Macbeth And Hamlet Essay

A tragedy is defined as “dramatic composition, often in verse, dealing with a serious or somber theme, typically that of a great person destined through a flaw of character or conflict with some overpowering force, as fate or society, to downfall or destruction” which can be seen within Shakespeare’s plays, Macbeth and Hamlet. The gloomy theme of Macbeth and Hamlet is madness, the tragic heroes are Macbeth and Hamlet and their tragic flaws are want for power and revenge, respectively, which eventually leads to their downfall. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Macbeth, he uses the structure of tragedies to explore the human condition.

There are many overlapping themes in Macbeth and Hamlet. Both plays begin with the appearance of the supernatural. In Macbeth, Macbeth is approached by three fog-like witches who give him three prophecies; he will become the thane of Courdor, he will become king, and Banqou’s children will become kings. These prophecies will be the cause of all of his actions throughout the play and eventually lead to his madness. In Hamlet, Hamlet is visited by the ghost of his late father telling him the truth about how he died; Claudius, Hamlet’s uncle, poured poison in his ear while he was sleeping. Hamlet becomes obsessed with this knowledge and starts planning his revenge. Soon after these two events comes madness. In Macbeth, both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are disturbed by madness. Macbeth kills King Duncan because he believes that is what he needs to do to fulfill the prophecies, which in result drives him to insanity. Even before the murder, Macbeth is deeply paranoid which can be seen in his monologue shortly before the murder. Macbeth begins his monologue with “[i]f it were done when ‘tis done, then ‘twere we...

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...journey to death. He continues with, “out, out, brief candle! Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more” meaning that the only good thing about life is that it ends (VII.VII). Hamlet similarly explores his thoughts on life, death and free will when the king wants him to compete in a fencing match and Horatio tells him he does not have to do it. Hamlet explains “Not a whit. We defy augury. There’s a special providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it be now, ‘tis not to come. If it be not to come, it will be now. If it be not now, yet it will come- the readiness is all” (VII.II). Hamlet means that he does not know when he will die; God controls his destiny and his body. Similar to Macbeth’s existentialist thoughts on life, Hamlet believes the purpose of life is to be mentally prepared for death.