This paper is an argumentative essay about how villains in Shakespearean literature become evil through the circumstances around them. They are not born evil. This essay talks about Macbeth, Othello, and Romeo and Juliet, which are used to reference examples of Shakespeare’s view on the subject. Macbeth is about a man who is blinded by power and kills anything and everything that tries to take the crown from him. He is persuaded to do these things by his wife and the three witches. Othello is about a man who is tricked by Iago into believing that is wife cheated on him, which causes Othello to become outraged and kill Desdemona and then takes his own life. Romeo and Juliet is about two lovers who want to be together but cannot because of the conflict between their different cities. They are so desperate to be together that Romeo decides to take medicine that makes him appear dead. Juliet sees Romeo as dead and kills herself so they can be together and then Romeo wakes up and sees that Juliet has killed herself and so he takes his life to be with her. After the lovers die the cities decide to become allies. All of these novels have a villain that does evil things, but they do these evil things because there is some reason that leads them to it whether it is power, jealousy, or just being misled into doing evil things. They are formed evil because of the circumstances that are occurring around them.
Keywords: Power, Jealousy, Misled, Evil,
Introduction
One of the world’s greatest controversial issues is whether people are born evil or if they become evil by the circumstances that are occurring around them. Even back in Shakespeare’s time, the 1500s, this was a controversial issue. Shakespeare displays his view on this topic thro...
... middle of paper ...
...teachers, and others, will shape that person and determine their ethics, and what they believe is right and wrong. Laws can also influence people’s code of ethics. If something is illegal then people are less likely to do it. Some people might still do it but most people won’t. Nurture obviously wins.
Works Cited
Iago Character Introduction (n.d.). Shakespeare’s Characters: Iago Retrieved May 21, 2014, from http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/othello/iagochar.html
Wikipedia (n.d.). Romeo and Juliet: Summary Retrieved May 22, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romeo_and_Juliet
Sparknotes (n.d). Romeo and Juliet Retrieved May 22, 2014, from http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/romeojuliet/context.html
Shmoop (n.d.). Othello Summary Retrieved May 22, 2014, from http://www.shmoop.com/othello/summary.html
William Shakespeare 1622 OTHELLO Thomas Walkley
Romeo and Juliet, written by William Shakespeare, is a story of two young lovers. These two hearts, Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet belong to feuding families. The family feud causes them to keep their love a secret and therefore only Romeo, Juliet, Benvolio, the Nurse and Friar Lawrence know of their love. Romeo and Juliet are able to look past the feud and let themselves fall in mad love with the other. They let themselves do almost anything for the other and at times it seems like too much to do, even for the one they love. Although fate and character traits play a key role in the play, ultimately Rome and Juliet’s personal choices lead to their downfall.Fate originates all of the conflicts in Romeo and Juliet, from when they met until they die.
Perhaps the most fundamental theme of Shakespeare’s Macbeth is the inherent corruptibility of even a seemingly good man when ambition turns to greed, and Macbeth himself exemplifies this concept throughout the play. While at the outset he is seen to be loyal to his king, generally considered trustworthy, and displaying numerous other laudable qualities, Macbeth ultimately succumbs to the influence of those around him and becomes unequivocally evil, setting aside all his previously held morals and coming to be driven only by his lust for power. This transition is brought about by a wide variety of factors and plays an integral role in the development of the plot. In his tragedy Macbeth, William Shakespeare employs
Macbeth, one of the darkest and most powerful plays written by Shakespeare, dramatizes the disastrous psychological effects that occur when evil is chosen to fulfill the ambition for power. Throughout the play, Macbeth’s character loses mental stability and becomes enthralled with the idea of being king. Empowered by the three witches, this situation consumes Macbeth’s consciousness until his mental state becomes deranged. This mental deterioration is evident in what he says and does as he evolves into a tyrannical ruler attempting to protect himself from enmity and suspicion. In an attempt to fulfill his ambition for power, Macbeth displays mental deterioration and becomes increasingly bloodthirsty.
William Shakespeare's play Macbeth is a five-act drama that shows a clear example of how pride, greed, and power can alter a man's actions and personality. The taste of power blinds the story's main character, Macbeth. Sparked by Lady Macbeth, he becomes heartless and cruel as he kills anyone who is a threat to his power due to his paranoia of losing the throne. This fear ironically leads to his downfall and loss of the throne. The theme of the story is deceit and evil and how they affect a man's decisions.
The play, Othello is one of the most famous tragedies composed by William Shakespeare during the Renaissance period. It powerfully portrays a world where the acts of evil ultimately vanquishes fidelity, nobility and integrity. The central themes jealousy and manipulation embodies the foretold tragedies and the downfall tragedies of the characters due to one’s insecurities. Through the use of literary techniques and figurative language, Shakespeare has effectively explored the themes of jealousy and manipulation.
