Similarities and Differences between Macbeth and La Belle Dame Sans Merci In many different novels, evil is represented through a person. From the malicious deeds of Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights, to the manipulative nature of Fahrenheit 451’s Captain Beatty, evil commonly lies in a person’s soul. The most wicked of these characters include Lady Macbeth from Shakespeare’s drama, Macbeth and Keats’ “La Belle Dame Sans Merci” from his ballad bearing the same name. At first glance, both texts seems to have little to no similarities and numerous differences, however, a closer look shows that Shakespeare and Keats use similar techniques and strategies to prove the theme and create motifs. One way the two authors use similar techniques is how they develop and prove the theme of what is …show more content…
In Macbeth, the theme is proved through the use of mostly the antagonist’s perspective. As Macbeth is explaining to Lady Macbeth about the coming arrival of Duncan, she exclaims how Duncan will soon die and how he must,” Look like th’innocent flower, But be the serpent under’t” (1.6.65-66). Lady Macbeth tells how they must be welcoming, yet evil in order to complete their goal and keep suspicion away. Here, the reader is getting the objective perspective of Lady Macbeth and with it, is learning more about how Lady Macbeth thinks during that moment. The reader sees the story through a third-person objective point of view (). In this scene the speaker describes his first impressions of La Belle Dame, “I met a lady in the meads, Full beautiful—a faery’s child,” (13-14). In this quote the speaker describes his experience, which is presented in the first-person perspective. Through this, we get a more subjective view on the story rather than the objective view we are given throughout Macbeth. The two texts make use of different perspectives in order to project the theme of what is fair is foul, and what is foul is
“This tyrant whose sole name blisters our tongues, was once thought honest…” (77). This quote represents the change of Macbeth throughout the play. The use of blood imagery is used to represent the character development of Macbeth from a noble thane to a murdering tyrant. We first see blood imagery characterizing Macbeth when he is called noble for defeating Norway. Then, the idea of un-washable blood shows that Macbeth’s character will change. When Macbeth begins to experience the blood of others on his own hands, it leads him to ultimately become the “villain” or antagonist of the play. Finally, before the death of Macbeth, blood imagery has been used to characterize Macbeth so much that he is now over confident and seems to be fueled by the idea of it. By examining the use of blood imagery, one can determine that blood represents Macbeth’s character development from an honorable thane to a disrespected tyrant.
This essay earned a 89/100. it was a lot of work considering the lines from macbeth for textual support.
A quote which really defines Lady Macbeth and Macbeth’s ambition regarding power is “Power does not corrupt men; fools; however, if they get into a position of power, corrupt power” George Bernard Shaw. Lady Macbeth is more ambitious in terms of gaining power then Macbeth is and that Lady Macbeth will do almost anything to gain power, even evil things that she normally wouldn’t do. This is shown when Macbeth and Lady Macbeth learn about the witches’ predictions, then roles in the plans to murder king Duncan in order to gain power and then finally after the murder, Macbeth doesn’t want to finish the plan making Lady Macbeth angry and causing a chance they might get caught and gain no power at all.
The story of Lady Macbeth throughout Macbeth is one unlike those of its time in its unusually forward-thinking portrayal of a woman with thoughts and actions which would have been considered indecent. This is seen through the representation of her relationship with Macbeth and how they interact. It is also illustrated through Lady Macbeth’s morals and their effect on how she acts and reacts in situations which would weigh heavily on most peoples’ conscious. Her power-hungry attitude is one often reserved for men, especially in this era of literature. All of these factors create a character in Lady Macbeth which is dissimilar to the classic portrayal of women in the seventeenth century.
In the play “Macbeth”, Shakespeare shows how people can change quickly by wanting to have something. Throughout, the play we see how Macbeth changes from a strong, confident solider to a weak, scared person. We see how he reacts to the different problems which occur. After when he is king, his emotions change from being indecisive to being confident whilst planning killing Banquo. I am going to go over two key scenes and explain how Macbeth’s behaviour and emotion changes.
