The four humors – melancholic, phlegmatic, choleric, and sanguine – are evident in many of William Shakespeare’s plays, most notably in Macbeth. Due to supernatural occurrences, the two main characters, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, show a change in their personalities throughout the play.
In Elizabethan times, the four liquids of the body determined a person’s character. Melancholic personalities are governed by black bile. Melancholic people are usually introverted and cautious, and get caught up in tragedy in the world. Phlegmatic people are represented with phlegm. A person with a phlegmatic personality is typically relaxed, but their relaxation can transpose into laziness. Choleric personalities are identified with yellow bile. Choleric persons are ambitious and possess leader-like qualities. Sanguine personalities can be defined as having blood as the dominant humor. These people are spontaneous and charismatic. A simple change in the time of day, or season, plays a part in a person’s temperament.
“Just as the four humors consisted of two of the four qualities, hot, cold, moist, dry, Diamond places the four temperaments at 45-degree angles between each axis. Thus, sanguinity belongs between High Activity/Excitement and Approach/Pleasantness, phlegm between Approach/Pleasantness and Low Activity/Depression, melancholia between Low Activity/Depression and Withdrawal/Unpleasantness, and choler between Withdrawal/Unpleasantness and High Activity/Excitement.” (Fahey48).
Lady Macbeth changes from choleric to melancholic throughout the play. In the beginning, Lady Macbeth reads a letter written to her discussing the prophecies given to Macbeth by the three witches. At that instant, Lady shifts from a human to a pleutonic she-bea...
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...play, and are apparent through textual evidence. Lady Macbeth starting out as a womanly brute, changes to a more guilt filled person. Macbeth transforms from a valiant noble to a crazed maniac. Macbeth’s “open book face” changes into a closed book, once Lady Macbeth tells him to act like an innocent flower, yet be the serpent under it.
“Macbeth’s ambition might suggest his inclusion in this category, but I submit that Lady Macbeth portrays the true choleric figure of the play, and the most memorable choleric female in Shakespeare… Not only does she invoke the aid of the supernatural, but she begs the spirits to transform her into a wicked, choleric villainess, which she views as her only pragmatic option to successfully secure the crown.” (Fahy28).
Works Cited
Shakespeare, William, and John Wilders. Macbeth. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge UP, 2004. Print.
William Shakespeare and John Wyndham both demonstrate a strong theme of change in the play, Macbeth, and in the novel, The Chrysalids. The theme of change is represented in both the novel and play through the characters, and their life changes. Change is revealed throughout both artifacts, and both display how the characters’ lives change dramatically from start to end. Shakespeare and Wyndham expose change in these artifacts to set the climax of the play and novel. Firstly, in the play Macbeth, the character Macbeth changes after the murder of Banquo and Duncan and his conscience is presented, this compares to the novel The Chrysalids, because during the war, the Sealanders kill the people from Waknuk and the Fringes, moreover changing the conscience of Waknuk. Secondly, Macbeth’s reputation is altered, because of his no longer high status after his death, which relates to the novel The Chrysalids, because Sophie’s status in Waknuk changes after her six toes are exposed after hiding them her whole life, along with the telepath’s telepathic powers being revealed everything changes for them. Lastly, in the play Macbeth, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s relationship is transformed due to his change of heart for his wife, and how he adjusts after her death, which relates to The Chrysalids because David and Sophie’s relationship is changed after Sophie leaves Waknuk. Macbeth by William Shakespeare, and The Chrysalids, by John Wyndham both include the theme of change all through the novel and play in the course of the changing of characters after deaths occur, the character’s reputation and status is altered within both artifacts, and the relationship between the characters after being separated.
The relation of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth takes a few turns throughout the play. It starts with Lady Macbeth being in control and dominating Macbeth. Then suddenly Macbeth turns into an unhesitant man, who gets accustomed to killing and getting his own way. The dire changes in the characters affect the couple’s relation extremely.
Lady Macbeth’s wicked character has an extreme impact towards her husband. Lady Macbeth is responsible for influencing her husband to commit both crimes; she unleashes the dark side of him and motivates him to become an evil and horrendous man. In various parts throughout the story we find that Lady Macbeth strives beyond limits to be converted into a bitter and sour women. The audience is revolted by her horrific actions and although she may seem repugnant, she is an extremely talented actor. In her role, having a deceitful and convincing character is important
As Macbeth becomes less dependent on his wife, she loses more control. She loses control of her husband, but mostly, of herself, proving her vacillating truth. Lady Macbeth’s character gradually disintegrates through a false portrayal of unyielding strength, an unsteady control of her husband and shifting involvement with supernatural powers.Throughout the duration of play Lady Macbeth’s truly decrepit and vulnerable nature is revealed. Lady Macbeth has been the iron fist and authority icon for Macbeth, yet deep down, she never carried such traits to begin with. This duality in Lady Macbeth’s character plays a huge role in planting the seed for Macbeth’s downfall and eventual demise.
