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Is fate or ambition the driving force behind Macbeth’s actions
What influences Macbeth's actions
Motivation of macbeth
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According to the classical view, tragedy should arouse feelings of pity and fear in the audience. Does macbeth do this? Shakespeare’s Macbeth is definitely a tragedy in the sense that it arouses feelings of pity and fear in the audience. Macbeth is a weak minded man who, if sees an opportunity for power follows his ambitions and takes it, even if this is not the rightful thing to do. He is easily persuaded and suffers great guilt. Macbeth the character on his own creates the feeling of pity and fear in the audience. This added to the abundance of other developed characters creates a great tragedy. Pity is felt by the audience at many times. These feeling of pity are quite strong in some instances. The first example of pity is the general feeling for Duncan, Banquo and Macduff and his family after being slaughtered by Macbeth for the only reason of his personal ambition. Duncan was a fair and good king, and had even shown gratitude to Macbeth and Banquo after the battle in Act I. Also there is pity towards Macduff, who after leaving the country returns to find his wife and child murdered. The audience can relate to this by the unfairness in which they were killed in cold blood by Macbeth. The second example of pity in Macbeth is for Macbeth. Even though he had just assassinated Duncan he regretted it and realised what he had done wrong. He realised that Lady Macbeth had encouraged him incorrectly and he was sincerely scared for what he had done: “I am afraid to think what I have done. Look on’t again I dare not” Act II Scene ii The audience feels pitiful for Macbeth because he knows he has made a mistake and he is suffering for it through the guilt and his conscience. Thirdly the audience feels pity for Macbeth when he sees the vision. Macbeth’s mental state deteriorates severely after killing Duncan, and seeing the ghost of Banquo at his own dinner party in front of the lords do not help his cause. “If trembling I inhabit then, protest me The baby of a girl. Hence, horrible shadow! Unreal mockery, hence!” Act III Scene iv Macbeth is scared at this point. For a great warrior king to be scared is a big deal in the eyes of the lords and the audience. The audience feels pity for him because he is at a time of weakness which at this stage is uncharacteristic for Macbeth.
Based off our agreement of this assumption, Singer moves on to the second part of his argument to say that if we are fortunate enough to have our basic needs for life fulfilled, then it is our moral obligation to help those who are not as fortunate as long as helping does not result in something happening that is equally as “bad,” which he defines as anything morally wrong or not promoting of moral goodness (231). For the third part of his argument, Singer points out that since it is now within our power to help people from all over the world, we have a moral obligation to give them our aid regardless of their distance from us (232). Because of our modern technologies, we
The Shaper is a blind man who comes to Hrothgar’s hall one day, promising to sing for their entertainment. He weaves an embellished tale of how Hrothgar’s ancestor, Scyld, had “rebuilt the old Danish Kingdom from ashes.” (Gardner, 42) Grendel witnessed the disorganized fighting that led to Hrothgar’s tribe consolidating his power, but the artful skills of the Shaper’s song almost lead him to believe that the lies are true. This confuses Grendel, because the Shaper must know the truth (one can’t lie about the past if they don’t know how it happened), so why does he say things that are blatantly untrue? More importantly, why does Grendel lose himself in the words of the Shaper? Grendel finds himself hanging onto every word the Shaper says, just because the songs he sings are beautiful in and of themselves. When Hrothgar builds a magnificent mead hall and celebrates with all his subjects, Grendel actually starts to believe that Hrothgar is a benevolent, wise king. He knows this isn’t true, but the Shaper continues to sing about Hrothgar’s greatness, and Grendel mentally goes along with it. All of this backfires, however, when the Shaper sings about Grendel being cursed by Cain. When Grendel is chased out of the hall after he finds the dead man, he realizes that the Shaper has his own version of what is right and what is wrong, just like everybody else. He says “if the Shaper’s vision of goodness and peace was a part of
After Macbeth committed a dreadful crime at the start of the play, he realizes that by killing even more people he can get what he wants whenever he wants. Macbeth reaches a point where he is too busy fulfilling his own ambitions that he was not fulfilling his obligations as king. “Those he command move only in command, / Nothing in love…” (5.2.22-23). His obsession with power caused him to murder his good friend Banquo, and Banquo’s son. Macbeth’s out of control ambition has caused him to lose his emotion. He progressively sta...
Macbeth’s capacity for suffering also leads him to be a tragic hero. Before the murder of Duncan, Macbeth has a personal moment of truth and thinks about what he is going to do. He imagines the dagger in his hand and thinks about the nightmares he will be invaded with. Macbeth is so obsessed with murder; he begins seeing things, and must be quiet and not wake anyone, for he would give himself away.
