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explore and discuss themes in Macbeth
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Recommended: explore and discuss themes in Macbeth
No fear Shakespeare: Macbeth remains relevant as it deals with themes that span time and the fact that it can be presented in different ways to meet the interest of any audience, this is because it shows Ambition, Power and Natural vs. Supernatural. These three images can be relevant today as well. Firstly, Ambition was one of the main themes in Macbeth,Whilst ambition can be a positive motivating force, we see its negative effects in the play as well. However, one of the good examples of this is When Lady Macbeth’s manipulate Macbeth to kill the king so Macbeth can be the king. “To be the same in thine own act and valor as thou art in desire? Wouldst thou have that Which thou esteem’st the ornament of life, And live a coward in thine own esteem, …show more content…
supernatural is explored as a representation of good vs. evil. Shakespeare explains the supernatural as witches, magic, unnatural and evil. Supernatural things that are present in the play is Banquo’s ghost as a symbol for Macbeth’s guilt, As soon as he sees Banquo's Ghost he is completely shocked by fear, horror and guilt "The Ghost of Banquo enters, and sits in Macbeth's place. Prithee, see there! Behold! Look! Lo! How say you? Why, what care I? If thou canst nod, speak too. If charnel houses and our graves must send those that we bury back, our monuments shall be the maws of kites. " Banquo's ghost is that it represents the down fall of macbeth of course only he can see the ghost and overwhelming guilt that reminding him that he murdered his former friend. Other supernatural things that are present in the play include three evil witches with magical powers for instance the battle at the end of Macbeth, witches create a false story for Macbeth where Macbeth believes he is invincible because of what the witches told him “none of woman born shall harm Macbeth” but because Macduff is not “woman born” he killed Macbeth. Theme of the supernatural is still relevant today because witches in the Macbeth are very close to witches that we will see in movies and cartoons and witches represent the evil side of human kind and so the Theme supernatural becomes more relevant to modern
In the play Macbeth written by William Shakespeare, there is a deep relation to ambition. Macbeth's ambition started after the witches told him that he was going to be king after Duncan died, so then Macbeth and Lady Macbeth just decided to kill Duncan. After this first murder he then decided that he would do anything to keep his crown, since he was so hungry for power. Guilt soon got the best of him which then led to his demise.
The belief in the existence and power of witches was widely believed in Shakespeare's day, as demonstrated by the European witch craze, during which an estimated nine million women were put to death for being perceived as witches (The Burning Times). The practice of witchcraft was seen to subvert the established order of religion and society, and hence was not tolerated. Witch hunting was a respectable, moral, and highly intellectual pursuit through much of the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries (Best ). The belief of the majority during the seventeenth century suggests that the witches are powerful figures who can exercise great power over Macbeth; however, strong arguments to the contrary were in existence at the same time. The intensity of the tragedy is dependent on whether the witches are perceived to be able to control the otherwise innocent Macbeth's actions, or if he is entirely responsible for his own demise.
Murder, ghosts, and floating daggers are the usual attractions for most that read William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, and yet there is an important theme that some might overlook. Written in the early 17th century, Macbeth is believed to be based upon historical events listed in Raphael Holinshed’s Chronicles of Scotland and other current events of the time. Shakespeare constructs the memorable world of Macbeth with a mysterious and sinister atmosphere, incorporating diabolical elements into this world with the appearance of Hecate, witches, prophecies and ghostly apparitions. Throughout his story, Macbeth becomes controlled by desire for power, by allowing himself to be influenced, using evil means to gain and maintain power to the point that Macbeth is blinded to all else. In Macbeth, Shakespeare vividly demonstrates a recognizable theme of the weighty pull that power holds over those with authority.
