In the play Macbeth, William Shakespeare arrays an atmospheric cloud of paranoia, guilt and ambition. Macbeth was undeniably one of the most whimsical and caliginous plays created during the Elizabethan era. The play was exceptionally popular because it was sceptical towards the people of the Elizabethan era. Later on during the Victorian era Robert Louis Stevenson published the novella, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. The novella was set in the 19th century and proved to be controversial and ambiguous towards the readers of that time. Stevenson explores curiosity and the manifestation of evil throughout the novella.
Shakespeare and Stevenson illustrate how the protagonist faces a battle of desires and submits to the manifestation of evil. Their desires somewhat stunned the audience and readers at this time and to an extent, it still astonishes the audience/readers to this day.
Shakespeare introduces Macbeth as a man of high status and respect similarly; Stevenson presents Dr Jekyll with the upmost respect and with an unshakable honour. However, the audience/readers can also gain a sense of darkness beneath their valued layers.
After Macbeth discovers the plan of murdering King Duncan he says, “he hath honoured me of late; and I have brought golden opinions from all sorts of people’.
Macbeth clearly despises the idea. He is viewed as an ‘honoured’ and respectable soldier in the eyes of the audience because he receives compliments from the king himself; which back in the Elizabethan era was valued highly. Furthermore, ‘golden’ connotes pure, valuable and rich; is used to illustrate the type of opinions he receives from ‘all sorts of people’. This shows that Macbeth is not just valued amongst the king but amongst t...
... middle of paper ...
... it will consume you. For example Hyde was described, ‘dwarfish’. This could show that if people repressed the bad parts in them it will take over and destroy you.
In conclusion, at the start of both novella and play, the authors, Shakespeare and Stevenson present to their protagonists are honourable men of high respect. However, the audience and readers gain a sense of evil lurking beneath their layers. As the play and novella develops, it is clear that the evil core starts to manifest itself. Macbeth is ashamed from his change on the contrary, Jekyll is fond of his. During the course of their paths destructive, malicious and deadly acts are executed. They both started a journey to benefit their lives however, ironically leads to their death. A journey where they falsely believed they would prosper and achieve; unfortunately reaching them sorrow, pain and anguish.
The sense of conflict being created through disapproval portrays duality that the Victorians had at the period; it is almost as if they were in a dilemma and confusion in deciding which element of sanity to maintain. Stevenson wrote the story to articulate his idea of the duality of human nature, sharing the mixture good and evil that lies within every human being. In the novel Mr Hyde represents the evil part of a person and of Dr Jekyll.
Thirdly, feelings of paranoia and guilt cause Macbeth characters to make damaging choices. When Macbeth asks the witches to reveal the truth of their prophecies to him, they summon horrible apparitions, each of which offers a prediction to allay Macbeth’s fears. First, a floating head warns him to beware Macduff. Macbeth says that he has already guessed as much. Later when Lennox enters and tells Macbeth that Macduff has fled to England. Macbeth in reply says, “The castle of Macduff I will surprise; / Seize upon Fife; give to th'edge o'th'sword / His wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls / That trace him in his line.” (4.1.149-152). As Macbeth descends to madness he becomes obsessed with eliminating any threats to his power. Macbeth orders the murderers to kill Macduff's family and eliminate any threat to him. Ironically, this is the moment that Macbeth seals his own fate, by murdering Macduff's family he ensures Macduff's retaliation against him, which ultimately leads
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.
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.
