The Macbeths. There are many similarities between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Both are characterized as very ambitious.
The Macbeths Macbeth is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is a story of deception, where trusted comrades are betrayed in the story of a complex assassination. Two of the main characters, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, share commonalities and differences that combine to create the tension and ambitious greed needed to form the future sequence of the play. There are many similarities between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Both are characterized as very ambitious. Even before the witches speak to Macbeth, he already is socially climbing in the King's court having just been promoted to Thane of Cawdor (Act 1). When they heard the witch's prophecy about Macbeth's becoming king, it was easy for them to believe since they wanted this to be true. You can see this in Macbeth's letter, "what greatness is promised thee," and with Lady Macbeth who also thought the prophecy was an inevitable promise, saying that Macbeth will become "what thou art promised" (Act 1, Scene V). This use of "promised," rather than predicted or foretold, shows that both characters want to believe this so badly that they have accepted it quickly without pessimism. This foreshadowing is evident. As the Thane of Cawdor had to die before Macbeth could take his place, so must the king die for Macbeth to take his crown. Still, both characters show unique qualities that contribute to the murderous scheme. By
"Certainly not tragic, not even heroic". How far do you agree with this estimation of the character Macbeth?
'CERTAINLY NOT TRAGIC, NOT EVEN HEROIC' HOW FAR DO YOU AGREE WITH THIS ESTIMATION OF THE CHARACTER MACBETH? The character Macbeth's personality undergoes a major upheaval during the play Macbeth. To depict what kind of a person he is entails describing what kind of fluctuations in probity and integrity his character goes through, and what kind of man he is perceived to be throughout the ages and his place in cultured history. In the First Folio, Macbeth is branded as a definite tragedy. However, Macbeth has spawned a number of works of art, ranging from the operas both entitled Macbeth by Giuseppe Verdi and Ernst Blöch to The Lion King (which is based loosely around Macbeth). This suggests a much deeper and more complex character in Macbeth, not simply a clear cut tyrant or a valiant hero with a tragic flaw that scuppers him despite his best efforts. Therefore, the definition of the Macbeths as a 'dead butcher and his fiend-like wife' does not do justice to the multitudinous perspectives from which one must view the Macbeths to get a complete picture of their thought patterns. When considering whether Macbeth is a hero, it becomes evident that at the start of the play, before we even meet him, he is a successful general, noble and valiant in all he undertakes. This is shown particularly in the Captain's speech: 'Doubtful it stood, As two swimmers that do cling together
Explore How Evil Is Represented In Macbeth and Lord of the Flies.
"MACBETH" AND "THE LORD OF THE FLIES" EXPLORE HOW EVIL IS REPRESENTED IN "MACBETH" AND "THE LORD OF THE FLIES" ANALYSE THE CHRACTERS RESPONCES TO THIS 'Macbeth' is a play, which was written by William Shakespeare between the reigns of Elizabeth 1 and James 1 in 1606. William Shakespeare had written many plays and poems during his era. Macbeth is one of the most popular amongst his works and is now recognised as a classic. Macbeth is a character in the play that is overcome by evil desires on his way to becoming king. The book explains what happens to Macbeth and how evil causes him to commit such actions, and how he fights to keep his throne as king. 'The Lord of the Flies' is a novel, which is also a classic that had been written by William Golding. It is based during the Second World War, when a group of young boys are fleeing England to safety, but on their way, their plane crashes down onto a deserted island. Miraculously all the Children survive but all the adults had died. The book explores how these children no older than thirteen or fourteen live on the island until rescue arrives. Evil is represented in the novel by the fight for leadership between two rivals, Jack and Ralph, and how the other children live with this. Both the play and the novel have evil themes within them, which is reacted to by the characters. I will be comparing the ways evil is represented
much ado about nothing critique
