Macbeth And Plato Essay

Shaking a Spear at Plato

Imagine two youths—each provided with everything necessary for a child to live a happy and healthy life, save for one key difference. One of the youths is afforded access to art while the other is not. If one were approached on the street and asked which of the two children lives the better life, one would most likely choose the child who is exposed to art, that is, unless one were the philosopher Plato. Shakespeare’s Macbeth is just one of countless works that prove that art is much more valuable than Plato contends; however, at the same time, this play does validate some of Plato’s ideas. In The Republic, Plato espouses some unique views on art. To begin, he does not think too highly of it. For starters, he worries

Consider, for instance, what Macbeth says after he slays Duncan’s guards: “Th’ expedition of my violent love / Outrun the pauser, reason” (2.3.129-30). It is worth noting that Macbeth is lying here; he is only suggesting that extreme emotion caused him to slay these supposed culprits instead of, more reasonably, interrogating them in order to uncover who may have hired them to assassinate the King. Regardless, the notion that allowing oneself to be ruled by emotion causes reason to fall to the wayside is still effectively related and rings true. However, while Plato argues that stoicism is the best way to avoid losing one’s wits, Shakespeare recognizes that emotion and reason need not be mutually exclusive and that emotion, like reason, has its place. This is best seen in Act 4, Scene 3 of Macbeth, when Macduff learns that his whole family has been killed. The relatively naïve Malcolm instructs the older and wiser Macduff to bottle his emotion; he tells Macduff to “Dispute it like a man” (4.3.259). However, Macduff, mindful that emotion is an inescapable aspect of human existence, responds to Malcolm by saying, “I shall do so, / But I must also feel it as a man” (4.3.260-61). In other words, Macduff, being a mature and well-rounded individual, is able to openly mourn his great loss while retaining his wits. Again, Shakespeare expresses more confidence than Plato in the average person’s ability to balance emotion and