Macbeth is a monster - In the light of this comment consider Shakespeares presentation of Macbeth in the play.

The first 200 words of this essay...

'Macbeth is a monster' - In the light of this comment consider Shakespeare's presentation of Macbeth in the play.

The idea of man as monster is one perpetually peddled not only by Gothic writers, but throughout literature; Shelley toys with the concept in Frankenstein, and Shakespeare himself explores the dark fringes of humanity in character such as Richard III. Yet Macbeth is not quite so simple - whilst he certainly possesses irredeemably features, it is difficult to bracket him with the Duke of Gloucester; similarly, though he begins the play a hero, his descent cannot be easily compared to that of the archetypal tragic hero Othello. Rather, he is a complex hybrid, challenging audiences and critics to consider the nature and definition of monstrosity itself.

Perhaps Macbeth's most 'monstrous' feature is his ambivalence to his own tyranny; whilst the natural order of Scotland is turned upside down, he acknowledges that he is 'in blood stepp'd in so far that should I wade no more, returning were as tedious as go o'er'. Here, Shakespeare summons a viscerally violent image of Macbeth wading in a river or lake of 'blood' before having him casually dismiss it as 'tedious'; the