EMERITUS and UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA, RETIRED A Teacher’s Guide to the Signet Classic Edition of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth 2 INTRODUCTION William Shakespeare developed many stories into excellent dramatizations for the Elizabethan stage. Shakespeare knew how to entertain and involve an audience with fast-paced plots, creative imagery, and multi-faceted characters. Macbeth is an action-packed, psychological thriller that has not lost its impact in nearly four hundred years. The politically ambitious character of Macbeth is as timely today as he was to Shakespeare's audience. Mary McCarthy says in her essay about Macbeth, "It is a troubling thought that Macbeth, of all Shakespeare's characters, should seem the most 'modern,' the only one you could transpose into contemporary battle dress or a sport shirt and slacks." (Signet Classic Macbeth) Audiences today quickly become interested in the plot of a blindly ambitious general with a strong-willed wife who must try to cope with the guilt engendered by their murder of an innocent king in order to further their power. The elements of superstition, ghosts, and witchcraft, though more readily a part of everyday life for the Renaissance audience, remain intriguing to modern teenagers. The action-packed...
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...Maqbool (2003) by Vishal Bharadwaj, a modern day reinterpretation of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, is based in the backdrop of Mumbai’s mafia kings and is a dark and very close retelling of the original text. The principal characters are played by Irfan Khan, Tabu, Pankaj Kapur, Om Puri and Naseeruddin Shah. While Bharadwaj has more or less retained the narrative of the original play, he does move around the settings of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Pankaj Kapur (Abbaji - Duncan) is the reigning don of Mumbai’s underworld and Tabu (Nimmi - Lady Macbeth) is his mistress who loves Kapur’s right hand man Irfan Khan (Maqbool - Macbeth). Bharadwaj has intelligently adapted the characters of the play to suit his characters and the time in which it is set by replacing the three witches or soothsayer’s of the original by two corrupt policemen with a knack for astrology, played by Om Puri (Inspector Pandit) and Naseeruddin Shah (Inspector Purohit). Macbeth, a story about personal ambition, has strong themes of violence, political turmoil and guilt. These ideas are maintained by Bharadwaj to a great extent; however the change in the characterisation of Macbeth and his Lady ensures that the overwhelming theme in the movie is also love/passion. Shakespeare’s Macbeth kills Duncan purely out of ambition; Maqbool’s motivations go beyond those of being the don. Maqbool out of love for Nimmi as well as the hearsay that Abbaji may not be as good as Maqbool originally thinks he is, leads to a scared...
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...the Gendered Body by Shakespeare’s Volumnia and Lady Macbeth In both Coriolanus and Macbeth, powerful women exploit their power over important male figures through their manipulation of gender roles and performance. In “Identity-Formation and the Breastfeeding Mother in Renaissance Generative Discourses and Shakespeare’s Coriolanus,” Victoria Sparey compares the symbolic relevance of breast milk and blood in Shakespearean literature to explain the immense power Volumnia holds over her son Coriolanus. Ralph Berry argues the sexual motivation behind Volumnia’s control in his article “Sexual Imagery in Coriolanus.” Berry states that “from Volumnia, we derive a strong impression of the interlinked impulses of sex and power” (316). Lady Macbeth’s character and influence over her husband is explored thoroughly in William T. Liston’s "Male and Female Created He Them": Sex and Gender in "Macbeth." Liston outlines the ways Lady Macbeth manipulates both her husband’s masculinity and her own femininity to achieve her personal ambitions. Although Sparey and Berry examine the motives and character of Volumnia and Liston recounts the ambitious incentives of Lady Macbeth, this paper will focus on the performance of gender and how it is used to manipulate the masculine body, the feminine body, and to overcome the societal boundaries set out for individuals at the time of Shakespeare’s writing. Using Judith Butlers concept of gender performativity, Volumnia and Lady Macbeth break their roles as...
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...Lady Macbeth is a character in Shakespeare's Macbeth (c.1603–1607). She is the wife to the play's protagonist, Macbeth, a Scottish nobleman. After goading him into committing regicide, she becomes Queen of Scotland, but later suffers pangs of guilt for her part in the crime. She dies off-stage in the last act, an apparent suicide. According to some genealogists, Lady Macbeth and Duncan's wife were sisters or cousins, where Lady Macbeth had a stronger claim to the throne then Duncan's wife. It was this that incited her jealousy and hatred of Duncan. The character's origins lie of the accounts of Kings Duff and Duncan in Holinshed's Chronicles (1587), a history of Britain familiar to Shakespeare. Shakespeare's Lady Macbeth appears to be a composite of two separate and distinct personages in Holinshed's work: Donwald's nagging, murderous wife in the account of King Duff, and Macbeth's ambitious wife Gruoch of Scotland in the account of King Duncan. Lady Macbeth is a powerful presence in the play, most notably in the first two acts. Following the murder of King Duncan, however, her role in the plot diminishes. She becomes an uninvolved spectator to Macbeth's plotting, and a nervous hostess at a banquet dominated by her husband's hallucinations. Her fifth act sleepwalking scene is a turning point in the play, and her line, "Out, damned spot!," has become a phrase familiar to many speakers of the English language. The report of her death late in the fifth act provides the inspiration...
