Cruelty, it has bled and woven its way throughout Shakespeare’s narrative of Macbeth, sharing that of a universal theme exhibited throughout humanity.
According to The English Oxford Dictionary, “cruel” is interpreted as “willfully causing pain or suffering to others, or feeling no concern towards it.” The term “willfully” conoates to that of personal intention, with full knowledge of the consequences. Shakespeare's Macbeth interprets the title of cruelty as an inhuman act. Expressed through the soliloquy of Lady Macbeth, who is frustrated at the state of her being, praying to be "unsexed", and replacing that of which is gone with "direst cruelty". In Shakespeare's time period, women were illustrated as weak and loving creatures, being like
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To put it in perspective, man kind can be described in the terms ¨dog eat dog world¨, implacting that humans strive for the conquest of power, and would do anything to achieve this, thus performing tyrannical acts. In Shakespeare's Macbeth, after hearing about assassination of King Duncan, Donalbain and Malcolm make plans to flee the castle, realizing Macbeth false sympathy and mourning. As employed through the words of Donalbain of ¨men will smile at us while hiding daggers¨, meaning that people deceive you with a smile, even though they have the intent to kill. The cruelty in this statement presents the hiding of our true intentions or emotions, in order to benefit us or lower other into a false sense of security. We hide our cruel ways and wicked intentions that all lie deep within us, looking "like the innocent flower/ yet be the serpent under it." Everyone puts on a mask, hiding ourselves amongst the sea of flowers, ready to follow through on the actions that we take with as much virtiality as a serpent about to strike. Knowing the consequences that will follow, but viewing them as a means to
Shakespeare used imagery to present the idea that violence will always come back to haunt us. Throughout Shakespeare’s Macbeth imagery is used to help provide a visually descriptive understanding on his literary work. Images of Hallucinations help to back up the idea of violence and how it comes back to haunt us, these ongoing visions of the dagger and the sound of the execution bell play on Macbeths awareness of the situation put into plan. Whether used to emphasise each tragedy present throughout Shakespeare’s Macbeth and it was also used to portray the witches as a character, Storms were used to present all the violence that corrupted throughout the play.
Fear motivates many people to act upon matters, right or wrong. This emotion has been important in many events in both works of literature, and in the real world. It has forced military geniuses into retreat, and influenced them to plan another method of attack. Fear can be both a positive and a negative acting force in one’s life, a quality that can motivate one to success as well as to downfall.
Lady Macbeth is driven to suicide when she discovers the truth about gender ideology. In the play, she is portrayed as oddly masculine and abnormal and her intense desire to “unsex” herself does a decent job at revealing some of the problems with traditional female ideologies. Lady Macbeth’s remarks and actions are clear illustrations of her resentment with her alleged female limits. In act one, scene 5, lines 47-51 Lady Macbeth says, “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!
One permeating aspect of Shakespeare’s depiction of masculinity is its dominance over femininity. Lady Macbeth is a vital contributor to this mindset throughout the plot. As a means of obtaining power, Lady Macbeth sees her femininity as an obstacle and obtaining masculine attributes as a step toward the throne. We see this when she says, “Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, and full me from the crown to the toe top-full of direst cruelty” (33). In this quote she is literally asking to replace her feminine attributes with masculine ones, which she perceives as cruelty and aggression. She continues to emphasize this ideal when she states “Come to my woman’s breasts, and take my milk for gall” (33). This line is a blatant reference ...
In the play Macbeth, there is many killings to stride for power, but after killing people there is a sense of remorse. William Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth, teaches his readers that guilt can lead to insanity through his use of Characterization. Readers can especially see this shortly after the death of Banquo. Banquo was killed from Macbeth's Kinsmen. Macbeth did this in order to gain power and become King.
The twenty-first century judicial system goes back in time to solve murders in the past. Many high school students before they proceed to college will read the play Macbeth written by William Shakespeare, this play like many have very relatable universal themes such as greed, relationships, and good versus evil. If the play Macbeth was applied in today’s judicial system for killing Duncan the prosecutor would have to look at all the angels of the crime right down to the motivates and the purpose of what drove him to commit the murder.
