Analysis of Macbeth's Soliloquy (Act 1 Scene 7)
Analysis of Macbeth's Soliloquy (Act 1 Scene 7) By Edward Chan Exuding the underlying reflections of Macbeth's psyche, the soliloquy represents the outpouring of confusion and conscience, adding to our insight into Macbeth's obscure persona. At the opening of the play, we have a strong impression of Macbeth as a 'worthy gentleman', with Duncan referring to him as 'noble Macbeth'. Though, this becomes untenable with ironic juxtaposition when we witness Macbeth's intent to murder Duncan for the 'golden round'. Macbeth's soliloquy better elucidates this complex character, providing a more comprehensive basis for our judgement. Incongruous to the courage and physical strength Macbeth displayed on the battlefield 'unseam[ing Macduff] from the nave to th'chaps', he is weak and vacillating in his soliloquy. Macbeth emanates an atmosphere of confusion and anxiety suggested by the rapid overlapping movement of imagery that reflects the swift intuitive movement in his mind. The concept of spurring a horse is overtaken by that of vaulting, and 'heaven's cherubin' riding the winds, 'the sightless couriers of the air' merges into the winds themselves and 'blow[s] the horrid deed in every eye'. It follows that Macbeth is irresolute about whether he should 'commit the deed'. The structure of Macbeth's arguments is based on assumptions - 'If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere
Does Macbeth change in the course of the play?
Khalid Zamani Does Macbeth change in the course of the play? Macbeth is the Thane of Glamis. He is the cousin of King Duncan of Scotland. Macbeth is greatly admired and loved by King Duncan. Macbeth is a brave, courageous and valiant man as he proved that when he defeated King Sweno of Norway. Macbeth is not merciful to traitors. In the battle with King Sweno of Norway Macdonwald betrayed King Duncan and after Macbeth defeated him, Macbeth cut Macdonwald with his sword and hang him on the top of the castle. Macbeth is loved, honoured and respected by King Duncan and Scottish people for his bravery during the batlles. Macbeth and his wife are very ambitious and they both wants to become king and queen of Scotland. From the moment Macbeth and Banqou meets the three witches they make Macbeth obsessed with thoughts of becoming the Thane of Cawdor and the King of Scotland. It fuels his ambitious to become king of Scotland, because the witch's prediction becomes true when King Duncan reward Macbeth for his bravery, and pronounce his the Thane of Cawdor. Macbeth wife has a great influence on Macbeth and she is highly ambitious to become the queen. King Duncan goes to visit Macbeth and Macbeth's wife manipulates him to kill king Duncan, but Macbeth refuse to kill him, because Macbeth is known as a hero in the eyes of king Duncan and is also loved and honoured by King Duncan, but
Is Macbeth a Monster or a Victim?
Is Macbeth a Monster or a Victim? 'Macbeth' is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It was written in the 1600's but is set in the 11th century. The play is about a Scottish thane called Macbeth who is told that he will become king by a trio of witches. Encouraged by his wife, he proceeds to murder the present king and, after being crowned, commits many other murders, including that of his friend Banquo. He is finally slain by Macduff, the Thane of Fife. There are two possible interpretations of the character of Macbeth. He could be construed as a monster or a victim. Is he a monster because of the many murders he committed or is he a victim because of the powerful influence that 'forced' him to perpetrate these crimes? In this essay I will weigh up the evidence from both sides of the argument and finally reach my own conclusion. I will begin by examining the good side of Macbeth and present the arguments in his defence. However bad he becomes as the play unfolds, Macbeth starts out at least as a reasonable, popular, patriotic and highly respected thane. One of the first times we hear his name mentioned is in the quote: "For brave Macbeth, - well he deserves that name." Act 1: Sc 2 This line is spoken by the captain of the Scottish Army, which tells us that Macbeth was very noble and brave in the battle against "The merciless Macdonald." Act 1: Sc 2 This in turn shows us
Macbeth's Downfall
: : Macbeth MACBETH Macbeth is presented as a mature man of definitely established character, successful in certain fields of activity and enjoying an enviable reputation. We must not conclude, there, that all his volitions and actions are predictable; Macbeth's character, like any other man's at a given moment, is what is being made out of potentialities plus environment, and no one, not even Macbeth himself, can know all his inordinate self-love whose actions are discovered to be-and no doubt have been for a long time- determined mainly by an inordinate desire for some temporal or mutable good. Macbeth is actuated in his conduct mainly by an inordinate desire for worldly honors; his delight lies primarily in buying golden opinions from all sorts of people. But we must not, therefore, deny him an entirely human complexity of motives. For example, his fighting in Duncan's service is magnificent and courageous, and his evident joy in it is traceable in art to the natural pleasure which accompanies the explosive expenditure of prodigious physical energy and the euphoria which follows. He also rejoices no doubt in the success which crowns his efforts in battle - and so on. He may even conceived of the proper motive which should energize back of his great deed: The service and the loyalty I owe, In doing it, pays itself. But while he destroys the king's enemies, such
Towards the end of the play the chorus refers to Medea as "this pitiable bloody handed fiend of vengeance." Is this how you see Medea?
