Why does Macbeth decide to murder Duncan and why is he not satisfied with his high social position? Because his problem is that he is too ambitious. He wants to become king and he refers to that yearning as ambition:
I have no spur
To prick the sides of my intent, but only
Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself
And falls on the other.
Macbeth is fascinated with the idea of being a king but he is also aware of the disastrous price he will have to pay. He suffers a powerful tension between his desire and his moral sense. But once his imagination shows him the possibility, he is not able to shrug the desire off. It is one of Lady Macbeth’s functions to keep this vision alive, when she taunts him to act in response to his desires and urges him to be more of a man. She cannot be blamed for his actions though, as he freely chooses to kill Duncan, and even before committing the crime he knows what consequences this deed will bring. At the same time, he cannot live with what he has done and remain the same person. The killing is continued, bringing even greater suffering on Macbeth as he tries to remove the moral distress. We witness his gradual dehumanization when he continues to murder in order to get peace of mind, but instead he loses everything life has to offer:
To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
To the last syllable of recorded time,
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
While in Macbeth there is a violent struggle between opposite feelings: ambition and the stings of conscience, in Othello we can observe the change from the most tender love to torments of jealousy and madness of hatred. Shakespeare presents a story of the noble and generous Moor who gradually becomes consumed by jealousy through Iago’s perfidious machinations. The irritating suspicions instilled into innocent Desdemona’s husband’s mind are poisoning him till he finally loses command of himself. At first Othello’s confidence cannot be staggered when he exclaims:
If she be false, O then Heav’n mocks itself
I’ll not believe it.
But later, after brooding over endless suspicions, his smothered jealousy breaks out into a fury. He is easily manipulated by Iago, who leads him into the anguish of doubt and fear and makes him abandon his love and hopes:
Now do I see ‘tis true. Look here, Iago,
All my fond love thus do I blow to Heav’n. ‘Tis gone.
Arise black vengeance from the hollow hell;
Yield up, O love, thy crown and hearted throne
To tyrannous hate! Swell bosom with thy fraught,
For ‘tis of aspicks’ tongues.
Othello’s revenge is sure of its object but meanwhile he experiences the moments of painful regrets and recollections of the past. We witness the momentary fits of weakness when his feelings are full of intolerable bitterness and sense of shame:
Yet, oh the pity of it, Iago, the pity of it!
Yet even this is managed by Iago to whet his revenge and set his heart more against Desdemona. While conversing with her Othello is convinced of her guilt and the immediate proofs of her unfaithfulness aggravate his resentment and aversion to her more, but in the scene preceding her death, he recollects his tender love and after her death forgets his wrongdoing with despair and a sense of irreparable loss. This happens before he is assured of her innocence; but later his repentance is as strong as revenge, leading him to unbearable despair and death.
Literature of Renaissance had its interest in human passions, as shown in the above examples, but it was also concerned with man’s relationship with God and the eternal perspective. This topic was investigated by metaphysical poets in their lyric poems which were brief but intense meditations, characterized by striking use of wit, irony and wordplay, with references to alchemy, sea-voyages, mythology, alchemy and cosmology. John Donne in his Holy Sonnet begs God to recreate and purge his corrupted soul, an usurp'd towne, invaded by an enemy - Satan. He asks God to break the uncleanness by force, using images of violence and brutality:
Batter my heart, three person’d God; for you
As yet but knocke, breathe, shine and seeke to mend;
That I may rise, and stand, o’erthrow mee, ‘and bend
Your force, to breake, blowe, burn and make me new.
Man is tied by profane bonds and his natural weakness can only be broken by God’s force. What is shocking in the image is the erotic nature of the violence which is strengthened into a symbolic language to speak to God as the one true lover. Images of violence coexist with love and religion, creating an intensity and tension in the poem.
Literature of Renaissance is relevant in the twenty-first century by its references to the human nature, exploring our passions and emotions, demonstrating rises and falls, and depicting our strengths and weaknesses. It investigates universal truths about human personality, unchangeable in all epochs. Not only can we discover some truth about ourselves while studying Shakespearian characters, but we can also follow traces of the metaphysical poets, making progress towards spiritual health.
