Desire and Reason in Macbeth
In the play Macbeth the word desire occurs 7 times and the word reason occurs 5 times. These words have an important correlation and are a main theme in the play. Although the meaning of these words does not vary much at all in this play, their impact on the play is in the words surrounding them, and their place in the development of the plot. The first time desire shows up in the play is when Lady Macbeth is speaking in her first soliloquy and says, "I burned in desire to question them further". In which she was referring to the prophecy of which was revealed to her, and triggers the plot against Duncan, and her "reason" for her early lust to power. The second time she mentions desire she says, "Where our Desire is got without content". With the surrounding text she is saying that if your desires are obtained without happiness then all is lost. In two of the times Lady Macbeth uses desire it is in referral to Macbeth being king. The other time she uses it is persuading him to kill Duncan, when she questions his desire and strength to obtain them.
Macduff uses desire much less passionately than Lady Macbeth mostly he uses it to describe and emotion of wanting something, it is very much completely is context without literary impact of the word itself. The most significant time he uses it is before Duncan was discovered to be dead he says, "it provokes the desire, but takes away the performance". He was speaking about alcohol and provoking the desire for sex but taking away the ability to have it. This is not different from Macbeth envisioning the dagger that seems just out of reach. Later too he nearly backs out of the plot against Duncan, which is when Lady Macbeth says that she would bash her child's brains in if she had said she would; confronting Macbeth about his passive approach to desire.
In the same speech in which she is convincing Macbeth to follow through with the murder reason is used in an extremely clever part of the play.
The purpose of this essay is to inform on the similarities and differences between systemic and domestic causes of war. According to World Politics by Jeffry Frieden, David Lake, and Kenneth Schultz, systemic causes deal with states that are unitary actors and their interactions with one another. It can deal with a state’s position within international organizations and also their relationships with other states. In contract, domestic causes of war pertain specifically to what goes on internally and factors within a state that may lead to war. Wars that occur between two or more states due to systemic and domestic causes are referred to as interstate wars.
In the play of “Macbeth”, Shakespeare gradually and effectively deepens our understanding of the themes and most importantly the relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. The main theme of Macbeth is ambition, and how it compels the main characters to pursue it. The antagonists of the play are the three witches, who symbolise the theme appearance and reality. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s relation is an irony throughout the play, as most of their relation is based on greed and power. This is different from most of Shakespeare’s other plays, which are mostly based on romance and trust. There is also guilt that leads Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to the final consequences of the play. As the progresses, the constant changes in Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are exposed.
At the beginning of the play, Macbeth is a trusted soldier, who is honest and noble. Unfortunately, he meets three witches who tell him three prophecies; that he will become thane of Cawdor, that he will become king and that Banquo’s sons will become kings. These three prophecies slowly change his opinions on life and turn him into a greedy, dishonest, tyrant, full of ambition. Lady Macbeth’s thoughts change as well when she is told about the three prophecies that were told to Macbeth. In the beginning of the play, Lady Macbeth is ambitious, controlling and domineering. She is the one who encourages him to kill the king, she not only encourages him, she makes all the plans herself, which shows her determination and persistence."Yet I do fear thy nature, it is too full o’th milk of human kindness. To catch the nearest way thou wouldst be great. Art not without ambition, but without the illness should attend it." (Act 1, scene 5). Lady Macbeth is the force behind Macbeth’s sudden ambition and she tries to manipulate him into feeling guilty and unmanly for not following through with the murder, by using her husbands emotions, she manages to convince Macbeth to murder Duncan.
While she elicits her evil character in the mere shadows of the play, in public, she is able to act as Duncan “honoured hostess”, enticing her victim, into her castle. When she faints immediately after the murder of Duncan, the audience is left wondering whether this, too, is part of her act. This c...
As we are all aware that America was not shaped over night, there were – in fact – certain instances in history that radically determined the shape of our great country. Many things will certainly come to mind, if you simply think about it long enough. The Revolutionary War, may pop into your minds first. Next may come the Civil War. Perhaps the Constitution, or the Founding Fathers? While all of these were detrimental to the formation of America, there is yet another part of history that influenced our country today. This would be the War of 1812. While many simply think of it as a great victory over the British in the climactic finale which is the Battle of New Orleans, the significance lies further beneath the red, white and blue patriotic stories. The War of 1812 redefined our nation’s status in the world, leading into the great blessed country of freedom. Logically; however, if we are to understand why the war changed America, we must first examine the war itself, the reasons behind it, the outcome, and the significance of all. If America had not won – or even declared – the war, we would be living in a completely different world today.
In Macbeth desire and violence are prevalent throughout the book. Desire blinds one’s ability to think clearly when making a decision. If violence is used due to one’s desire than violence becomes a never ending cycle until the outcome of the violence goes against the one whose desire led to violence. When making a decision, one should use reason, which is having a logical justification or motive. Violence is committed many times in the book but not all for the same motive. Macbeth commits several acts of violence in the book due to his desire for the kingship of Scotland.