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...In Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, Macbeth is motivated to commit his evil acts by three forces. For example, the witches in the play give him the first idea that he will be king. also, his own power starts to take over later in the play. Lastly, Lady Macbeth pushed and provoked him constantly to commit these crimes. So even though Macbeth committed these acts, there was more influence then just his ideas. The three witches in the play are a pretty big influence on Macbeth. For example, the witches tell him that he will be the Thane of Cawdor and it comes true proving the witches right of their double sided lies. “All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor!”. . Also, They tell him none of woman born can kill him, making him feel unstoppable. “The power of man, for none of woman born shall harm Macbeth.” . In the end they basically start Macbeth’s evil crimes. Secondly, it’s his own want to become king. One way he proves this is killing his friend Banquo because he wants to keep the throne and the witches said Banquo’s sons would be kings. Towards the end he starts to murder innocent women and children. This ends up to cost Macbeth his life due to his power and his carelessness of killing. Lastly, Lady Macbeth is a huge factor in Macbeth’s evil acts. For example, she is the one who really starts him off to killing. She pushes him for her want of being queen. “And fill me, from the crown to the toe, top-full…"In addition to this she constantly questions his manhood...
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...Macbeth: Covering a Death with a Death In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the character Macbeth exhibits various behaviours and qualities to others around him. Macbeth gradually shows his dark nature as the story progresses, and his ambition to become King causes him to act ruthlessly; destroying anyone or anything in his path. Macbeth deteriorates from a noble, heroic character to a heartless, evil murderer. Macbeth commits the murders of King Duncan and his friend Banquo, as he believed both men were a threat to him and the throne. Macbeth’s motivation, strategy, and state of mind all vary throughout these murders. Macbeth’s motivations regarding both murders were similar, yet the details differed. In the murder of Duncan, Macbeth’s motivation was mainly greed and the yearning to secure the crown. Macbeth spoke to himself, “Stars, hide your fires! / Let not light see my black and deep desires” (1.4.50-51). Macbeth understood that killing Duncan was wrong, but deep down he wanted to proceed with the crime. Macbeth asked the stars to hide their light, hoping that this darkness would cover his dark mind. Although the motivation was also greed in the murder of Banquo, Macbeth wanted to keep the crown he had attained. Banquo knew about the prophecies from the witches, and Macbeth felt threatened by his friend’s knowledge: “He hath a wisdom that doth guide his valour / To act in safety. There is none but he / Whose being I do fear” (3.1.53-55). Macbeth’s strategy...
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...Deceit and Betrayal in Shakespeare's Macbeth Shakespeare's play "Macbeth" is considered one of his great tragedies. The play fully uses plot, character, setting, atmosphere, diction and imagery to create a compelling drama. The general setting of Macbeth is tenth and eleventh century Scotland. The play is about a once loyal and trusted noble of Scotland who, after a meeting with three witches, becomes ambitious and plans the murder of the king. After doing so and claiming the throne, he faces the other nobles of Scotland who try to stop him. In the play, Macbeth faces an internal conflict with his opposing decisions. On one hand, he has to decide of he is to assassinate the king in order to claim his throne. This would result in his death for treason if he is caught, and he would also have to kill his friend. On the other hand, if he is to not kill him, he may never realize his ambitious dreams of ruling Scotland. Another of his internal struggles is his decision of killing his friend Banquo. After hiring murderers to kill him, Macbeth begins to see Banquo's ghost which drives him crazy, possibly a result of his guilty conscience. Macbeth's external conflict is with Macduff and his forces trying to avenge the king and end Macbeth's reign over Scotland. One specific motif is considered the major theme, which represents the overall atmosphere throughout the play. This motif is "fair is foul and foul is fair." In the first scene of the first act, three witches plan their...
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...Poems express life's moments or ones vision on a subject matter, whether descriptive or metaphorical. They can be romantic, melancholy, comedic, dark, or simply that piece of motivation to get one to the next moment. Making one feel that feeling that they haven't felt in a long time or be that perfect expression of words to portray ones mental or emotional state during a moment in time. This paper is to respond to the poem given in this weeks readings of which we are to analyze it's elements, form, language, etc in order reveal whether ones a skeptic or a true lover of the written word. Depending on the poem it can be of such memorable legendary words as of the words of William Shakespeare’s “Shall I compare thee to a summers day?” which has been used in countless movies, proposals, and pick up lines. However, those words of that simple phrase could have been taken into many factions of the question. A summers day can be that of beauty with the sun shining upon ones face and the ocean waves crashing against your feet or birds singing a romantic rhapsody of which brings a euphoric peace about oneself while in that moment. Although, the other side of that coin would be him describing a dark gloomy summers day filled with rain and thunderstorms but his words went on to describe the latter. Shakespeare’s poems, playwrights and other works have placed the ups and downs of life not only on an international platform artistically but proving in his time that no matter the class of...
