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Shakespeare hamlet character analysis
Shakespeare hamlet character analysis
Julius caesar character essay
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"Et tu – Brute?" “Yet each man kills the thing he loves By each let this be heard,Some do it with a bitter look,Some with a flattering word,The coward does it with a kiss,The brave man with a sword,” by Oscar Wilde. In the tragedies of Shakespeare we encounter betrayal upon his plays and how it leads to catastrophic consequences. In this case Macbeth, hamlet and Julius Caesar are no exceptions. In the Shakespearean tragedies Macbeth Hamlet, and Julius Caesar betrayal will lead to the downfall of a tragic hero.
To illustrate, macbeth makes some drastic decisions that jeopardizes the whole play. At the start of the play he is a loyal and a honorable man. This character of his leads victory to the battle against the norwegians and scotland triumphs from his bravery. He is praised from his act of duty and is shown when the kings asks how the battle was won the captain reports to him , “For brave Macbeth – well he deserves that name-/Disdaining fortune, with his brandished steel, /Which smoked with bloody execution.”(I.ii.16-18). Therefore without his loyalty and braveness to his country he would of lost the battle against the norwegians. Ross the scottish nobleman agrees
Where the Norweyan banners flout the sky
And fan our people cold.
Assisted by that most disloyal traitor
The Thane Cawdor; began a dismal conflict
Till that Bellona’s bridegroom, lapped in proof, Confronted him with self-comparisons
Point against pint, rebellious arm ‘gainst arm
Curbing his lavish spirit and to conclude,
The victory fell on us. (I.iii.49-58)
Moving on, Hamlet is a whole different world from macbeth. Hamlet is feeling a little under the weather. From the start of the play his father had recently died and apparently his mother marries jus...
... middle of paper ...
...The illness should attend it. What thou wouldst highly,
…
That which cries, “Thus thou must do,” if thou have it,
And that which rather thou dost fear to do,
Than wishest should be undone. Hie thee hither,
That I may pour my spirits in thine ear.(I.v.)
now from this lady macbeth will give more possibilities for macbeth to become king and betray the fellow king he serves too. He tests him as a man when she says “What beast was ’t, then/That made you break this enterprise to me?/When you durst do it, then you were a man/And to be more than what you were/ you would Be so much more the man.(I.vii.49-51)
hamlet in the other hand sees betrayal from all his surroundings.
Works Cited
Shakespeare, William. "The Death and Life of Julius Caesar." www.shakespeare.mit.edu. N.P., n.d. Web. 22 Feb 2016. ;.
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."
When she learns Macbeth has been given a fortune of been given thane of cawdor then king and half the prophecy has become true, she knows if Macbeth is king she will be queen. She is willing to do anything to get it. On the night that Macbeth and lady macbeth have planned to kill Duncan. Macbeth is having second thoughts but Lady Macbeth is not letting him back down by saying he is a coward and she would do it if she was in his place by saying ”When you durst do it, then you are a man. And to be more than what you were you would be so much more than a man”. Macbeth is a hearty warrior and feels as though he has to prove to Lady Macbeth he is a man and he is not a coward. Therefore due to Lady Macbeths manipulation Macbeth murders Duncan. On Macbeths return Lady Macbeth is happy but Macbeth is Filled with regret Lady Macbeth tells Macbeth to forget what happened “ A little water clears us of this deed”. Which is Ironique as At the end of the play Lady Macbeth has been in the anxiety and it has finally eaten away at her and she has gone mad and keeps seeing blood on her hands. “Out damned spot out, I say !” which in turn leads to her own suicide and portrays Lady Macbeth as taking her fate into her own hands in an evil manner, However the guilt from doing the evil task highlighted Lady Macbeth was not as manly as she wanted to be and she still had feelings, showing the audience by her suicide as an act showing she was unable to withstand the guilt of being queen knowing the great evil she had to do to get
Macbeth learns that the first prophecy has come true. He thinks deeply about being king as he has a huge craving for power and status. Macbeth was persuaded into this evil act. This is evident when we read 'When you durst to do it, then you were a man, ' (Act 1 Scene 7) . This suggests Lady Macbeth is saying Macbeth is no longer a man. And then, trying to persuade him, she says that to be king "more than what you were" would be to be much more of a man. Lady Macbeth 's constant aggravation pushed Macbeth and made him commit all this
“O worthiest cousin, the sin of my gratitude even now was heavy on me!”(I. i. 347) the king cannot repay him for what he has done for their kingdom. Macbeth is a highly respected warrior because he is loyal, trusted, and honest man. Macbeth is a vulnerable man; he is weak. Letting other people make decisions for him, he becomes more incapable of resisting how people will view him as a “loyal” soldier since he cannot follow through. In the film Macbeth the setting is right in the middle of war. Macbeth has held the enemy facing him, but he hesitates and looks at his soldiers for the okay to kill the enemy. With that being said, he is seriously self conscious and lets others makes the decisions for him. Before he is going to kill King Duncan, he speaks to himself in the If soliloquy. “If it were done when ’tis done, then ’twere well It were done quickly.”(I. vii. 343) in this quote it shows that he is truly evil since he wants it done quick and easy.