This ambition was planted and nursed in his mind when he was told the prophecy from three witches that he will one day be king. Macbeth’s wife, Lady Macbeth, was the spark that ignited the drive in Macbeth to begin his evil ways and kill King Duncan for his power. “I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself and falls on the other”(Shakespeare, 337). Although Macbeth originally knows that what he is doing is wrong, Lady Macbeth continues to push him in the dark void that his ambition has created and his feelings of remorse or wrongdoing will soon enough fade away. Although ambition has plagued Lady Macbeth as well and “has laid its stealthy fingers upon her conscience” (Gerwig, Vol.69). Lady Macbeth is the main reason that Macbeth so easily went to the dark side and she has become blinded by her own desires and that for her husband that she no longer cares for what is right and wrong. Macbeths killing will not stop with just king Duncan though and “by releasing his ambition, Macbeth is successful in destroying his conscience…” (McGrail, 19-46). Everyone is now a threat to his newfound power as king and Macbeth will kill whatever innocents he sees as necessary. Morals do not exist for him now, the only thing that matters is power and sustaining it and this ultimately is what leads him to being killed. Eventually
The Treaty of Versailles was a violation of Wilson’s ideals. The Treaty is one of the most important agreements (or disagreements) that shaped 20th century Europe socially and physically. Woodrow Wilson on January 22, 1917 in an address to the United States Senate called for a peace without victors, but the Treaty signed by the participating nations was everything but that. The blame for the war was placed on Germany and justified the reparations that were outlined by the treaty for the war. The terms of the treaty were very harsh to the Germans and they took on great resentment. It was a fragile peace agreement that would be used as fuel to keep hostilities going 20 years later.
Since the beginning of humans, some sort of conflict ahs arisen between them. Every culture has had a different take on war. There is however a general consensus that war is necessary. Those who question war are looked upon as deviants. It was hard and is still difficult to appose war now. Rise Against’s song Hero of War and Wilfred Owen’s Dulce et Decorum Est can be compared through the problems with war, the unnecessary glorification of war, and breaking from what society thinks of war. Through both works of art there is a general consensus on the terror of war.
In the mind of Lady Macbeth, ambition is represented as the ruling motive, an intense overmastering passion, which is gratified at the expense of every just and generous principle, and every feminine feeling (Moulton 516). Lady Macbeth learns, by letter, of the prophecy made by the Three Witches from her husband. She takes this knowledge to be true. Macbeth will one day be the King of Scotland, but she fears he is too kind and compassionate to kill King Duncan. Then, she makes this famous speech to the gods, “Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, and fill me, from the crown to the toe, top-full of direst cruelty! Make thick my blood, stop up th’ access and passage to remorse; that no compunctious visitings of Nature shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between th’ effect and it! Come to my woman’s breasts, and take my milk for gall, you murth’ring ministers, wherever in your sightless substances you wait on Nature’s mischief! Come, thick night, and pall th...
Through himself, the relationships he creates and destroys, and the deterioration of nations, Macbeth's character proves the power of ambition and its ability to corrupt one's life. Macbeth realizes that his motivation is his ambition is stronger than his will to act upon what is morally just, mentally deteriorating him inside. Furthermore, his ambition not only affects himself, however destroys his relationships with those around him as his selfish goals hurt others when achieved. At last, his tyrannous manner developed from his ambitious goals corrupts Scotland, the country he leads, as well as his connection with other countries. When one is driven by a want, happiness is attained through achieving this goal; but by willingly choosing to put forth desires before moral judgement, ambition holds the power to corrupt one's life.
War is one thing that we all know is a necessary evil. The United States has been involved in many wars since being founded in the late 1700’s. There are many reasons that the United States has been involved in, or is currently involved in wars. Although war is not always a popular thing to become a part of, the full effects of the war are not always known and may never be known as long as the United States is a country. Stephen Crane tells us that there are many effects of war in his poem “War is Kind”. From that it can be derived that physical, mental, family, etc are all effects of war needing to be monitored. All of these effects are causing hardships among the people that are coming home from these battles either directly or indirectly. The full effects of any war are never known and are something that is going to need further investigation to allow professionals such as mental and physical health doctors to provide soldiers with the help they so greatly deserve.
Lady Macbeth and the witches have both planted the seed of ambition inside of Macbeth Because of Lady Macbeth’s wicked behavior, which resulted in Macbeth’s evil transition; he was led to become a murderer. Macbeth should not be held accountable for his actions completely since she is the one who lead him towards committing both crimes. The major theme ambition and greed for power have played a key part in Macbeth’s fall from a great Scottish general to a murderer. People should be content on what they have and not strive for things which destroy a person even if we are influenced. In this case Shakespeare’s thought proving play of Macbeth.
Macbeth, whom initially was a very reasonable and moral man, could not hold off the lure of ambition. This idea is stated in the following passage: "One of the most significant reasons for the enduring critical interest in Macbeth's character is that he represents humankind's universal propensity to temptation and sin. Macbeth's excessive ambition motivates him to murder Duncan, and once the evil act is accomplished, he sets into motion a series of sinister events that ultimately lead to his downfall." (Scott; 236). Macbeth is told by three witches, in a seemingly random and isolated area, that he will become Thank of Cawdor and eventually king. Only before his ambition overpowers his reasoning does he question their motives. One place this questioning takes place is in the following passage:
Does nationalism have a relationship with the causes of the wars between 1792 and 1914? This can be disputed through the events of the French Revolution, the Napoleonic Wars, the unification struggles of Germany and Italy in the late 1800’s, the Alliance systems of the late 1800’s and the assassination of the Austrian archduke before the outbreak of World War 1.