Disturbed Characters in Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’ and Golding’s ‘Lord of the Flies

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In Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’ and Golding’s ‘Lord of the Flies’, the portrayal of disturbed characters differentiates. The story of Macbeth was set in medieval Scotland during an era where fear and violence dominated the world; a society where clans fought for power and craved the title of being the next king. In the play Macbeth is a glorified solider that meets his fate after being led astray by selfish ambitions. Similarly, Golding’s experience with World War Two had a profound effect on his view of humanity and the evils of which it was capable. His novel demonstrates a postmodernism view – the principal that rejects the idea of objective truth and universal social progress- by leaving boys stranded in an island. Free from the rules that the adult society formerly imposed on them, the boys struggle to maintain a civilised community and finally descend into anarchy. Both writers have different opinions toward the definition of disturbed and this is reflected through their characters.

Atmosphere and settings are used by both Golding and Shakespeare to foreshadow future events. In the Lord of the Flies, the island stands as an allegorical object representing the general modernist view of civilisation: that the world is improving and that progress is inevitable. With its “dazzling beach” and “open sea”, the island almost creates the sense that it is the Garden of Eden; a place of perfection. However, the image becomes tainted when the reader realises that the island is not pristine: it is marked by a “scar”. Although this “scar” was caused by the plane crash that brought the boys to the island, it can be interpreted in a way that allows us to understand what or who Golding classifies as disturbed. This flaw, on the otherwise untouc...

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...s crime has awakened in him a powerful sense of guilt that will hound him throughout the play. The King's blood serves as the symbol of that guilt and in Macbeth's eyes, “all great Neptune’s ocean” cannot cleanse him of the blood and of the guilt that comes with the crime, he states that there is enough blood on his hands to turn the entire sea red. Lady Macbeth shares different ideas, she thinks that “a little water” would clear them of their deed, this juxtaposes Macbeth’s thoughts because of the large scale of difference between a little water and all the water in the sea. But, as Lady Macbeth eventually realizes, that the 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. Whilst Jack rejoices at the success of his first kill, Macbeth is traumatised by the ordeal.

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