Resilience is defined as “The capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness.” In the Uglies, by Scott Westerfeld, the main character Tally Youngblood the theme is extreme resilience through her journey. By the use of conflict in both the Uglies and “The Art of Resilience,” written by Hara Estroff Marano, this common theme can be found. Due to the author’s ability to develop the plot in Uglies and “If” it is easy to understand why the characters act with such a powerful attitude. Also, both the authors of Uglies and “If” share the same point of view on society. This helps to further reveal the theme to the readers. All in all, the ability to overcome life’s difficulties is important and is developed through the use of conflict, plot, and point of view in the story Uglies and the texts if and
Hindley, the Earnshaw’s biological son, had the most difficult time with Heathcliff. Heathcliff constantly threatened to tattle on Hindley just to make him furious or get him into trouble. Hindley and Heathcliff’s hatred towards each other never ceased. After Mr. Earnshaw passed away, Hindley finally had the opportunity to mistreat and degrade
Grendel first knows of the Shaper in chapter three. The Shaper is persuasive and alleviates the stories he tells, giving the people an illusion of reality. Grendel states that the Shaper speaks of a world split between darkness and light “He told of an ancient world feud between two brothers which split all the world between darkness and light. And I, Grendel, was in the dark side….I believed him” (p.51).
Grendel feels like an outcast in the society he lives in causing him to have a hard time finding himself in the chaotic world. He struggles because the lack of communication between he and his mother. The lack of communication puts Grendel in a state of depression. However, Grendel comes in contact with several characters with different philosophical beliefs, which allows his to see his significance in life. Their views on life influence Grendel to see the world in a meaningful way.
For example, whenever he exchanged answers with The Laws it was an “you’re wrong,” where as it when it came to Critos it was an, “I can’t.” Socrates demonstrates that the conversation that each situation differed was that one was with an audience he could trust and one that he could not. Socrates had demonstrated The Laws that were unjust and had to come up with some “smart” way to get him behind bars because he recognized that both sides knew nothing, including him. He explains to them that their wisdom should be classified more as ignorance because all that Socrates has ever tried to do was to help the citizens of Athens. His goal was to influence the community on how one can live a more valuable life by listening to the truth rather than falsely accusations stated by the
Guilt plays a strong role in motivating Macbeth, and causes Lady Macbeth to be driven over the edge of sanity - to her death. Throughout the story, there are many different types of guilty feelings that play a role in Macbeth’s fatal decisions and bring Lady Macbeth to commit suicide. Although there are many instances that show the power guilt has played on the main characters, there are three examples that show this the best. One is, just after the murder of the great King, Duncan. Guilt overcomes Macbeth where he can no longer think straight. A second example is soon after that, where all the guilt Macbeth feels at first, changes into hate after he decides that Banquo must be killed as well. The last example is just about at the end of the play, when we see Lady Macbeth sleepwalking, and then later committing suicide; this all because of the burden of her guilt. All of these examples build the proof that in this play, guilt plays a very large role in the characters’ lives.
Macbeth feels a great deal of remorse after he has killed the king. He understands that he has committed a sin and will be punished. He is so terrified that he hears voices telling him:“ Macbeth does murder sleep, … , Macbeth shall sleep no more”(Act 2, Sc.2 p. 57). Macbeth is very upset with himself and wishes that he never killed Duncan. “To know my deed it were best not know myself.” When he hears strange knocking at the gate he wishes that it wakes up Duncan, “wake Duncan with thy knocking”, however it is too late (Act 2, Sc.3 p. 61).
The initial downward spiral of Heathcliff’s life was predominantly caused by harsh influences in the environment in which he was raised. Heathcliff, an adopted child, grew up in Wuthering Heights, a desolate and dystopian estate when compared to the beauty of the neighboring Thrushcross Grange. In childhood, Heathcliff displayed evidence of a sympathetic personality through his emotional attachment to Catherine and kind attitude towards Nelly. At the time of Mr. Earnshaw’s death, Nelly describes a scene where, “Miss Cathy had been sick, and that made her still; she
As the play goes on Macbeth turns for the worse. He becomes more ruthless, evil, and murderous. After killing Duncan, Macbeth feels remorse and guilt. "To know my deed, ‘twere best not know myself. Wake Duncan with thy knocking! I would thou could’st." Not being able to return to Duncans room and place the knives is a show of weakness and remorse.
In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the theme of guilt and conscience is one of many explored throughout the play. Macbeth, is a well respected Scottish noble who in the beginning of the play is a man everyone looks up to; however as the play progresses he makes a number of bad decisions. Eventually, as a result of his actions he suffers guilt and this plays heavily upon his character until his personality is completely destroyed. Shakespeare uses a range of techniques in order to develop this theme, such as, characters, imagery.
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.