Similarities between Macbeth, of Shakespeare's Macbeth, and Augustus, of Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym
In literature, when the natural order becomes skewed, a character may die to restore order. Often, there is a savior who sacrifices his or her life so that other characters might live. In "Macbeth," after the king is assassinated, the balance is disturbed. "The night has been unruly: where we lay, Our chimneys were blown down; and, as they say, Lamentings heard I'th'air; strange screams of death, And, prophesying with accents terrible Of dire combustion, and confus'd events, New hatch'd to th' woeful time, the obscure bird Clamour'd the livelong night: some say, the earth Was feverous, and did shake." (Act II/ Scene III/ lines 53-60). The king and rightful ruler of England was murdered and replaced by a dishonest, evil man who had no right to the throne. Because the order in the world was disturbed, nature will continue to wreak havoc until Macbeth dies. Lady Macduff explains to her son that a traitor is "one that swears and lies. Every one that does so is a traitor, and must be hang'd." (Act IV/ Scene II/ lines 46, 48-49). Because he is a traitor to his country, Macbeth must die. In The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym, Augustus is the savior. Augustus acts as a savior twice in the story when he sacrifices himself after a mutiny and an act of cannibalism have taken place. Through his death, Arthur and Dirk Peters will survive a mutiny and the destruction of their ship.
Augustus first saves his friends after a mutiny has occurred on his father's boat. After hiding his friend, Arthur, on board their boat, Augustus and his father set sail from Nantucket. The plan was to hide Arthur on the ship for a few da...
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...ceptible, and the skin of his cheeks hung so loosely as to prevent his masticating any food, or even swallowing any liquid, without great difficulty…. About twelve o'clock he expired in strong convulsions, and without having spoken for several hours."(Poe, 342-343). Because he was the savior, Augustus gave his own life in order to restore the balance and order of the world.
Like Macbeth, Augustus is the savior in The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym. One or more characters have disrupted the schedule and patterns in which nature operates. The savior is the character or characters who sacrifice their lives in order to return nature to her regular order.
Works Cited
Poe, Edgar A. Poe Selected Tales. Ed. Diane Johnson. New York: Literary Classics, 1991.
Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. Ed. Kenneth Muir. Ontario: Thomas Nelson & Sons Ltd., 1997.
Macbeth could justly be classified a “Tragic Hero” as his tragic story fills out the defined criteria for a tragic hero. Macbeth holds a significant social status, reveals essential truths about humanity through his suffering, has tragically wasted talent, contains a “tragic flaw” leading to his downfall and finally he finds some relief in his death.
Archeology, which is the study of human activity in the past, has many significant names that discovered important sites to the history of art. One of these names is Heinrich Schliemann. Heinrich Schliemann was born on 6th of January, 1822, and died on December 26th, 1890. Schliemann was a businessman who could speak 15 languages, and he was a world traveler. His father used to read for him Homer’s Iliad when he was eight years old, which made his biggest dream is to become archeological and find about the places that Homer talked about. Schliemann, as a businessman, made a fortune, which was enough for him to retire; then, in 1871, he started to follow his dream and worked on Troy. Heinrich Schliemann work is very important and added a significant value to the history of art. His discoveries in Troy, Mycenae and Tiryns made him a pioneer in archeology.
Macbeth rejects conformation to traditional gender roles in its portrayal of Lady Macbeth’s relationship with her husband, her morals and their effect on her actions, and her hunger for power. Her regard for Macbeth is one of low respect and beratement, an uncommon and most likely socially unacceptable attitude for a wife to have towards her spouse at the time. She often ignores morality and acts for the benefit of her husband, and subsequently herself. She is also very power-hungry and lets nothing stand in the way of her success. Lady Macbeth was a character which challenged expectations of women and feminism when it was written in the seventeenth century.
"We could describe (Heinrich) Schliemann's excavations on the hill of Hissarlik and consider their results without speaking of Troy or even alluding to it," Georges Perrot wrote in 1891 in his Journal des Savants. "Even then, they would have added a whole new chapter to the history of civilization, the history of art" (qtd. in Duchêne 87). Heinrich Schliemann's life is the stuff fairy tales are made of. A poor, uneducated, and motherless boy rises through his hard work and parsimonious lifestyle to the heights of wealth (Burg 1,2). He travels the world and learns its languages ("Heinrich Schliemann"), takes a beautiful Greek bride, and together they unearth the treasures of Troy and the citadel of Agamemnon, thereby fulfilling the dream he has chased since childhood (Calder 18,19; Burg 8). Indeed, by presenting his life in romantic autobiographies as a series of adventures, starring Heinrich Schliemann as the epic hero (Duchêne 14), he ensured his status as a lasting folk hero and perennial bestseller (Calder 19).
Many Historians say that Isadora Duncan was the first dancer to present “modern dancing” to the public. Duncan felt that the pointe shoes and costumes that ballerinas wore were to restrictive. She began to dance in a way that seemed to be more natural to her. Her inspirations came from the movements of the tress, the ocean and other forms from nature. Her techniques included hopping, swaying, skipping and running. She felt these type of movements were natural and expressive. Also, the history of the Greeks
In Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, the protagonist, Macbeth, murders the king of Scotland and eventually murders several other people. In the end, Macbeth meets his tragic fate of being killed by the nobleman Macduff. Throughout the play, Macbeth makes decisions that affect his fate, but other characters manipulate his choices and his actions. Early in the play Macbeth, Macbeth has control over his actions, but due to the influence of other characters and his subsequent insanity, by the end of the play, Macbeth has no control over his fate.
