Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: macbeth literary analysis
Action and Accountability in Macbeth
They say that life is what you make of it. Though there is much in the fabric of Shakespeare’s tragedies that complicates the relationship between action and accountability with regard to the tragic heroes, it cannot be assumed, simply because they find themselves in a difficult position, that they are engulfed and rendered powerless by the events that unfold in their midst. Even Iago, Shakespeare’s evil incarnate, remarks, “ ‘Tis in ourselves that we are thus or thus…we have reason to cool our raging motions, our carnal stings, our unbitted lusts” (1.3:316-326). Circumstance, then, simply does not negate guilt or responsibility. Given reason, we are capable both of the good and the evil behavior that seals our fate. This idea is especially important to a moral reading of Macbeth The true calamity of this and all other tragic Shakespearean plays lies not in the circumstances that Macbeth finds himself in, but what he chooses to make of those circumstances. Ultimately, it is Macbeth himself who serves as the instrument of his downfall. By instilling his character with reason, judgment, consciousness, and at least some degree of morality, Shakespeare proves Macbeth capable of resisting the impulse to carry out his infamous dark deeds, and thus implicitly tells us that despite our circumstances, we must all be held accountable (as Macbeth certainly is) for our own actions.
Macbeth’s moral makeup and reasoning capabilities play a major role in proving him the author of his own destiny, rather than a victim of circumstance. The complicated mix of unruly ambition and reflective morality that co-exist in Macbeth’s character, however, render those reasoning capabilities at ti...
... middle of paper ...
...is a very short-lived kingship, in fact, and when Macbeth’s head is finally paraded around on a stake, we can only blame him for his own gruesome demise.
Works Cited and Consulted
Bradley A. C. Shakespearean Tragedy 1912 pp. 468-9
Epstein, Norrie, The Friendly Shakepeare, New York, Viking Publishing, 1993.
Harbage, Alfred, Macbeth, Middlesex England, Penguin Publishing, 1956.
Magill, Masterplots- Volume 6, New Jersey, Salem Press, 1949.
Paul. Henry N. The Royal Play of Macbeth 1950 pp. 213-17
Schlegel, August Wilhelm. Criticism on Shakespeare s Tragedies . A Course of Lectures on Dramatic Art and Literature. London: AMS Press, Inc., 1985.
Stephen, Greenblatt. ed. Othello, Macbeth - The Norton Shakespeare. London, W.W. Norton & Co. 1997
T.W. Shakespeare, the Critical Heritage. Vol. 5. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1979.
Typical of Shakespeare’s works, the play Macbeth has a protagonist who ultimately experiences a downfall that lead to his demise. The protagonist or tragic hero of this play is Macbeth, once brave and honorable, who eventually becomes tyrannical and feared by many due to what Abrams describes as his “hamartia” or “error of judgment or, as it is often…translated, his tragic flaw.” In this case, Macbeth’s tragic flaw proves to be ambition; however, he cannot be held solely responsible for his downfall. As a result of many outside influential factors, including the witches’ prophecies and a rather coaxing and persuasive wife, one should not hold Macbeth entirely culpable for his actions and tragic end.
Because stem cells are essentially a blank slate, scientists are theoretically capable of growing any human tissue cell. There is enormous medical potential in this. Stem cell research is the next step in advancing the medical field. It is comparable to the discovery of penicillin or the inoculation for smallpox.
The conflict surrounding stem cell research is, with ethical consideration, whether it is a good or bad. The majority of Americans are advocates due to the possibilities of medical advancement, thus saving thousands of lives. Those in opposition believe that it is against
Stem cells are mother cells that have potential to develop into a new different cell in the body. It can self-renew or multiply while developing into other types of cells, for example they can become cells of the blood, heart, bones, skin, muscles and brain. Stem cells were discovered in human cord blood in 1978, and in 1998, Thompson, from the University of Wisconsin, isolated cells from the inner cell mass of early embryos (early stage of an animal or person before it is born) and developed t...
Snow, Nancy. “Stem Cell Research New Frontiers in Sciences and Ethics”. Houston Community College Library. 2004. Print. 10 Nov 2011.
Bradley, A.C.. Shakespearean Tragedy: Lectures on Hamlet, Othello, King Lear and Macbeth. New York: Penguin Books, 1991.
As the research teams of the EuroStemCell project teach in their educational short film A Stem Cell Story, there are certain stages of development while in the uterus where most of our cells stop dividing and stabilize into a specific kind of cell. They do not mutate throughout our life. These cells are referred to as specialized cells. Once they are damaged or die they cannot regenerate themselves.
Perhaps the most fundamental theme of Shakespeare’s Macbeth is the inherent corruptibility of even a seemingly good man when ambition turns to greed, and Macbeth himself exemplifies this concept throughout the play. While at the outset he is seen to be loyal to his king, generally considered trustworthy, and displaying numerous other laudable qualities, Macbeth ultimately succumbs to the influence of those around him and becomes unequivocally evil, setting aside all his previously held morals and coming to be driven only by his lust for power. This transition is brought about by a wide variety of factors and plays an integral role in the development of the plot. In his tragedy Macbeth, William Shakespeare employs
“Stem Cell Research: Guide to Critical Analysis.” Points Of View: Stem Cell Research [serial online]. January 2013;:4. Available from: Points of View Reference Center, Ipswich, MA. Accessed November 26, 2013.
From the discussion above it is very clear that there are different opinions on the pros and cons of stem cell research. Based on the recent researches, scientists have the capability to work out the alternatives for embryonic stem cell research. And the usefulness compare to embryonic stem cell remains unknown. Undeniably, the stem cell research issue has its most complex parts to be resolved and surmounted. But perhaps we can disclose the way to carry out stem cell research with the balance of bioethics and most importantly, do no harm for humankind one day.
Research on stem cells is advancing knowledge about how an organism develops from a single cell and how healthy cells replace damaged cells in adult organisms. This promising area of science is also leading scientists to investigate the possibility of cell-based therapies to treat disease, which is often referred to as regenerative or reparative medicine. There is genuine scientific excitement over the concept of using the body's own cellular building blocks to regenerate damaged or ageing organs. Stem cells are one of the most fascinating areas of biology today. But like ...
?Embryonic stem cells are cells from the embryo that have the potential to become a wide variety of specialized cell types,? (National Institute of Health, 2004). Embryonic stem cells have certain advantages over adult stem cells. Embryonic stem cells are easier to obtain because most of them come from in vitro fertilization. Embryonic stem cells are more flexible, they ?appear to have the potential to make any cell. They are also immortal; one embryonic stem cell line can potentially provide an endless supply of cells with defined characteristics,? (Velazquez, n.d.).
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.
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.
Bradley, A.C.. Shakespearean Tragedy: Lectures on Hamlet, Othello, King Lear and Macbeth. New York: Penguin Books, 1991.