As with all great works of literature, William Shakespeare’s Macbeth has spawned countless essays concerning its interpretation. Two such essays, “Shakespearean Tragedy” and “General Macbeth,” produced by two eminent literary critics, A.C. Bradley and Mary McCarthy, find themselves in conflict. The essays’ respective authors diverge on subjective points such as interpretation of character, original intent, and meaning. Bradley’s Macbeth is courageous and encumbered by the dregs of guilt, while McCarthy’s version takes a less orthodox path. A.C. Bradley’s interpretation of Macbeth finds him human, conflicted, and comparable to his wife, Lady Macbeth, in many respects. They share a common ambition and a common conscience sensitive enough to feel the effects of their ambition. But the story, Bradley contends, is built upon the traits that set them apart. He focuses mainly on Macbeth. Macbeth is a character of two battling halves: his reason, or ambition, and his “imagination.” Bradley attributes the hysterical nature of Macbeth’s visions, the dagger, the specter of Banquo, and other ghosts, to his wild imagination. He “acts badly” (Bradley, 136) and loses his composure whenever his imagination triumphs over his practical side; however, Bradley also asserts that Macbeth’s imagination is “the best of him, something usually deeper and higher than his conscious thoughts” (133). Macbeth is therefore unable to make use of the “better” imagination with which he was endowed and instead only appears “firm, self-controlled and practical” when he is “hateful” (136). A product of these clashing sides, Macbeth’s murder of Duncan is borne of his inability to properly acknowledge the conclusions drawn by his imagination. In his soliloquies and in... ... middle of paper ... ...nd his morality. His practicality ties him to the throne. A part of him still depends on approval, on the “worldly symbols” he was never truly able to relinquish. Macbeth is a tragic character, fallen from the great general he once was. If he lacks something, though, it is not conscience. He never forgets his crimes, and he is anything but a common man; he is complex, as conflicted as A.C. Bradley’s interpretation of him. If McCarthy is correct in any of her assertions, though, it would be that Macbeth is a play about nature. Shakespeare plumbs the depths of human nature, of man’s innate desires, and procures a disturbing reality. Macbeth is not a simple character, but the same can be said for anyone; no one is as plain as he or she may seem. As such, the fate of Macbeth is, in the end, the fate of any man. Works Cited Macbeth, Shakespearean Tragedy, General Macbeth
The suffering of Macbeth throughout the play is a disconsolate process. Throughout the stages of his grievous downfall essential truths about humanity are dubiously displayed. Macbeth’s ordeal reveals the ev...
Macbeth’s heroic deeds at the beginning of the play soon seem insignificant next to the primary event in the Act: the revelation of the witches’ prophecy. Their insightful proclamation that he will be king someday is both shocking and pleasing to Macbeth. Without this occurrence, this play might not have traveled a road of ambition and death, but instead one of calm acceptance and enjoyment of an already-elegant lifestyle. The seeds of desire were here planted, however, eliciting what became a bloody ordeal. The spark ignited, and a plan began to take shape.
Macbeth, a play written by William Shakespeare, portrays Macbeth as a kinsman, subject and trusted friend to King Duncan I of Scotland. A trusted friend, that is, until Macbeth has a chance encounter with the “three witches” (Shakespeare) or the “Weird Sisters”. The witches predict that Macbeth will become the next King and that his fellow companion, Banquo, will be the father of a line of kings. A change comes over Macbeth after his meeting; he is no longer content to be a follower of the King, he will “be” King at any cost. After killing the King and his friend Banquo, losing his wife to madness and ordering the execution of many, Macbeth is killed in much the same fashion as he has killed. But does this really reflect the real King MacBeth of Scotland? While examining the characteristics and actions of the two Macbeths and decide if Shakespeare’s writing was historically sound or was it just “double, double, toil and trouble” (4.1.22-26) playing with MacBeth’s character.
Knights, L.C. "Macbeth." Shakespeare: The Tragedies. A Collectiion of Critical Essays. Alfred Harbage, ed. Englewwod Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1964.
The audience finds in William Shakespeare's tragic drama Macbetha number of developments and words and situations which are equivocal, unclear, unintelligible. This essay will explore and analyze these parts of the play.