In “Macbeth” written by William Shakespeare the main character Macbeth is a general in the Scottish army. After Macbeth and Banquo another general return from battle they encounter three witches the witches give Macbeth and Banquo three Prophesies. The witches prophesy that Macbeth will be made thane (a rank of Scottish nobility) of Cawdor and eventually King of Scotland. They also prophesy that Banquo will produce a line of Scottish kings although Banquo will never become king himself. King Duncan’s men come to thank the two generals for their victories in battle and to tell Macbeth that he has been named thane of Cawdor. The previous thane betrayed Scotland by fighting for the Norwegians and Duncan has condemned him to death. Macbeth’s wife Lady Macbeth hears about king Duncan coming to their castle and try’s to persuade Macbeth to murder king Duncan. He and Lady Macbeth plan to get Duncan’s two chamberlains drunk so they will black out; the next morning they will blame the murder on the chamberlains, who will be defenseless, as they will remember nothing. While Duncan is asleep, Macbeth stabs him, despite his doubts and a number of supernatural visions, including a vision of a bloody dagger. Macbeth now becomes king and Fearful of the witches’ prophecy that Banquo’s heirs will seize the throne, Macbeth hires a group of murderers to kill Banquo and his son Fleance. They ambush Banquo on his way to a royal feast, but they fail to kill Fleance, who escapes but kills Banquo. Lady Macbeth later kills herself while sleepwalking and Macbeth becomes depressed. Later Macduff comes with his army and beheads Macbeth. And Malcolm becomes king.
During the birth of early Greece each city-state had a distinctive style a rather religious, social, and political viewpoint. Homer is considered the earliest example of a writer, whether or not he composed the Iliad and the Odyssey, as a whole remains a question to many scholars. Honor and glory remained as the most prevalent ideas during the time period. It was a moment in history in which honor defined a man and glory allowed for success. A glorious man was one like “Hector” heir to throne of the city of Troy. He was a man that fought his opponent with every inch of strength and willingness to protect his city. Hector is a true hero, and when he dies fighting for his city against the mighty Achilles; he sets the standards of what defines a hero.
Arjomand, Said Amir. “Iran's Islamic Revolution in Comparative Perspective.” World Politics, Volume 38, Issue 3 (1986. 4), 383-414.
When looking back on the recent decades or even last week, it is not difficult to find a Macbeth-like figure in mainstream American culture. In this it is meant that these individuals experience a downfall in an attempt to gain power. One such figure was former President Richard Nixon.
Ayatollah Khomeini’s foundation to become the central figure and religious leader of the Iranian Revolution began in his childhood. He was born into a fairly wealthy Shi’ite Muslim family on September 24, 1902. His true name was Ruhollah Musavi, but he adopted the name of Khomeini after his place of birth. He never really knew his father because his father was murdered in 1903. When Khomeini was four years old, he began attending a local religious school and continued to attend it until he was sixteen years old. He then furthered his education at a theological college. He studied with Yazdi Ha’iri, a prominent Islamic scholar at the time. After he completed his college education, he became an Islamic teacher at Ha’iri’s school. After Ha’iri died, Ayatollah Boroujerdi took his place as the most important religious figure, and Khomeini became a follower. Khomeini preached against the continuing stray from traditional Islam in Iran and gained a group of followers. He gained the title of ayatollah, meaning a ‘sign of God,’ in the 1950s.
In Homer’s The Iliad, Achilles is often referred to as a very courageous Greek hero but a further look into the epic will reveal a man that is more arrogant than courageous. It was truly his arrogance that made his name famous and not his courage. Achilles was a narcissistic, self-serving man who was not concerned with his fellow country man. His actions of courage can easily be revealed as selfishness instead of what most people believe.
Thomas W. Lippman gives an introduction to the Muslim world in the book Understanding Islam. He has traveled throughout the Islamic world as Washington Post bureau chief for the Middle East, and as a correspondent in Indochina. This gave him, in his own words, "sharp insight into the complexities of that turbulent region." However, the purpose of the book is not to produce a critical or controversial interpretation of Islamic scripture. It is instead to give the American layman an broad understanding of a religion that is highly misunderstood by many Americans. In this way he dispels many myths about "Muslim militants," and the otherwise untrue perception of Islamic violence. In this way the American reader will become more knowledgeable about an otherwise unfamiliar topic. However, the most significant element of Lippman’s book is that it presents Islam in a simple way that makes the reader feels his awareness rise after each chapter. This encourages him to continue learning about the world’s youngest major religion. Understanding Islam dispels many misconceptions about the Muslim world, and presents the subject in a way that urges his reader to further his understanding of Islam through continued study.
Tragic heroes, who destined for a serious downfall, are the protagonist of a dramatic tragedy. A tragic hero is usually a great hero, who gets the most respect from other people; on the other hand, a tragic hero can also lose everything he gained because of his mistakes. His downfall is the result of a wrong judgment, a flaw which might combined with fated and external forces. The downfall can cause the tragic hero to suffer for the rest of his life. In many literary works, the downfall of the tragic heroes usually happen in their highest point. In the same way, Macbeth is a tragic hero in the play called “The Tragedy of Macbeth” which is written by a legendary writer, William Shakespeares. Macbeth is a great general who gained many respect from the people and even the king. In the highest point of his life, because of seeking for greater power, it created Macbeth’s downfall. Macbeth, a tragic hero, causes suffering for himself and others by committing murders and creating distress, which are the negative effects of seeking for a greater power.
Macbeth is a very complex character whom reflects man's thirst for power through the drastic changes of his personality; thus being one of the slightest reasons in which make this intriguing character, greatest of all Shakespearean’s well-known works.