Macbeth and his wife Lady Macbeth showed many tendencies of a bully. The definition of bullying according to Stop Bullying.gov is “is unwanted, aggressive behavior…. that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The behavior is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time.” In several ways the Macbeths fit into the bullying mold. Lady Macbeth exercised control over Macbeth and bullied him into doing what she thought best. Macbeth overtime, gradually became a bully.
In the play Macbeth, or more commonly referred to as the Cursed Scottish Play, the multitude of death and betrayal covers up or destroys the potential heroism of many characters, except for that of Macduff. His purity, courage, and sacrifice throughout the course of the play enable this hero to eventually orchestrate the fall of Macbeth.
Examine shakespeare's use of logical, emotional, and ethical by arguing using a passage from Hamlet, Kind Lear,and Macbeth.
We see how a vigorous Lady Macbeth; initially in association with the witches’ predictions, at-tempts to mirror their disturbance of gender in psychological terms by desiring to "unsex" herself in order to carry out such a powerful action [murder], otherwise, being impossible for a woman to carry out (no offence or sexism is intended when I state this).
Macbeth, the main character in William Shakespeare's tragedy, Macbeth was not secure in his manhood. This insecurity led to the downfall of Macbeth because he felt the need to prove himself to Lady Macbeth. After he proved himself by killing Duncan, Macbeth became desensitized to killing.
Prior to deciding whether or not conflict is central to the dramatic development of MACBETH, one must consider all the dramatic factors that contribute to the Shakespearean play. The gradual decline of the protagonist , the role portrayed by characters and the order in which the events occur, greatly influence the direction in which the development of the play takes place. After reading the text MACBETH, by Shakespeare and viewing the film version, directed by Roman Polanski, it is logical to see that ambition and the deceptive appearances of what really is, is central to the dramatic development of MACBETH.
Insanity is defined as “[the] inability to understand the nature and consequences of one's acts or of events, matters, or proceedings in which one is involved.” In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the protagonist turned antagonist, Macbeth, was once “valour’s minion” (I.ii.16) a loyal and devoted nobleman of Scotland. However, he commits a heinous act of regicide in order to ascend the throne, only to become a tyrant who in the end was regarded as nothing but a “dead butcher” (V.ix.35). Macbeth was unarguably sane in the beginning of the play, however, at the end of the play its unclear whether or not Macbeth truly was a “deranged blood hound” (V.ii.32), or if he was still acting on his own accord. Critics may say that this “Bloody sceptered tyrant” (IV.iii.95), who murdered innocent people indiscriminately through the novel befell the holds of insanity, but in truth, Macbeth, whether for better or for worse, never was truly driven insane.
The character Macbeth in the story of Shakespeare’s Macbeth faces decisions that affect his morals. He begins as an innocent soul, dedicated to serve his kingdom and its king, Duncan. As time passes and opportunities present themselves combined with the deception of the evil witches, Macbeth begins his descent into madness. Macbeth’s innocence and loyalty are completely corrupted due to his over confidence, guilty conscience, and the inevitability of human nature. Macbeth looses sight of what is morally right to do in life because his logical choices are changed by these factors.
Throughout history women have fought for the same rights of men. In the time of William Shakespeare they were seen in society as weak and vulnerable. They were seen to be good, caring and not as powerful as men. Men were the superior and ruled the land. Shakespeare has taken the stereotypical image of the women of the time and turned it on its head in ‘Macbeth’. Lady Macbeth is shown as a very powerful, strong woman. She has an evil about her that Shakespeare has used to make ‘Macbeth’ a supernatural play. Women were seen to be good and not as powerful as men, in ‘Macbeth’ Lady Macbeth is the dominate character and commands and persuades Macbeth to commit the murders and crimes that he does.