The Spiritual Decline of Macbeth
The play, Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, has been analyzed to such an extent that many assume it is impossible to say anything new about the play. Yet, a close reading of Macbeth can still yield tremendous insights. One interesting point worth noting is Macbeth's inability to answer "Amen" to a solemn prayer to God. Shakespeare's post-medieval world strictly adhered to the binary opposition between good and evil, or in other words, between Christ and Satan. The common belief was that satanic forces could not pay homage to Christ. Thus, Macbeth's inability to answer "Amen" reflects his spiritual decline, sinking to the ranks of the witches and Lady Macbeth.
Macbeth was written for Shakespeare’s new patron, James I (James VI of Scotland), following the death of Queen Elizabeth. James, a relative of the real Banquo, was interested in witchcraft and Scotland, hence the themes and setting of the play. The play itself tells the story of a man, urged by his wife and foretold by prophecy, who commits regicide in order to gain power.
Lady Macbeth is the wife of Macbeth and the person who has the greatest influence over him. A childless woman, from the start of the play she turns feverish at the prospect of becoming queen and declares that she would kill her own child--"dash his brains out"--if it would help her achieve her goal (I.vii.55). This connection between childlessness and power has led critics, prominently AC Knight in his famous essay, “How Many Children Had Lady Macbeth?” to remark that this is part of the play's greater symbolism, where evil is infertile and good is fertile. (Citation? Since you just paraphrased one of Kn...
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...m he must take the daggers back, put them with the grooms, and smear the grooms with blood, so it will look like the grooms killed the King. Macbeth is unable to return to the scene of the crime to do that so Lady Macbeth takes the daggers from him and tells him that it's childish to be afraid of the sleeping or the dead. And she's not afraid of blood, either. She says, "If he [King Duncan] do bleed, / I'll gild the faces of the grooms withal / For it must seem their guilt" (2.2.52-54)
The conscience is a fickle thing. If it is suffering, its owner suffers. As Macbeth’s spirituality declined, he was unable to acknowledge a simple prayer with a
simple response, “Amen”. His wife apparently was unable to take comfort from prayer. For both, this lack of communion with goodness ultimately led to
their deaths.
Macbeth was written in the wake of the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 when Guy Fawkes attempted to blow up the British Parliament. The attempt was one of many conspiracies to dethrone or kill King James I. Macbeth was written as a cautionary tale to warn against over ambition towards the throne, and the apparitions and witches were in the story to please King James who was obsessed with supernatural happenings. After the opening battle, Macbeth was informed by three witches that he would be king of Scotland. Then he and his wife murdered the king to gain the throne, and his whole life spiraled out of control as more prophecies given by the witches became
The Tragedy of Macbeth is a fictional play written by English poet William Shakespeare. The play is set in eleventh century Scotland, during the reign of King James the first. Shakespeare evidently writes in this time period to describe the link between leaders and their supreme or ultimate power. The play was first performed in the year 1606, at the world famous Globe Theatre, and is considered one of the most profound and compelling tragedies ever told. The Tragedy of Macbeth tells the tale of a brave Scottish general named Macbeth and his ambitious desire to become king of Scotland. While he and another commander named Banquo return home from war they stumble into three hagged looking witches. The witches offer the men an enticing prophecy that leads to a more pivotal role found later in the play. Throughout the play Macbeth is seen confronting his own moral ambiguity to the heinous acts he must perform to get the position he most desires. “My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical, [s]hakes so my single state of man” (Shakespeare 1.3.152-53). This uncertainty, present in the scenes of Duncan’s murder, the feast, and the witch’s final predictions each unfold the ambiguity needed to understand the basis of the work as a whole.
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.
We approach the world of adulthood in many ways. Graduating from high school, heading to college, attaining your dream job, buying a new house to later call home, or even getting married. We move on from our childhood because that is the way of life. As human beings we change for the better. As we reach adulthood, we can still cherish the memories we had as children but we no longer are fully attached to them. However, the main character Holden Caulfield from the novel The Catcher in the Rye, struggles with facing reality and maturity. He fears change and wants to remain in his childhood bubble forever. Throughout the novel, multiple symbols are used to convey Holden’s fear of moving on and losing his innocence. Both the author J.D. Salinger and critics Dennis McCort and S. N. Behrman offer evidence from “Hyakujo’s Geese” and “S. N. Behrman on Holden’s Innocence” to show Holden’s doubts about progressing into the adult world. Throughout J.D. Salinger’s novel The Catcher in the Rye, Holden shows a fear of maturity therefore grasping onto his innocence and dreading entering the phony adult world.
...Reisz’s piano performance establishes her as an ideal Bohemian who uses music to constitute self-exploration and individuality. Nonetheless, Chopin communicates to readers that although the act of playing the piano appears generic, it is quite different, especially for anyone who notices this difference, such as Edna, who does not imagine any “pictures” while Reisz is playing as she does during the Farival Twins’ performance. She only internalizes “passions” that are “aroused within her soul” and “beat upon her splendid body.” (Chopin 44) Chopin’s use of music as a symbol allows readers to understand Edna’s slow transition from Victorian customs into a more individualistic mindset.
William Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a play centring around opposing forces trying to gain power in the succession for the throne of Scotland. Macbeth, in the beginning, is known to be a nobel and strong willed man, who is ready to fight for his country. However, one may see that Macbeth has a darker side to him, he is power hungry and blood thirsty, and will not stop until he has secured his spot as King of Scotland. Though Macbeth may be a tyrant, he is very naïve, gullible, and vulnerable. He is vulnerable and willing to be persuaded by many characters throughout the play, his wife, the witches to name a few, this is the first sign that his mental state is not as sharp as others. One will see the deterioration of Macbeth and his mental state as the play progresses, from level headedness and undisturbed to hallucinogenic, psychopathic and narcissistic. The triggering event for his mental deterioration is caused by the greed created from the witches first prophecy, that Macbeth will become King of Scotland (I.iii.53). Because of the greed causing his mental deterioration, Macbeth’s psychosis is what caused his own demise by the end of the play. In Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, the tragic hero Macbeth’s demise is provoked by his hallucinogenic episodes, psychopathic actions and narcissistic behaviours.
Macbeth by William Shakespeare is a recognized classic tragedy portraying the victory of good over evil. This paper will explore the various expressions of evil within the play.
William Shakespeare wrote the play Macbeth for King James I of England. Many supernatural and magical elements are incorporated in this tragedy, because the beliefs of the King greatly influenced Shakespeare's writing. The main character Macbeth initially presents himself as a good hearted, loyal, and strong warrior, but he quickly begins to change. Then, three very ugly witches tell Macbeth and his friend Banquo a series of predictions. Most importantly of them, Macbeth will be King. With the encouragement and influence of his psychologically disturbed wife, he sets out to be king by any means necessary. After killing the current King Duncan, Macbeth takes the title and murders anyone who gets in the way of him keeping it. Macbeth's destruction and insanity leads to him murdering his best friend, the suicide of Lady Macbeth, and eventually his downfall and death.
Psychologists play many roles within the Legal and Criminal Justice systems. Those roles pertain to the areas of applied sciences, basic sciences, policy evaluators, and advocates. Psychologists are often called to assist in the criminal justice field as mediators, experts, profilers, etc. and can also provide assistance in the areas of corrections, law enforcement, and academic settings. The practice of psychology and social sciences has often been questioned in regards to its validity and ever varying factors. However, over the years, the area of psychology has been more commonly used in the criminal justice arena.
Macbeth has tarnished all the achievements and praise he has worked towards, and in the process has fallen into a world of darkness and lies. The murder of Duncan is the stepping stone that leads to Macbeth 's life of anguish and suffering. Macbeth will suffer a great deal of pain because of his guilty conscious. Macbeth’s remorse prevents him from fully enjoying his ill gotten gains. He feels dishearten at being responsible for the murder of Duncan. Even at the start of his rule he is described as a hero and this quality is still present even in his darkest hours. “List 'ning their fear, I could not say 'Amen, ' when they did say 'God bless us '. Methought, I heard a voice cry, 'Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep’.” (2.2.14) Macbeth believes he has tarnished his right to say prayers. After the murder of Duncan Macbeth feels ashamed and remorseful of his actions. He is unable to sleep or do anything that he would normally do because he has a guilty conscious. This quote shows that Macbeth believes that it is his fault for “murdering his sleep” Macbeth even states that he cannot utter prayers because he will tarnish the true meaning of prayer. “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.” This allusion to the Roman God of the sea shows that Macbeth believes not even the gods can
The second example of selflessness comes near the end of the film in the form of a flashback when Christie was still alive, after the death of Annie’s and his own children, Ian and Marie. Annie has had many troubles coping with the death of her children, to the point where she has self-harmed and was put ...
Macbeth’s story highlights the inherent goodness found in all of us, but also the evil that lurks within us, unnourished. Although there is no redemption for Macbeth’s evil sins, he finally comes to acknowledge his crimes and thus can provoke pity in the eyes of the audience. Macbeth’s psychological journey from a courageous general to a “ dead butcher” (5.9.41) is one that truly merits to be called a tragedy.
Hester Prynne’s sin was adultery. This sin was regarded very seriously by the Puritans, and was often punished by death. Hester’s punishment was to endure a public shaming on a scaffold for three hours and wear a scarlet letter "A" on her chest for the rest of her life in the town. Although Hawthorne does not pardon Hester’s sin, he considers it less serious than those of Dimmesdale and Chillingworth. Hester’s sin was a sin of passion. This sin was openly acknowledged as she wore the "A" on her chest. Hester did not commit the greatest sin of the novel. She did not deliberately mean to commit her sin or mean to hurt others.
... him and says that a little water will do the job (II.ii.58?59). Later, though, she comes to share his horrified sense of being stained: ?Out, damned spot, out, I say . . . who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?? she asks as she wanders through the halls of their castle near the close of the play (V.i.30?34). Blood symbolizes the guilt that sits like a permanent stain on the consciences of both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, one that hounds them to their graves.
The Academy of Beaux Arts had to approve the well-known piece of the time in order for them to be ‘valid’. The type of paintings that were most commonly approved included a major scale of tones for forming a variety of different shapes. They also had blacks and browns...