How does Shakespeare present Love and Romance in Much Ado about nothing, through the relationships of Hero & Claudio and Benedick and Beatrice? Love and Romance are two major themes within "Much Ado About Nothing". They are approached through different relationships that have been developed by the writer throughout the play. William Shakespeare expresses through his creative writing style how romance differs with differing gradients of love. There are two main relationships that Shakespeare explores in the play they are Hero and Claudio and Benedick and Beatrice, there are however other romances that are touched on with Margaret and Borrachio. There was much pressure on couples during the 16th Century period to marry. Especially woman, to marry was at that time one of the key objectives in a woman's life. Love was seen in a very different light than it is viewed in modern times. During the play Claudio falls in love with Hero even before talking to her, he bases his love completely on her appearance and apparent financial stability. I would scarce trust myself, though I had sworn on the contrary, if Hero be my wife" Shakespeare has presented an ideal couple in the sixteenth century with Hero and Claudio. They marry for social enrichment as this is the correct path to follow, this is not because of true love but this is what society at this time is expecting. Hero is wooed
How does Shakespeare Present Relationships Between men and women in much ado about nothing
How does Shakespeare Present Relationships Between Men and Women in Act 1 and Act 2 Scene 1 In Much Ado About Nothing there is a lot of talk about different relationships but they are presented in different ways. Shakespeare presents some of the relationships as being very passionate, where as others are presented as being filled with conflict as well as love. At the beginning of the play we get to see how Beatrice and Benedick feel about each other without even getting to see them together. When the messenger comes with news about the soldiers returning back to Messina, Beatrice asks the messenger mockingly about Benedick," I pray you, is Seignior Mountanto returned from the wars, or no?" In Act 1 we get to see the relationship between Beatrice and Benedick. Shakespeare presents their relationship as being one containing conflict because as soon as they set eyes on each other they start quarrelling, but personally I wouldn't call it a quarrel as all they do is make snide remarks to each other, Benedick: "well you are a rare parrot-teacher." Beatrice replied, "A bird of my tongue is better than a beast of yours." This shows me that they know each other so well, that they what each other is going to say because when one of them is talking to the other they pick up on what they are saying and put it in their own remark, this is called Stichomythia In Act 2 Scene 1 once
Did Shylock get the result he was hoping for when he took his case to court
Did Shylock get the result he was hoping for when he took his case to court? The terms of the contract were simple. Antonio borrowed some money from the Jewish money lender Shylock. The agreement was that if the money was not paid back in two months then Shylock was entitled to a pound of flesh off Antonio's body. Antonio did not pay him back so Shylock went to court over the matter. In the court scene a judge came called 'Dr Balthazar'. Dr Balthazar was actually Portia dressed a man so she was doing her best to change Shylock's mind. She managed to overturn the conditions and turn the tables on Shylock in three main ways. Firstly she said that the contract clearly said that he could clearly have his flesh but it did not say he could take one drop of blood. She also told him that he could not take more or less than exactly one pound of Antonio's flesh. Portia tells Shylock to go ahead and take his flesh but he may not break either of these rules. Portia says that if he does break one of then rules then all his lands and goods will be confiscated. The final charge she presses on Shylock is that as he is Jewish he is not allowed to kill a Venetian citizen. As there is practically no chance of him not successfully taking his flesh he is now the one begging for mercy. After Shylock realised that he wasn't going to get his way, he asked for the sum of money. By this time it was
How does Shakespeare make the Balcony Scene and the Death Scene in Romeo & Juliet Dramatically Effective?
How does Shakespeare make the Balcony Scene and the Death Scene in Romeo & Juliet Dramatically Effective? Shakespeare's famous play begins with a Prologue which establishes that this play will be a tragic one, and that the children of two families in constant quarrel ("ancient grudge"), Romeo of the Montague family and Juliet of the Capulet family, will both fall in love and die in the course of this play. The Prologue does not merely set the scene of Romeo and Juliet, it tells the audience exactly what is going to happen. The prologue lines 6 - 10: "A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life; Whole misadventured piteous overthrows Do with their death bury their parents' strife. The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love, And the continuance of their parents' rage," The audience therefore watches the play with the expectation that it must fulfill the terms set in the Prologue. The structure of the play itself is the fate from which Romeo and Juliet cannot escape. There are certain eternal themes that will always still be relevant in any old play, things like love/hate/death/romance/jealousy and pain, there are still families who dislike and argue over each other. Families who often argue teach their younger generation to dislike the other family causing them to altercate and kill each other out of spite and hatred, and people still make stupid choices in
Discussing dramatic devices in Hamlet.