Medea presents a complex character! Towards the end of the play the chorus refers to Medea as "this pitiable bloody handed fiend of vengeance." Is this how you see Medea? Euripides central character, Medea, provides the audience with an intently complex individual. Having been used, rejected in love and deserted by her husband she is intent on revenge. While initially we are able to side with Medea and, in fact, feel sympathy for her, as the play progresses this character's true treachery is unveiled. Her cunning and calculating nature, although engage the audience, also strike fear into their hearts. It is ultimately the proposal and eventual act of infanticide that cannot be understood by the audience. Though this treachery is predominant throughout the play, at times we are shown glimpse of compassion and conscience from Medea, not to mention - at least in the eyes of the gods - a degree of heroism. Therefore it would be too simplistic to merely suggest that Medea can merely be described as a "bloody handed fiend of vengeance". Primarily in the early stages of the play we are able to sympathize with Medea. Her offstage monologue immediately portrays an enraged, wronged woman, overtaken with the grief of her husband's fundamental betrayal. "Oh how I hate living! I want to end my life, leave it all behind and die!" is a passionate cry from a woman who has been deeply
Macbeth Act 1, Scene 4: How does Shakespeare deepen our understanding of the personalities of Macbeth and Duncan?
Macbeth Act 1, Scene 4: How does Shakespeare deepen our understanding of the personalities of Macbeth and Duncan? Before Act 1, Scene 4 we did not know that much about Duncan and although we had seen Macbeth listening to the prophecies of the three witches we still had not seen him interact with the King. This scene provides the basic foundations of Macbeth's personality of which some parts will stay the same while others will change and evolve as the play goes on and as Duncan's role is not very long this is the only scene in which Shakespeare can explain the personality of Duncan to the reader. At the beginning of the scene the King shows his distress after the Thane of Cawdor's betrayal especially as he regarded him as a trusted and loyal friend as shown when he mentions he built up an "absolute Trust" (line 15) on him. Duncan never suspected this man to a traitor and he says that expressions on one's face can be very misleading as they are not always a true representation of "the Mind's Construction" (line 13) and that there is no science behind these expressions. This shows that Duncan may be too trusting and possibly naïve as he may not have thought about the possible gains of a traitor who succeeds. This trusting nature leads him not to suspect Macbeth though in all fairness none of the Lords suspected that Macbeth would kill the King before Duncan's murder. The
Divine Tragedy - (Macbeth)
First Essay Assignment The American University in Cairo Fall 2001 SEMR-200-05 Dr. Clarissa Burt Mufaddal Saifuddin 900 99 2112 Divine Tragedy It is human nature to point the attributes of calamities, misfortunes and disasters to entities that are as far away as possible from us, in order to convert the harsh realities we face into abstract, surreal ideas. And even though we turn our heads towards the skies in order to hold the supernatural accountable instead of ourselves undertaking the responsibility of our actions, we still continue to "humbly [pray to] God to fortify [us] with sound judgment" (Ibn Tufayl, 101). It is this turning of our heads that I wish to examine in our readings along with the role of the divine in human destinies. I also intend to examine the correlation between the divine and human tragedies, since this is the predominant genre of our texts. The most recent of these texts is Shakespeare's tragedy - Macbeth - written by the ingenious playwright in 1603. The characters that play the most important role in our quest to understanding the role of the divine in human destinies are the witches or "weird sisters" as referred to them in the play. The witches' caricature nature lessens their credibility in context of the play's grim theme. However, on a deeper level one can interpret them as "agents of fate, whose prophecies are only reports of the
Macbeth - To what extend is Roman Polanski's interpretation of the witches in keeping with Shakespeare's text?