Macbeth shifts from being loyal and courageous to a murderer executing a treacherous plan to kill the current king due to supernatural suggestions that he would be king himself. Macbeth is discussed as a man worthy of recognition by other characters in act one scene two. In this scene, the Captain states: “For brave Macbeth (well he deserves that name)” (1. 2. 18). Macbeth is being praised for his courage and loyalty to Scotland and the king. This first impression is hastily contrasted after hearing the prophecy of the witches stating he will be “king hereafter” (1. 3. 53). Immediately after hearing this, Macbet...
Shakespeare’s play ‘Macbeth’ is a play that demonstrates the theme of betrayal to varying extent. Macbeth to a great extent that illustrates betrayal and Macduff betrays to a less extent, however, his betrayal is driven by noble. The unfaithfulness of the two characters is followed by consequences. Juxtaposing to Macbeth and Macduff, Banquo implies no extent of betrayal because he hasn’t betrayed anyone throughout the play.
Even though Macbeth can be called a tyrant and a murderer, he is nonetheless, very courageous. In the beginning of the play, he fights very bravely for his king and country.
Disdaining fortune, with his brandished steel. Which smoked with bloody execution. Till he unseamed him from the nave to th' chops. And fixed his head upon our battlements (Acts I, Scenes, II, Lines 17- 23). In his speech, the Captain describes Macbeth's violence to indicate what a good warrior he is thus showing that he has respect for Macbeth.
Destruction of a family member may be gruesome. Although betraying a family member is deceitful. When there is false affection towards others, the truth will become noticed. To many, family is a top priority, to keep safe and loved by others, with no secrets among none. This may be possible for some, but in the Shakespearean play, Hamlet, this is not so. One thing that is more common in the entire play is betrayal from different family members, especially the Uncle. But, in a way that Hamlet discovered the truth was unorthodox. With Hamlet, the King of Denmark, finding out who killed his father was like being stabbed in the back because it felt unreal to know that your own blood can kill a loved one, just to be crowned king. The process of Hamlet killing his Uncle was
After receiving prophecies from the witches about his future to come, he is forced into an ambition-fuelled madness. As previously mentioned, Macbeth was persuaded to kill King Duncan by his wife due to his debatable manliness. This presented Macbeth’s need to prove to his wife he was manly by being valiant and strong and partaking in violent acts. He responds to his wife’s forceful directives by telling her, “Please stop! I dare do all that may become a man;/ Who dares do more is none” (1.7.46-47). This quote indicates how Macbeth believes a “real” man would not murder, and only due to Lady Macbeth explicitly attempting to manipulate him into action, does he succumb to do so. Macbeth endeavours the heinous crime of murdering the King, all owing to Lady Macbeth’s commands. On more than one occasion Macbeth is seen becoming mad, being overtaken by guilt and concern, highlighting that his manhood does not in fact give him any power, but only draws attention to his lack thereof. The inferiority he has within his relationship, also makes evident that Lady Macbeth’s pressure causes the transpiration of Macbeth’s powerful future. It is clear that Macbeth’s power was affected by his gender, as seen through his desperate need to prove his masculinity. Without the questioning of his manhood, Macbeth would have still been the
“When you first do it, then you were a man, And to be more than what you were, you would, be so much more the man” (I. VII, 54-56). After struggling with the thought of killing Duncan, Macbeth is reprimanded by Lady Macbeth for his lack of courage. She informs him that killing the king will make him a man, insinuating that he isn’t a man if he doesn’t go through with the murder. This develops Lady Macbeth as a merciless, nasty, and selfish woman. She will say, or do anything to get what she desires, even if it means harming others.
Bloom, Harold. William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. Chelsea House Publisher; Connecticut, New York, & Pennsylvania. 1988, Pg. #33 - 36
Macbeth, at the beginning of the play seems to be a very noble person. He is characterized as being very loyal and honorable. He fights in the battle against ...
Shakespeare, William. "The Tragedy of Julius Caesar." Houghton Mifflin Company. The Riverside Shakespeare. Ed. G. Blakemore Evans. Boston, 1994.
Shakespeare, W. (2007). Julius Caesar [electronic resource] / William Shakespeare. Chandni Chowk, Delhi: Global Media, 2007.