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An essay on reasons behind believing in superstition
An essay on reasons behind believing in superstition
An essay on reasons behind believing in superstition
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Impacts of superstition on human behavior
Superstition is the fear of what is unknown and mysterious, but does it in fact impact our everyday actions? In the play “Macbeth” by William Shakespeare superstition is a significant contribution to the characters actions. An analysis of Macbeth reveals that superstition causes insanity, rash decisions, and affects how people conduct their lives. Showing in fact, that superstition has a significant impact on thoughts and actions.
In Shakespeare's time, people completely believed in superstition. Superstitions such as breaking a mirror, opening an umbrella indoors, and crossing a path with a black cat, filled peoples minds with fear and were often thought to have bad luck. The Romans invented the glass mirror and the mirror was thought to have the power to confiscate part of your soul, if the reflected image had any distortions, it believed that the soul was corrupted. The thought of opening an umbrella indoors was also thought to be bad luck as the Egyptians believed opening an umbrella indoors offended the sun god. Black cats were speculated to be witches in animal form. When Macbeth hears the witches prophecies he didn't believe everything they said until he was named Thane of Cawdor, after then he believed he was to be the next king as the witches prophesied. He began making rash decisions once he believed the witches and it affected his life greatly. All these superstitions affected the way people acted.
To begin, Macbeth’s superstitions affected many of his everyday actions. Some people believe the witches made him make all these rash choices, but it was all Macbeths doing. Even tho the witches were trying to get into his head when they told Macbeth his later three proph...
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... on human conduct in modern day. In past years, society turned to superstition and today more people turn towards either science or religion. Science and religion have a more believable perspective on life rather than a made up superstition. Furthermore, people have noticed over the years that these said ‘superstitions’ are not actually true. The seven years of bad luck that they were supposed to have after walking under that ladder never actually happened.
In conclusion, superstition in the past and today does indeed impact humans and their behavior. When the human brain is unable to comprehend a phenomenon, people turn to superstition to secure his or her self from unexplained fear. Superstitious people can be affected by this in a positive or a negative way. The only person that determines their fate when it comes to superstition is the person themselves.
Macbeth is a brave Scottish general that receives a prophecy from three witches that he will one day become King of Scotland. In the beginning of the story you first meet Macbeth as a kind, innocent young man but as the story progresses he becomes the most hated man out there. Macbeth has the pressure of whether or not he wants to kill Duncan so that he can become king and at first he doesn't want to. However, as he talks to Lady Macbeth he conforms to her thoughts and opinions and ends up killing him. This leads to a whole new Macbeth who ends up losing site of who he truly is. He starts to care more about having the power then actually caring about his friends and family. This even leads him into killing his best friend Banquo and in the end Macbeth gets killed. This is a perfect example of why following your own thoughts and not conforming to others is better in the long run. Along the way Macbeth ended up losing the most important thing, himself just because he decided to conform to the thoughts of his
Superstition Mountain has been the source of tales and stories about the lost gold for a very long time. The origin of the name Superstition Mountain emanates from the early farmers, who lived in Salt River valley. These farmers cultivated and cut hay for the military throughout the late eras of 1860’s at Fort McDowell. They constantly paid attention to stories about the Pima Indians and how they dreaded the “superstitious” mountain. As a result, the farmers thought the Pimas were superstitious about the mountain, thus the name Superstition Mountain.
Since it was an interesting issue which many people of Shakespeare’s time felt they were affected by, Shakespeare wrote about it. “Macbeth” with its supernatural theme was the 17th century’s equivalent to the modern day horror movie.
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.
William Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a tragedy in which the main characters are obsessed by the desire for power. Macbeth’s aspiration for power blinds him to the ethical implications of his dreadful acts. The more that Shakespeare’s Macbeth represses his murderous feelings, the more he is haunted by them. By analyzing his hallucinations it is possible to trace his deteriorating mental state and the trajectory of his ultimate fall. Throughout the play Macbeth is never satisfied with himself. He feels the need to keep committing crime in order to keep what he wants most: his kingship. The harder Macbeth tries to change his fate the more he tends to run into his fate. His ambition and struggle for power was Macbeth’s tragic flaw in the play. Macbeth’s rise to the throne was brought about by the same external forces that ensure his downfall.
Macbeth’s ambition to obtain power convinces him that it is his destiny to become King of Scotland, and that he should do anything to fulfill that destiny, even if it involves him committing tremendously immoral acts such as murder. After Macbeth realizes that the witches may actually speak the truth due to the second prophecy (Thane of Cawdor) becoming true, he begins to have an eerie and frightening thought of him killing his king and friend, Duncan, in order to ac...
