Macbeth vs. Satan

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Macbeth vs. Satan

How can two authors write stories almost half a century apart where the characters have comparable qualities? William Shakespeare and John Milton wrote a play and a poem, respectively, where two characters share qualities. These characters are Macbeth from Macbeth and Satan from Paradise Lost. Despite the similarities between the characters of Macbeth in Shakespeare’s Macbeth and Satan in Milton’s Paradise Lost, which include their strong will, pride, and insatiable greed, they have qualities that set them apart. Their differences are Macbeth’s overall righteousness, human characteristics, and being controlled by fate. Satan on the other hand, is evil, superhuman, and acts on his free will.

Shakespeare’s Macbeth and Milton’s Satan share some similar qualities. These include their strength of will, overconfidence, and their ambition, although they show it in different ways. Macbeth’s determination is seen by his unwillingness to accept defeat from Macduff and Malcolm in Act 5 scene 8: “I will not yield… though Birnam wood be come to Dunsinane and thou opposed, bei...

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