The character of Macbeth is the battlefield on which we witness one of the most intense struggles in the whole play, forming our tragic hero. In the beginning of the play, Macbeth is called honorable and brave because his fearless fighting in the opening battle. Indeed, Macbeth seems to be a worthy man. Yet, when faced with the opportunity to seize more power for himself through the use of wicked tactics, a war is kindled within him. Although he is pulled strongly towards the evil inside by his personal ambition and by the influence of his wife, Lady Macbeth, Macbeth's conscience and human kindness does not let him give in easily. In the heat of the battle, Macbeth's ambition is victorious when he chooses to commit the murder of Duncan. Though the first murder leads to others, Macbeth does not tur...
Perhaps the most fundamental theme of Shakespeare’s Macbeth is the inherent corruptibility of even a seemingly good man when ambition turns to greed, and Macbeth himself, as one would expect, exemplifies this concept throughout the play. While at the outset he is seen to be loyal to his king, generally considered trustworthy, and displaying numerous other laudable qualities, Macbeth ultimately succumbs to the influence of those around him and becomes unequivocally evil, setting aside all his previously held morals and coming to be driven only by his lust for power. This transition is brought about by a wide variety of factors and plays an integral role in the development of the plot. In his tragedy Macbeth, William Shakespeare employs multiple methods of characterization in order to highlight the protagonist’s transformation from hero to villain as a result of the influences of the people surrounding him, namely the Weïrd sisters, Lady Macbeth, and Macduff, including extensive foreshadowing, a general shift in tone corresponding with turning points in the plot, and the inclusion of long-winded soliloquies to mark a critical change in Macbeth’s character.
Knights, L.C. "Macbeth." Shakespeare: The Tragedies. A Collectiion of Critical Essays. Alfred Harbage, ed. Englewwod Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1964.
The essence of Macbeth lies not only in the fact that it is written by the universal talent William Shakespeare; the royal-conspiracy, the political unethical activity, the killin...
Knights, L.C. "Macbeth." Shakespeare: The Tragedies. A Collectiion of Critical Essays. Alfred Harbage, ed. Englewwod Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1964.
The tragedy of Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, is one of the most revolting and dark pieces of poetry from the Elizabethan time period. The main character, Macbeth, is one that cannot be related to harmony, warmth and peace. This play is filled with bloodshed and continuous felonies. Macbeth approaches his ambition to become king in a negative manner; he commits treason and murders king Duncan. Yet, even though Macbeth continues with his devious and sinister plots, we still feel pity toward poor Macbeth. For the play Macbeth to work as a tragedy, Shakespeare had to maintain our sympathy for a character whose actions become increasingly monstrous. Firstly, Macbeth was not portrayed as a cold-hearted villain at the beginning of the play. He started as a loyal hero, but eventually changed into ruthless tyrant. Secondly, Macbeth was cursed and faced against the almighty fate in the first lines of the prologue. Finally, we feel pity for Macbeth because he resembles a psychologically challenged victim; Macbeth is firm on the outside, but fragile on the inside.
Shakespeare draws an amazing psychological portrait of a man who became a villain by means of ambition, desire and an imbalance of good and evil. “Macbeth” is a play composed of the disintegration of a noble man’s world. The play begins by offering the audience Macbeth, a war hero, with a high regard from Duncan, the king of Scotland. By the end of the play Macbeth transforms into a universally despised man without a place in the social community. Shakespeare draws an amazing face of a man made to be a villain by ambition, desire and an imbalance of good and evil.
Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” explores a fundamental struggle of the human conscience. The reader is transported into the journey of a man who recognizes and acknowledges evil but still succumbs to its destructive powers. The character of Macbeth is shrouded in ambiguity that scholars have claimed as both being a tyrant and tragic hero. Macbeth’s inner turmoil and anxieties that burden him throughout the entire play evoke sympathy and pity in the reader. Though he has the characteristics of an irredeemable tyrant, Macbeth realizes his mistakes and knows there is no redemption for his sins. And that is indeed tragic.
Shakespeare tragic hero; Macbeth is undoubtedly conveyed as one of literatures greatest fallen heroes. Initially presented as an admirable hero, he self destructs from external and internal forces. The witches ignited Macbeth’s ambition and temptations prove too strong for the one admired war hero, whilst Lady Macbeth prays up on his exceptional being of vaulting ambition. Throughout the essay, the factors influence Macbeth’s downfall will be explored.
Interpretation of William Shakespeare's Macbeth If you were to ask any foreigner to name a Scots king, he would