Compare And Contrast The Attitudes Of Macbeth And Lady Macbeth Towards Murder

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Brenna Wang Professor Katie Montagna English 100 11 October 2017 Contrast the Attitude of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to Murder Attitudes vary from one individual to the next, as well as the perceptions of different phenomena in the society. Some people in the society are numb to events which may cause extreme degrees of depression to other people, and that is the way of life. These varied attitudes in the society are used to strike a balance within the society, and in some instances are sources of major conflicts within the society itself. Further, people may take unreasonable steps such as eliminating people they deem their rivals, in order to achieve their selfish needs. This essay seeks to elaborate the contrasting attitudes of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth towards murder, in William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth and the aftermath of their actions. …show more content…

Although both view murder as an avenue to ascension into the king’s throne, the wife has more nerve compared to the husband. Both have different timings and motivators, and their consciences are different towards the real execution of murder. Macbeth is concerned about the aftermath of committing murder. Although he is ambitious to ascend into the king’s throne, he is yet to reconcile himself with the prospect of killing the king in order to ascend into the throne. He sees murder as an evil which should not be committed on anyone, let alone the king. This is evident by the way he is constantly worried by the punishment which would await him in the afterlife, should he murder the king. “If it were done, when ‘tis done, then twere well…It were done quickly” (Macbeth 1. 7. 1-2). According to Macbeth, murder carries punishment in the afterlife and it should not be committed, because even if there is no punishment in this life, it is surreal in the next

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