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...Deceit and Betrayal in Shakespeare's Macbeth Shakespeare's play "Macbeth" is considered one of his great tragedies. The play fully uses plot, character, setting, atmosphere, diction and imagery to create a compelling drama. The general setting of Macbeth is tenth and eleventh century Scotland. The play is about a once loyal and trusted noble of Scotland who, after a meeting with three witches, becomes ambitious and plans the murder of the king. After doing so and claiming the throne, he faces the other nobles of Scotland who try to stop him. In the play, Macbeth faces an internal conflict with his opposing decisions. On one hand, he has to decide of he is to assassinate the king in order to claim his throne. This would result in his death for treason if he is caught, and he would also have to kill his friend. On the other hand, if he is to not kill him, he may never realize his ambitious dreams of ruling Scotland. Another of his internal struggles is his decision of killing his friend Banquo. After hiring murderers to kill him, Macbeth begins to see Banquo's ghost which drives him crazy, possibly a result of his guilty conscience. Macbeth's external conflict is with Macduff and his forces trying to avenge the king and end Macbeth's reign over Scotland. One specific motif is considered the major theme, which represents the overall atmosphere throughout the play. This motif is "fair is foul and foul is fair." In the first scene of the first act, three witches plan their next...
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...Macbeth is great play written by William Shakespeare, mostly known for its violence. The story starts with a hero of scotland, named Macbeth, whom changes gradually throughout the play. The thought of being able to have so much power caused him to make some menacing decisions that caused only chaos and regret. Towards the end his whole ambition for becoming king all fall short and instead he becomes an oppressor or tyrant. In William Shakespeare`s play, ambition has brought the death of many from Macbeth. “our ambition should be to rule ourselves, the true kingdom for each one of us; and true progress is to know more, be more, and do more”.In the play, Shakespeare uses the concept of ambition to show how it affects Macbeth and his wife who thrive to reach the throne and will go through any means necessary to achieve that goal. Ambition starts when Macbeth meets three witches, who tell him his destiny as king. He then becomes obsessed with the idea of having all that power and fame. Both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth turn away from being honorable people to turning into murderous tyrants. He is so preoccupied with becoming king he favors power over anything, such as honor, respect, and other things knights favor, so in effect there have been countless murders and the merciless killing of innocent bystanders and witnesses. His ambition, in my opinion, is to blame for duncan's murder. Macbeth even accuses duncans kids of killing their father. The desire for power fogs macbeth's mind...
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...The theme of destructive love within the relationships in the story’s Shakespeare's Macbeth and Bronte’s Wuthering Heights are presented through sexism, jealousy, and betrayal. Destructive love can make a possible prosperous relationship. Destructive love can ruin the trust that is needed to have a well structured relationship. Love can make people do very horrific and evil things as the story Macbeth reveals in a very dark and fearsome way. Macbeth’s actions out of love for Lady Macbeth caused him to lose his sanity. Evil has the power to corrupt everything it touches, and Macbeth has become evils servant. Women are manipulative to men, women always strive to get what they want by being evil and malicious. In ( Macbeth 7.1) lady macbeth wants to have King Duncan murdered but she claims she cannot come to kill Duncan herself because in sleep he looks to much like her father. Lady Macbeth asks Macbeth to commit the murder of King Duncan because she can not bring herself to do it. Lady Macbeth then calls Macbeth a “Coward”, Macbeth then replies “ I dare do all that to become a man”. (Macbeth 1.7.2). Macbeth loves her husband although now that she has control over him she has started to become very wicked. Lady Macbeth is very strategic when it comes to the murder of King Duncan....
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...Shakespeare was a respected poet and playwright in his own day, and is widely regarded today as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet. As quoted in an article,” The Romantics, in particular, acclaimed Shakespeare's genius, and the Victorians worshipped Shakespeare with a reverence that George Bernard Shaw called "bardolatry"”. In the 20th century, his work was repeatedly adopted and rediscovered by new movements in scholarship and performance, and is currently an active part of education curriculums. His plays remain highly popular today and are constantly studied, performed and reinterpreted in diverse cultural and political contexts throughout the world. It is safe to say that although Shakespearean plays were set in the Renaissance Era, they are still the epitome of English literature and are revered by theaters, performers and audiences alike due to their remarkable credibility in portraying everlasting political, social and moral issues. http://www.neptunetheatre.com/content/Shakespeare_hat_trick His plays move from romantic to tragic, humorous to serious so much so that he not only caters to all tastes but also all times by portraying the political situation of his times as well as the way of living. Even Romeo and Juliet, considered by many as a die –hard romantic scripture actually highlights political issues. One of the main political aspects of the play was when count Paris uses...
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