Macbeth is a brave general who fights for his country Scotland, defeating the King of Norway. He is loyal to his king Duncan, but Macbeth has ambition to take over the kingdom for himself. He has lots of doubts of if he is doing the right thing, but still murders Duncan and then Banquo who is another general who fought with Macbeth. These murders and guilt about his treason are leading Macbeth to become insane. This essay shows that although Macbeth’s strong desire for power is influenced by the three witches in the play and also the planning and ambition of his wife Lady Macbeth, in the end he is responsible for his self-destruction.
When reading William Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth, it seems that Macbeth was predestined to do the terrible deeds that he did. However, there is also a valid argument that Macbeth exercised his free will and chose to do those things on his own. This discussion leads to many different topics, but it relates most to spirituality. The concept of free will and how it relates to Macbeth and our present lives yields a relevant and interesting topic for further discussion. The first argument for Macbeth being predestined arises in the first Act when the witches called themselves the “weird” sisters: “The weird sisters hand in hand” (I.iii. line 32).
We can compare Macbeth’s superstitions with the paranoid woman from The Laboratory-Ancien Régime by Robert Browning. Both characters, Macbeth and the un-named woman, have an obsessive reliance on external substances or information. Macbeth relies on the three witches to reveal his future and proclaim his position, whether he will be king or not. “Say from whence you owe this strange intelligence, or why upon this blasted heath you stop our way with such prophetic greeting. Speak I charge you.” (Act 1, scene 3, line 75). Macbeth questions the witches as to how they can predict the future and why they greeted him with such a mysterious, oracular way. Macbeth demands the witches to speak more of the future, he has faith and believes in the witches.
From the very beginning of the play, supernatural and unnatural forces have inspired and encouraged Macbeth. They interfere with natural events and completely change the character of Macbeth and his wife. Witches, apparitions, ghosts, and other unnatural images are used to demonstrate the evil effects and consequences those forces can have. Shakespeare is successful in telling his audience that only evil will come when Macbeth or any other person tampers with natural forces for personal gain.
happening against the supernatural, since this was the most simplistic of an. answer to give. Elizabethans have several beliefs in superstitions. Some of these superstitions include that they believe in witches, ghosts, destiny, and the foretelling of the future. This essay will investigate superstitions and how they are used in the play Macbeth. & nbsp; Witches were believed by many people in Shakespeare's day.
The witches have a strong effect on Macbeth's character; they highly influence him in his accomplishments and awake his ambitions. They give Macbeth a false sense of security with their apparitions of truths. Instead they prove to be harmful for Macbeth who takes too much comfort and confidence in his interpretation of the truths. They are the ones who plant the actual idea of killing Duncan into Macbeth's mind. But if it were only the witches prophecies, then Macbeth surely would not have murdered the king. 'When you durst to do it, then you were a man,' (Macbeth, Shakespeare Act 1 Scene 7) Lady Macbeth's constant harassment pushed Macbeth and made him commit all this evil. When you reason things out by yourself you tend to now what is right and what is wrong, a conscience. But with the outside influence from the witches he thinks that that is his destiny and he must do everything to fulfill it. One can wonder if Macbeth ever had a chance of doing what was right after he met with the witches. He is overthrown and killed. Through his own ambitions, the ambition of his wife and the witches' prophesies, Macbeth has caused his own destruction and downfall. We can now clearly see that ambition not achieved through our own ability leads to destruction. 'Hail Thane of Glamis and of Cawdor and shalt be King hereafter'. (Act 1 Scene 3) These prophecies from three strangers are taken without question and probably without good judgment. Just the thought that he may be King clouds his thoughts and ambition takes over. The witches can predict the future, they can add temptation, and influence Macbeth, but they cannot control his destiny.
Shakespeare’s Macbeth is full of supernatural forces and events. These supernatural forces were a very big role in the creation of a suspenseful atmosphere as well as in the development of the character Macbeth. Additionally, they justified his changing personality, beliefs, and morals. The inclusion of prophetical witches, ghosts, apparitions and visions eventually led to Macbeth’s tragic downfall.
In the English Renaissance, there was a strong belief in the existence of the supernatural. Thus, the supernatural is a recurring aspect in William Shakespeare 's Macbeth and is an integral and important part of the plot. The role of the supernatural in Macbeth is to bring out emotional reactions within Macbeth that cloud his judgement, affecting his actions which ultimately leads to his downfall. This is demonstrated through the ambiguous prophecies of the witches, the supernatural phenomenon that Macbeth sees, and the apparitions that foreshadow how he will meet his end.
In the Shakespearean era, there was an eruption of superstition and alleged witchcraft. The people of that time had strong hatred for the ‘devil worshiping’ witches and had various trials and tests to determine their fate. Shakespeare used this as inspiration for his play ‘Macbeth’