In the early 1600’s, William Shakespeare penned an Aristotelian tragedy ‘Macbeth’ which provides his audiences both then and now with many valuable insights and perceptions into human nature. Shakespeare achieves this by cleverly employing many dramatic devices and themes within the character of ‘Macbeth’. Macbeth is depicted as an anti-hero; a noble protagonist with a tragic flaw that leads to his downfall. This tragic flaw of Macbeth’s, heavily laden with the themes of ‘fate or free will’, and ‘ambition’, is brought out by Shakespeare in his writing to present us with a character whose actions and final demise are, if not laudable, very recognisable as human failings.
While in Hamlet and others of Shakespeare's plays we feel that Shakespeare refined upon and brooded over his thoughts, Macbeth seems as if struck out at a heat and imagined from first to last with rapidity and power, and a subtlety of workmanship which has become instructive. The theme of the drama is the gradual ruin through yielding to evil within and evil without, of a man, who, though from the first tainted by base and ambitious thoughts, yet possessed elements in his nature of possible honor and loyalty. (792)
Evil is a popular theme in many novels and plays, and there are many factors that contribute to characters becoming evil. Factors such as no interaction with people and the way someone is treated can turn a person to become evil and commit bad acts. The person may start out as a selfless person with good morals, but eventually he will turn evil as a result of outside factors. Some factors might be isolation, the way he is treated by others, and motives. A person’s selfish needs often consume him and he wants nothing but to benefit himself. He will do anything to get what he wants and will eventually commit so many bad acts that he will turn purely evil. In the play Macbeth by Shakespeare and the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, the characters
Among the greatest gifts that the renaissance produced was the eloquent and incredible Shakespearean plays. Written mostly in the 1590s these plays have been performed and admired countless times; entertaining mass audiences by providing interesting tales that explore the depth of human insights and the different universal themes. Among the many Shakespearean plays Macbeth, written in 1606, stands out with its short composition but multiple themes. This tragedy narrates the tale of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s quest to grasp ultimate power by ignoring their morals and succumbing to their dark desires, which ultimately leads to their downfall. This tragic play portrays the desires, needs, and temptations that accompany ambition in men and women. However the ambition in Macbeth is blind, it does not abide to the morals, but it allows space for dark actions as means necessary for accomplishment. Blind ambition serves as the main driving force that drives Macbeth to subdue to his dark desires, defy his noble behavior, and ultimately his downfall.
The tragedy Macbeth by William Shakespeare is based on a thane in whom is corrupted by greed and a negative ambition. The character Macbeth contradicts his moral responsibility in this play a great deal; many moral questions are brought forth to Macbeth. He questions himself and whether or not he should follow through with the evil deeds that he does. Macbeths ambition causes him to compromise his honour, he doesn’t take into consideration that he is being trusted and that every action that he takes will have a reaction. Macbeth attains his position as king unjustly. As is evident by the conclusion, justice prevails as usual and Macbeths demise is a result of his evil deeds.
Typical of Shakespeare’s works, the play Macbeth has a protagonist who ultimately experiences a downfall that lead to his demise. The protagonist or tragic hero of this play is Macbeth, once brave and honorable, who eventually becomes tyrannical and feared by many due to what Abrams describes as his “hamartia” or “error of judgment or, as it is often…translated, his tragic flaw.” In this case, Macbeth’s tragic flaw proves to be ambition; however, he cannot be held solely responsible for his downfall. As a result of many outside influential factors, including the witches’ prophecies and a rather coaxing and persuasive wife, one should not hold Macbeth entirely culpable for his actions and tragic end.
In William Shakespeare’s tragic drama Othello we find a wide array of moral and immoral conduct, a full range of life’s goodness and badness. Let us in this paper examine the specific types of each, and how they affect the outcome.
...d leads to the deaths of many innocent characters and strips away each person’s individuality and trust, all for attaining power and recognition. Othello is not only a tragedy, but also an important reminder of how people are easily deceived to gain power and recognition. Shakespeare’s Othello stands as a warning to all generations. Some historians agree that William Shakespeare may have been one of the first psychologists in human history, since it enabled him to create a devious and Machiavellian character like Iago. Today, we study about psychopathic historic people like Adolf Hitler who annihilated millions of Jews in the name of revenge. It is in human nature to be vengeful and to attain what one desires. As said by Ghandi “An eye for an eye would make the world blind.”
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.
Classic literature, modern movies, the standardization of the English language, as well as the beautiful name Jessica are just a few things that result from the influences of William Shakespeare. Regarded as the greatest English writer of all time, the Bard has inspired much from his many playwrights. His success into breaking into our culture may be born from his singular ability to create settings in which his characters show off their complexity and become memorable. Shakespeare’s antagonists especially deviate from the flat generic standards villains are usually portrayed as. They are much more complicated because they are not considered pure evil; they are complex suffering characters with a just sense