Chris Metz
Dr. Watson
AP Junior English
4 November 2013
Life Through a Pair of Forsaken Eyes
A close reading of Macbeth (5.5.17-28)
After hearing a shriek inside the castle, Macbeth sends his servant Seyton to find out what the noise was. When Seyton returns, he tells Macbeth “The queen, my lord, is dead” (line 16). Untouched by this horrific news, Macbeth replies, “She should have died hereafter: There would have been a time for such a word,” suggesting that she would have died eventually, implying that he is too busy to deal with her death (line 18 - 19). He goes on to say “tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow” using repetition, to show that life drags on, at a slow and “petty pace” up until the end of time (line 20 - 21). Macbeth then explains that “all our yesterdays have lighted fools the way to dusty death” implying that after each day, they are approaching death sooner and sooner (line 23 – 24). Would the “lighted fool” who is on his way to a “dusty death” be referring to Macbeth himself or to people in general (lines 23 - 24)? After saying “out, out, brief candle,” the candle’s light represents Macbeth’s life and he is commanding it to go out due to the shear depression and stress that he is undergoing (line 24). While in this pessimistic trance, Macbeth explains that “life’s but a walking shadow” and after each day the fool is coming closer to death (line 25). While referring to the illusion of life, he compares it to a “poor player that struts and frets his hour upon stage and then is heard no more” only to be forgotten once he is taken off (lines 26 - 27). Could Shakespeare be talking about himself since he is an actor upon the Globe Theater’s stage? Macbeth then goes on to say that “it is a tale told by an idiot f...
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...is considered to be a very deep and complex character due to this, and because he is ultimately the protagonist of the play, but yet he is also the antagonist too. He killed anyone that stood between him and his country’s crown, but yet in this speech he has an abrupt realization of what he has accomplished. He also had a strong and deep bond with his wife, yet when he receives the news he simply says, “she would have died hereafter: there would have been a time for such a word,” implying that he doesn’t care (Lines 17 – 18).
Works Cited
Kermode, Frank. “Macbeth.” Shakespeare’s Language. New York: Farrar, Strauss, Giroux,
2000. 201 – 216. Print.
Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. Jonathan Bate and Eric Rasmussen, eds. New York: The
Modern Library, 2009. Print.
SparkNotes. SparkNotes, n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2013.
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The two scenes that the essay will be focusing on are Act 1 Scene 1
The famous playwright William Shakespeare used symbolism throughout all of his thirty-seven plays. Light and dark are used as powerful symbols of good and evil in his tragedy Macbeth. Shakespeare uses these themes of light and dark or day and night to form an actual image of the play's ongoing conflict for the reader or viewer. The meaning behind this specific symbol essentially creates the story of Macbeth.
William Shakespeare's Macbeth Shakespeare first showed Macbeth in the court of a newly crowned King James the First. Some people would argue that in places this was written as a piece of flattery for James the first. James was meant to be a descendant of Banquos' and therefore Shakespeare shows Banquo to be a valiant and heroic character throughout the play. However, Shakespeare had to be careful what he said in the play, as he didn't want to upset the King. This play could be written as a piece of propaganda or a warning to anybody who went against the King.
MacBeth’s villainy is shown when he kills his king, friend, and innocent people and usurps the throne but he is not totally evil. His bravery loyalty and honour are qualities to be admired. He’s a man of action and remorse not just an evil villain.
Shakespeare pays much regard as to what it is to be a man and to
symbol is used in Act I, Scene III when Macbeth mentions Ross in line 108: “The
In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth it is believed that the universe and king were connected. Therefore, if the two were connected, when the king was killed the universe would respond with unnatural events. In this play, the unnatural events foreshadow evil. The unnatural occurrences in Macbeth predict the downfall of the kingdom and death of Macbeth; since the universe is connected with the king.
This is said by Lady Macbeth, who we will speak about later, in act 1,
member, a subject to the king, a king, a friend and as a person. By
The pursuit of power and constant struggle to maintain it leads to the deterioration of the mind. In the play Macbeth, Shakespeare demonstrates this concept through Macbeth’s struggle for power and his subsequent down fall. This is evident in his complete loss of honour and loyalty, his new found constitution of duplicity and his lack of value for life itself.
“Everyone is a moon, and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody.” Once said by Marc Twain, this is an excellent example of the human nature that is represented in the play: Macbeth. Shakespeare demonstrates that all humans have the ability to do good or evil. This is strongly affected by the choices that we make and by our actions. These decisions will have a huge impact on our lives and the lives of others. Throughout the play, Macbeth experienced a huge decent into evil and violent action that lead him to his death. With his thirst for power and constant paranoia, he killed his way to seize the crown. By killing Duncan at the beginning of the play, Macbeth soon realizes that nothing can be undone and his blood stained hands can never be cleaned. “A little water clears us of this deed” (2.3 70) said by Lady Macbeth after Duncan’s murder. But what they don’t know is that this is the start of the bloody massacre that will change who they are and how they think forever. Macbeth has multiple hallucinations and his paranoia leads him to hire murderers to kill Macduff’s family out of anger and spite. Lady Macbeth sleepwalks and gets to the point of madness when she kills herself at the end of the play. This demonstrates that our actions can be affected by human nature and our thoughts can be easily corrupted by temptation.
Macbeth, one of William Shakespeare’s famous tragedies, is set in Scotland. Returning from battle with his companion Banquo, the nobleman, Macbeth meets with three witches. They predict that Macbeth will initially become the Thane of Cawdor and then king of Scotland. Macbeth privately has ambitions of being king and enjoys the ideas of becoming the head of the country. After the first part of the witches' prophecy comes true, early in the play, he begins to think the subsequent part may also come true. Encouraged after continuous unrest from his wife, Lady Macbeth, Macbeth murders King Duncan, while he is a guest in his castle. Macbeth then seizes the throne of Scotland.
“Evil… is by definition a monster. It has a strange coercive force: a temptation, a mystery, a horrible charm” (Morrow 49). These words, written by Lance Morrow in a 1991 essay, could have been written about Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Evil is a conscious rejection of morals that causes pain to others. Evil is the force that causes Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to plot murder; that drives Lady Macbeth to her death; that persuades Macbeth to commit further atrocities. Madness is an obsession with an idea or event, and related, abnormal, behavior. Madness evolves from evil, and evil is all pervading.
Macbeth is the leading character of Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Macbeth, in which he struggles to deal with the consequences of his actions. Is he a Tragic Hero? His brutal actions make it very questionable, but yes, Macbeth is a Hero in his own Tragedy.
going to smack you in the face, you have to search for it. And in