Evil in William Shakespeare's Macbeth
In this essay I shall look at ho evil is portrayed in Shakespeare's
Macbeth. I believe evil is the first step on Macbeth's road to
destruction and turns him into the bloody tyrant he becomes.
The main evil wrong doing in the play is the murder of the innocent
king Duncan. Evil is also presented in the form of the witches who
influence Macbeth to stray from all goodness. Macbeth becomes tricked
by their wicked ways, which cause him to act without values. Lady
Macbeth is also a key figure in the play. She renounces her femininity
and lets evil take over helping her drive Macbeth along with the
witches. Shakespeare also uses metaphorical language and imagery of
animals; birds in particular to represent evil. Shakespeare contrasts
wickedness with innocence to make the brutality of the play appear
worse.
It is clear from the start of the play that the witches are important,
in just the first scene before they say anything the atmosphere is
already set as evil. They meet on a moor in thunder and lightning,
which grabs the audience's attention. These surroundings portray evil;
the moor is lonely, barren and bleak, whilst thunder and lightning
assist in creating a supernatural image to place the witches.
The witches have short lines, which are written in rhyme making their
words seem like a chant.
The language of the witches displays their hatred of all things good,
their rhyming couplets contradict each other and emphasises the
witches evil:
Fair is foul, and foul is fair: Hover through the fog and filthy air.
This quotation is a warning and hint to the audience that things are
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...iscussed the most relevant points,
I have come to the conclusion that the most important portrayal of
evil has to be the three witches. I believe they create the first step
onto Macbeth's road of destruction. There is a strong contrast on
Macbeth's character before and after he meets the witches. They change
him from a hero to the traitor he is at the end of the play. They
plant the seed of evil inside him; Lady Macbeth nurtures that seed
until it can thrive on its own. We cannot however blame all of
Macbeth's actions on the witches and Lady Macbeth. He got caught up in
a craze for power and ambition and the witches simply drove his
desires. I do not think Macbeth was entirely to blame for his actions
because we can see that without prompting he would not have killed
Duncan and therefore taken no steps in his downfall.
...he irreversible events that emerge out of a mini revolution in the war lead Ross into his transition as a true hero.
In conclusion, Brutus is a tragic hero in this awe-inspiring play because he is burdened with countless character flaws that engender his inevitable awakening, enlightenment, and death. They also lead to his dramatic change from a despicable fiend, to a loved companion of Rome. Through massive loses, and profound change in character, Brutus is transformed into a kingly tragic hero.
parts in the play. I will look at his effect and how he is affected in
One of the two categories of people must change in order to resolve the conflict, and three main characters display this need to change more than any others. The first person is John Procter, who changes somewhat throughout the play. The second is Abigail Williams, who attempts to change the people around her. And the third is Reverend John Hale, who changes quite dramatically throughout the play. All of these characters recognize that change is needed, but approach the problem from different perspectives. & nbsp; John Procter is the first person to change the play.
four of the five words are all powerful and give a good idea of what
At the start of the play he was just a thane and soldier and now he is
Biography: William Shakespeare's Macbeth tells the story of a man who would be king. And he is the king, because he murders. Him and his wife murder to get their way. This works greatly for them, until they are questioned, and their guilt sets in. The task for this paper was to compare the Macbeth's to two people who did great evil to accomplish good. IE: Adolf Hitler and Osama bin Laden, whom were used in this essay.
begins to carry out his plan and soon enough gets the advantage of becoming Othello's lieutenant. Last
Character Changes in Macbeth & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; Macbeth is the main character in William Shakespeare's play Macbeth. Macbeth goes through drastic changes throughout the play. He changes from good to evil. Many different things cause these changes. & nbsp; In the beginning, Macbeth was such a nice guy.
His pride forces him to find the traitor who murdered Laius. He eventually finds out that he is the sinner and gouges his eyes out to prove that he is not worthy of sight.
Good vs. Evil in Macbeth The good characters in Macbeth are less interesting than the evil ones. Everybody has an evil seed planted in them. Only the really evil person acts on them and commits something morally wrong. Like a Macbeth. When Macbeth first received the prophecies, he actually considered them.
... from Asgaurd due to his arrogance and immaturity. He has realizations; he changes from arrogant, capricious, and boastful to a mature leader which leads to him returning home to Asgaurd.
The character Macbeth in the story of Shakespeare’s Macbeth faces decisions that affect his morals. He begins as an innocent soul, dedicated to serve his kingdom and its king, Duncan. As time passes and opportunities present themselves combined with the deception of the evil witches, Macbeth begins his descent into madness. Macbeth’s innocence and loyalty are completely corrupted due to his over confidence, guilty conscience, and the inevitability of human nature. Macbeth looses sight of what is morally right to do in life because his logical choices are changed by these factors.
In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is portrayed as a dark, conniving force, hindering Macbeth’s wishes to do well by the king and influencing his malicious conspiracies and actions taken towards King Duncan and his comrades. Lady Macbeth as the lady of Dunsinane is entitled to many things. This often gives her an unfair advantage on her actions that others would not have, it does not help that when Lady Macbeth is given the title of queen she is given more power to affect the life of the others around her. Whether Lady Macbeth is manipulating Macbeth into a murder plot of feeding into his sadistic killing spree there is no doubt about Lady Macbeth is an evil character.
Evil is a destructive force; it causes harm to those who embrace it and their victims. In Shakespeare's Macbeth, the protagonist Macbeth and Lady Macbeth fall into the hands of evil. Evil is what drives people to commit unnatural actions of destruction. Macbeth succumbs to evil through his fatal flaw, greed, and it causes him to disrupt the chain of being. When Macbeth willingly murders, massacres, lies and deceives, he loses his heath and sanity. Evil corrupts everything it touches, and Macbeth decides to be evil's servant. But, when Macbeth embraces evil, it corrupts him, and it ultimately destroys him as well. Lady Macbeth is a victim of Macbeth's fatal flaw, since she is drawn in, and becomes greedy for power herself. She pushes Macbeth into destruction when she adds the small touch that plunges Macbeth into a chain of murder, destruction, and lying followed by the loss of their sanity and health. After Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are well into the depths of corruption and greed, it is clearly seen that their guilt will haunt them for the rest of their lives. The harm they have caused others will be returned to them as revenge and they have lost their sanity in order to gain power. The fate of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth clearly illustrates that to embrace evil is to negate our own need for order and well being.