Hamlet In Shakespeare's play "Hamlet" there is a lot of dramatic devices. This causes tension because the guards of the Norwegian royal family are very jumpy as they think there might be another attack. However young Hamlet is going to avenge the death of his farther. Then tragedy strikes when everyone dies. A heavy dark atmosphere is established at the start of act one, scene one. By using, questions such as "Who's there?" Gives the impression that the guards are cautious, and scared. Also, "You come most carefully upon your hour." This implies that Bernardo came quite quietly and discreetly, and that Francisco is scared. This makes you wonder why they are scared, is there going to be another war? Why are they being careful? This draws in the audience and makes them ask questions. Elizabethan audiences strongly believed in ghosts, so by taking advantage of this, Shakespeare has used certain techniques to introduce a ghost. This would engage the audience because they would strongly believe. Also the use of the word "thing" in act one, scene one gives the impression that they don't know what the ghost is. For example when Marcellus says "what has this thing appear'd again to-night?" This tells us that he is scared; however he isn't aware of what he is scared of. Marcellus also refers to the "dreaded sight" this is a form of emotive language because the sight he is seeing is
How does Shakespeare in Act One create an atmosphere of uncertainty & duplicity
How does Shakespeare in Act One create an atmosphere of uncertainty & duplicity? "Tush! Never tell me...thou, Iago, who hast had my purse/ As if the strings were thine, shouldst know of this." Ingeniously Shakespeare captivates the audience's attention immediately. The audience are propelled into a conversation exposing one man's disbelief regarding news he has received, that is yet to be divulged to the audience. Tension is aroused from the very start, stimulating an atmosphere of uncertainty, spawning a hungry desire for the audience to uncover Roderigo's misfortune. Roderigo asserts that Iago has had a free reign with his money, his unsettled manner is directed at Iago. Thus, Shakespeare has contrived the introductory scene to foreshadow Iago's character as a treacherous swindler. Moreover, Roderigo must have had a generous amount of faith in Iago to confide and trust him with his money. It remains ambiguous at the beginning of Act One as to whether or not Iago and Roderigo are close companions or business associates discussing a deal, or a mutual arrangement of some sort involving money. Subsequently, the audience learns of Iago's passionate loathing for a character who is talked about in sarcastic and bitter undertones. Throughout Iago's speech he makes reference to him: 'make me his lieutenant,' 'Off-capped to him,' and 'But
Discuss the Role of the Witches in Macbeth
Discuss the Role of the Witches in Macbeth 04/05/10 Introduction The witches are used to make an evil genre to the play. The witches represent chaos, conflict and darkness, which are features of tragedy also the witches are called the 'Wyrd Sister'. They are also witness and agents to Macbeth's downfall, if Macbeth hadn't believe them, he might not have killed Duncan. The witches had supernatural powers like controlling the weather, due to the fact every time the witches are present in the scene there is always thunder or lightening which creates a spooky atmosphere. The 'Wyrd Sisters' can see the future, like when they tell Macbeth that he will be "Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor and The king." The play begins with three witches meeting in a 'desolate place'. They agree to gather again when the battle is over and meet Macbeth. They seem to know the future and chant strange words, creating a very spooky atmosphere. Their presence in the first scene creates an evil atmosphere there is thunder and lightening. Shakespeare use pathetic phallacy to enhance the sense of evil, the witches create. Shakespeare uses rhyming couplets like, "hurly and burly". They use rhyming couplets in this giving a rhyming effect. In Act 1 Scene 3, Shakespeare once again presents the witches as 'instrument of darkness' by having them discuss the mischief and evil they have created, which tells the