Lady Macbeth is at the same time greater and lesser than her husband. She has a hardness which he lacks, but she has none of his subtlety and perception. She knows her husband well and despises him a little, but to satisfy her ambition, which is a crude desire to see her man King, she will devote herself soul and body to evil. (62)
Macbeth is William Shakespeare's darkest and arguably his most tragic play. It begins with a brave, honest man named Macbeth, who was married to a wicked, malicious woman. As the play progresses the swap of these characters' personalities quickly unfolds. Because Macbeth's ambition had been spurred on by his wife and Lady Macbeth had no outlet for her grief and sorrow the reversal of roles begin. By the end of the play they fully trade roles, Lady Macbeth fully descends into madness riddled with guilt and Macbeth turns into a tyrant devoid of virtue. As the events of the play unfold, they assume each others role and make choices that consequently lead them down a path riddled with chaos and insanity that they cannot escape.
Character Changes in Macbeth & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; Macbeth is the main character in William Shakespeare's play Macbeth. Macbeth goes through drastic changes throughout the play. He changes from good to evil. Many different things cause these changes. & nbsp; In the beginning, Macbeth was such a nice guy.
Macbeth: Shakespeare's Comparisons and Contrasts. Throughout Macbeth Shakespeare uses comparison and contrast to bring out characteristics of his main character, Macbeth. Shakespeare uses comparisons with Duncan, Lady Macbeth, and Banquo to bring out aspects of Macbeth's character. After hearing of Macbeth's courageousness on the battlefield, Duncan, a good and honest king, bestows the title of Cawdor on Macbeth.
There were several aspects of Shakespeare’s novel ‘Macbeth’ that led to the downfall of Lady Macbeth. The mentality of Lady Macbeth in the play changes dramatically from the wife a Noble General, to an evil aggressive murderer (brought upon by the witches predictions), and finally a woman who had de-graded to such an extent that she took her own life.
The actions of the characters as a whole in the film portray the change in mood over the course of the film. For example, in the beginning scenes, the soldiers rode high on their horses, the children played and laughed, townspeople seemed to be bustling about in a pleasant manner, and smiles were on all faces, especially at the party at Macbeth’s house the night of Duncan’s murder. Towards the end of the fourth act, the soldiers, townspeople, and children were crying, moaning and showed signs of suffering. In conclusion, these overall actions of the characters portrayed the mood change over the course of the film, thus emphasizing the fact that Macbeth had brought poverty, sorrow and horror to Scotland.
Macbeth is a very gothic, persistent tale of a great general in the Scottish army who causes his own downfall by listening to the dark prophecies of the three witches and his wife, Lady Macbeth. Macbeth’s self-consciousness fails to play an important part in the murder of multiple kinsmen causing the death of his wife and his mental health. Macbeth is not necessarily a horrible leader; the problem with him is that his ambitions exceed his expectancies. Macbeth’s character has constantly evolved from the point he was introduced into the play. Initially he seems as an extremely humble person, but as he learns more about the prophecies, his hindsight fails to overlook the complications of his ambitions. Macbeth’s faith in the apparitions and the witches ultimately cause Macbeth’s downfall and the unnecessary death of his beloved kinsmen such as King Duncan and Banquo.
Raymond B. Cattell (1906-1998) studied the personality traits of large groups of people, calling the visible features of their personalities “surface traits.” During his studies, Cattell observed that certain “surface traits” would appear simultaneously in individuals. When Cattell noticed this trend occurring frequently he renamed the group of “surface traits” “source traits”. At the conclusion of his research Cattell identified sixteen “source traits.”
In the early 1600’s, William Shakespeare penned an Aristotelian tragedy ‘Macbeth’ which provides his audiences both then and now with many valuable insights and perceptions into human nature. Shakespeare achieves this by cleverly employing many dramatic devices and themes within the character of ‘Macbeth’. Macbeth is depicted as an anti-hero; a noble protagonist with a tragic flaw that leads to his downfall. This tragic flaw of Macbeth’s, heavily laden with the themes of ‘fate or free will’, and ‘ambition’, is brought out by Shakespeare in his writing to present us with a character whose actions and final demise are, if not laudable, very recognisable as human failings.
The next stage of change developing in the characters of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth is in Act II. This is the act in which Macbeth kills King Duncan. Macbeth's character change is apparent because it is obvious that he has given in to his ambition and has murdered the king. He is not entirely changed, though, because he is almost delirious after he has committed the crime. He exclaims, "Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood clean from my hand? No; this my hand will rather the multitudinous seas incarnadine, making the green one red." He believes that instead of the ocean cleaning his hands, his hands would turn the ocean red. Macbeth's role has changed somewhat but not entirely, since he has committed the crime but his conscience is still apparent after the murder. Lady Macbeth's role similarly changes somewhat in Act II. The reader sees a crack in her strong character when she tells Macbeth in Scene ii of Act II that she would have murdered Duncan herself if he had not resembled her father as he slept. Her boldness is still evident, though, when she calms Macbeth after the murder and believes "a little water clears us of this deed." Unlike the roles of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, their relationship remains unchanged from Act I to II.
Macbeth's excessive pride is now his prevailing character attribute. This feature of his personality is well depicted in Act IV, Scene 1, when he revisits the Witches, without any coercion. His confidence and impression of subjective impregnability are the main cause for his tragic downfall.