Macbeth: Shakespeare's Comparisons and Contrasts. Throughout Macbeth Shakespeare uses comparison and contrast to bring out characteristics of his main character, Macbeth. Shakespeare uses comparisons with Duncan, Lady Macbeth, and Banquo to bring out aspects of Macbeth's character. After hearing of Macbeth's courageousness on the battlefield, Duncan, a good and honest king, bestows the title of Cawdor on Macbeth.
In act three another prophecy foretold by the witches comes true. The paradox “fair is foul and foul is fair” characterizes the changes the protagonists undergo in acts one, two and three. Throughout the play Macbeth, the “fair” one, becomes overcome by guilt and becomes “foul”. While Lady Macbeth who was “foul” in her instigations becomes “fair”.
In understanding the art form of expression in various ways like music and play writes, it brings together this sense of self identity that the artist wants to fulfill. Having this understanding about the life behind the scene, screen, and/or stage. My paper will present two art forms music by 50 cent “Many Men” and William Shakespeare play “Macbeth” in which I will describe similarities among the characters. My four categories for 50 cent and Macbeth are as follow Greed, Savage, Survivor and Success.
When anything in life first begins to grow, it begins as a seed. The seed of a plant, or of a thought, or of an idea. Once created, the seed can do one of two things. It can grow, or it can die. Shakespeare’s play Macbeth tells the story of an innocent man who is turned evil from the seeds planted by those around him, allowing readers to explore the repetition of growth and how it is implied through characters. Throughout the play, growth is used to display Macbeth and Banquo as foil characters, show Banquo’s “goodness” through positive imagery, and to show Macbeth’s “evilness” through negative growth imagery. By analyzing Shakespeare’s use of growth imagery, critical readers recognize that growth enforces the idea that growth triumphs evil, embodied in the actions and consequences of Macbeth and Banquo as they make one of two crucial choices? Good, or evil?
In the first scene of the first act, three witches plan their next meeting in which they will encounter Macbeth. It is in this scene that the motif is first presented, as the tree witches chant, "Fair is foul, and foul is fair, hover through the fog and filthy air" (1.1.11-12). The witches meet again in scene three of act one. One of the witches discusses a curse she has placed on a woman's husband, because she refused to share her food. This display of evil powers and spitefulness, suggests that the witches may have some influence in the development of the motif. Macbeth enters during this scene along with Banquo, arriving from a victorious battle. He uses the motif to describe the day as "So foul and fair a day I have not seen" (1.3.38). When Macbeth encounters the witches, they give him two predictions. One is that he will become the thane of Cawdor, and then the king of Scotland.
There was a common saying, “Behind every great man there's a great woman”. The men, Macbeth and Winston Smith in Shakespeare’s Macbeth and George Orwell’s 1984 may not be considered as the “great man” however, both Lady Macbeth and Julia are good examples that can be presented as the “great woman” behind the men. Both Lady Macbeth and Julia do an excellent job of pretending to be someone who they are not, they are not only affecting the men in their lives to rethink their previous position but also have a bad ending accompanied with physical and psychological issues.
turn into animals but when one of them turns into a rat it has no tail,
As with all great works of literature, William Shakespeare’s Macbeth has spawned countless essays concerning its interpretation. Two such essays, “Shakespearean Tragedy” and “General Macbeth,” produced by two eminent literary critics, A.C. Bradley and Mary McCarthy, find themselves in conflict. The essays’ respective authors diverge on subjective points such as interpretation of character, original intent, and meaning. Bradley’s Macbeth is courageous and encumbered by the dregs of guilt, while McCarthy’s version takes a less orthodox path.
No discussion of evil in Shakespeare’s play Macbeth would be satisfactory without considering its’ most famous symbols of evil: the coven of witches whose interactions with Macbeth play such a vital role in his thinking about his own life. Banquo and Macbeth recognize them as something supernatural, part of the landscape but not fully human inhabitants of it. They have malicious intentions and prophetic powers. And yet they are not active agents in the sense that they do nothing other than talk and offer visions and potions. The witches have no power to compel. If we are to explore the significance of these witches we must do so by treating them as vital poetic symbols in the play, essential manifestations of the moral atmosphere of Macbeth's world.
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.