For the play’s entirety, Shakespeare reveals the devastating repercussions of unchecked ambition. Usually, ambition is thought as a positive trait that drives one to achieve and succeed. However, in Macbeth, Shakespeare conveys the opposite. Someone as innocent as Macbeth could end up the way he did all because of ambition. Shakespeare shows us how Macbeth had reached the moment in life, different for each of us, when a man either abandons himself to his fate or to his rebirth, two paths that either bid one's life to crumble or outdo
Since it was an interesting issue which many people of Shakespeare’s time felt they were affected by, Shakespeare wrote about it. “Macbeth” with its supernatural theme was the 17th century’s equivalent to the modern day horror movie.
In the play of Macbeth we notice the works of how the supernatural can control or change
to almost possess you is not a normal thing to do but the words do
The last person you would expect to encourage you to commit a crime would be your wife. Macbeth is motivated by his wife and by three Witches and gradually becomes more ruthless, evil, and murderous as the play progresses.
From the very beginning of the play, supernatural and unnatural forces have inspired and encouraged Macbeth. They interfere with natural events and completely change the character of Macbeth and his wife. Witches, apparitions, ghosts, and other unnatural images are used to demonstrate the evil effects and consequences those forces can have. Shakespeare is successful in telling his audience that only evil will come when Macbeth or any other person tampers with natural forces for personal gain.
The vigorous desire to achieve and willingly attain something holds the capability to greatly affect one's life. William Shakespeare's play Macbeth establishes the immense effect and influence of ambition. After gaining power over his country Scotland, the protagonist, Macbeth, experiences an internal downfall as he battles between his wants and moral judgement. He struggles to maintain stable relationships with others as his selfish desires and goals hurt those around him when achieved. In addition to clashing with himself and others, he is seen as a tyrant leader and is slowly turned against by Scotland's nation as well as England. Shakespeare's play Macbeth provides the reader with a clear understanding of ambition's corrupting power in Shakespeare's tragic character Macbeth, through his inner conflicts, struggle to maintain stable relationships with those surrounding him, and clash with society.
According to the Oxford Advanced Learner dictionary, `supernatural' refers to things that cannot be explained by natural or physical laws. The presence of supernatural forces in "Macbeth," provides for much of the play's dramatic tension and the mounting suspense. In this paper we shall look at some of supernatural elements in the play.
Although Macbeth is not classed as being a supernatural play or a play of the occult, there are some elements in the play that Shakespeare uses to effect. It is necessary however, to define what is meant by the terms ‘occult’ and ‘supernatural’: the term ‘occult’ is defined as being ‘supernatural beliefs, practises or phenomenon’ and the term ‘supernatural’ is defined as being ‘attributed to some force beyond scientific understanding or the laws of nature’; both these terms can be associated with gothic writing. Gothic writing usually involves elements that invoke a feeling of fear, repulsion and abhorrence from its readers or audience. Writers use imagery of the supernatural to achieve this effect, for example in Shelley’s Frankenstein the descriptions of Frankenstein’s creature: language and imagery here being used to invoke the emotion of fear.
In the English Renaissance, there was a strong belief in the existence of the supernatural. Thus, the supernatural is a recurring aspect in William Shakespeare 's Macbeth and is an integral and important part of the plot. The role of the supernatural in Macbeth is to bring out emotional reactions within Macbeth that cloud his judgement, affecting his actions which ultimately leads to his downfall. This is demonstrated through the ambiguous prophecies of the witches, the supernatural phenomenon that Macbeth sees, and the apparitions that foreshadow how he will meet his end.
...he supernatural is one element in Macbeth that was used cleverly by Shakespeare to get various messages across to the audience. The messages are brought across between the lines of the plays which requires audiences to reflect critically to get the underlying meaning of his play. Shakespeare did not merely show ghosts and witches in the supernatural as a thriller, but also tied in the political and religious aspects of the society during his time.
To conclude Shakespeare used the supernatural, to show how easily someone’s fatal flaw can be exploited to bring them to an end. This is extremely relevant to his audience at that time as well, no one knows, but Shakespeare could have been a non believer in the supernatural and wanted to show it as a figment of the mind, that can only result in insanity or he could have believed the popular opinion that the supernatural did exist and caused terror and evil throughout that period. Either way he wrote Macbeth in such a way to leave questions about the supernatural in peoples mind.