While in Hamlet and others of Shakespeare's plays we feel that Shakespeare refined upon and brooded over his thoughts, Macbeth seems as if struck out at a heat and imagined from first to last with rapidity and power, and a subtlety of workmanship which has become instructive. The theme of the drama is the gradual ruin through yielding to evil within and evil without, of a man, who, though from the first tainted by base and ambitious thoughts, yet possessed elements in his nature of possible honor and loyalty. (792)
Within the text of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson portrays a complex power struggle between Dr. Jekyll, a respected individual within Victorian London society, and Mr. Hyde a villainous man tempted with criminal urges, fighting to take total control of their shared body. While Dr. Jekyll is shown to be well-liked by his colleagues, Mr. Hyde is openly disliked by the grand majority of those who encounter him, terrified of his frightful nature and cruel actions. Throughout Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Stevenson portrays the wealthy side of London, including Mr. Utterson and Dr. Jekyll, as respected and well-liked, while showing the impoverish side as either non-existent or cruel.
All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!” (Macbeth Act One, Scene Three, Lines 49-51) This knowledge eventually drives Macbeth into a type of madness and all that matters to him is his hunger for more power. “At least since the days of Alexander Pope and Samuel Johnson, analysis of the play has centered on the question of Macbeth's ambition, commonly seen as so dominant a trait that it defines the character. Johnson asserted that Macbeth, though esteemed for his military bravery, is wholly reviled. This opinion recurs in critical literature, and, according to Carolin...
MACBETH: "We will proceed no further in this business: He hath honour'd me of late; and I have bought Golden opinions from all sorts of people, Which would be worn now in their newest gloss, Not cast aside so soon."(Macbeth,I,vii, )
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.
“For brave Macbeth – well he deserves that name – Disdaining Fortune, with his brandished steel, which smoked with bloody execution.”
Excessive ambition can turn a noble man into a monster. Macbeth, a play by Shakespeare is a thrilling four hundred year old frame story which depicts a nobleman Macbeth who is misled by witches and encouraged by his wife to commit murder for his throne . The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a novella created by Robert Louis Stevenson and details the mystery of Mr. Hyde and Dr. Jekyll. There are some similarities between the two novels such as how both are respected in their field, have tried to reject their evil thoughts and are influenced by other characters. The conflict surrounding Jekyll and Macbeth demonstrates how greed leads to illustrating the duality
“O worthiest cousin, the sin of my gratitude even now was heavy on me!”(I. i. 347) the king cannot repay him for what he has done for their kingdom. Macbeth is a highly respected warrior because he is loyal, trusted, and honest man. Macbeth is a vulnerable man; he is weak. Letting other people make decisions for him, he becomes more incapable of resisting how people will view him as a “loyal” soldier since he cannot follow through. In the film Macbeth the setting is right in the middle of war. Macbeth has held the enemy facing him, but he hesitates and looks at his soldiers for the okay to kill the enemy. With that being said, he is seriously self conscious and lets others makes the decisions for him. Before he is going to kill King Duncan, he speaks to himself in the If soliloquy. “If it were done when ’tis done, then ’twere well It were done quickly.”(I. vii. 343) in this quote it shows that he is truly evil since he wants it done quick and easy.
The reader is drawn to the plot of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde through the literary devices Stevenson employs. Foreshadowing displays the sense of mystery throughout the novel, the foreshadowing of the actions of Mr. Hyde leaves the reader wondering what will happen next. The ironic nature of Dr. Jekyll relates to the reader as a person, no person is completely perfect and Dr. Jekyll exhibits the natural wants and desires of humans. The irony behind Mr. Hyde adds an enigmatic side to the plot. These two devices expose the readers to the complexity of the novel and reveal the inner meaning of the hidden details.
This essay will focus on how Robert Louis Stevenson presents the nature of evil through his novel ‘The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’. Using ideas such as duality, the technique used to highlight the two different sides of a character or scene, allegories, an extended metaphor which has an underlying moral significance, and hypocrisy; in this book the Victorians being against all things evil but regularly taking part in frown able deeds that would not be approved of in a ‘respectable’ society. This links in with the idea of secrecy among people and also that evil is present in everyone. The novel also has strong ties and is heavily influenced by religion. Stevenson, being brought up following strong Calvinist beliefs, portrays his thoughts and opinion throughout the story in his characters; good and evil.
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.