To what extend is Roman Polanski's interpretation of the witches in keeping with Shakespeare's text? When comparing Roman Polanski's version of Macbeth with the original text written by William Shakespeare we can see that his work is in keeping with Shakespeare's to a an extent however Polanski adds innovations to show of the more natural side of the witches which is more realistic to the modern audience. Although William Shakespeare wrote the play circa 1603 (for king James) the play is set in the Dark Age Scotland. Polanski uses this and sets his film around this era unlike other directors who have set their films in Jacobean times when it was written, this makes Polanski's version more credible. The essential theme for Macbeth is tragedy. The importance of the witches is established in the opening scene. Even the first stage direction, ' Thunder and lightning. Enter three WITCHES' is appropriate as many people around Shakespeare's time blamed witches for the conjuring of storms, this is pathetic fallacy. Although in the text there is no stage directions suggesting where act 1 scene 1 should take place, Polanski has decided to innovate with this. Polanski sets Act 1 scene 1 on a deserted beach, with eerie sounds. In Polanski's version the lines are in different order from the play. The witches of the film cast a spell using vile ingredients like a severed arm etc. By
Omens in Macbeth and Throughout History
Omens in Macbeth and Throughout History "An omen is an observed phenomenon that is interpreted as signifying either good fortune or bad fortune." (1) Omens are numerous and varied. The concept of order was an extremely important one to William Shakespeare, and to Elizabethans in general. He saw the world as something planned and patterned. In the play, "Macbeth", Shakespeare cleverly uses omens as tools to help the audience predict the fate or outcome of key characters. Several of these omens used include the use of birds, weather patterns, blood and even sleep. In today's society, we still use omens, however, they occur mainly in works of literature. They signify a departure from our understanding of how the world really works. We may, perhaps, consider an omen as a sign of what will happen in the future. We mainly, however, see an omen as a source of entertainment. Birds have been considered an important omen in ancient times, as well as the present. There are several kinds of birds that have very different meanings. Each type of bird may be a forecaster of either a good fortune or a bad fortune. In Asia, the crane represents a long life. The dove symbolizes love and peace and to dream of dove's means that happiness will be in the future. However, a raven is said to predict death and pestilence. Folklore says that a raven's sense of smell is so acute that
To What Perspective are The Witches responsible for Macbeth's Attitudes and Behaviour
Greed and Ambition, Until Which Point can we consider them something good? By Juan Pablo Cáceres Vásquez Shakespeare's developed many stories into excellent dramatization for the Elizabethan stage. He knew how to entertain and absorb the audience with dynamic plots and the clever use of imagery, and versatile characters. Macbeth is an action packed, psychological thriller1 that has not lost impact in nearly four hundred years. All of Shakespeare's plays have a stylistic device that makes them unique and specials. The use of alliteration2, similes3, metaphor, etc., makes each play unique and magnificent. Foreshadowing is one of the most present and important literary devices in the play, this can be observed when the witches set the tone in act I, scene 1 with a storm and the predictions that Macbeth's life will become so confused he will find it difficult to differentiate between right and wrong, "Fair is foul, and foul is fare:"4. I can also say that the opening of the play with thunder and lighting when the witches entered, sets the mood of the play, the reader and mainly the audience can predict how the rest of the play is going to be. How? You can ask to yourself how is the play is going to be? Comedy? Tragedy? Another stylistic feature of Shakespeare's plays is the use of Blank Verse, which resembles the natural rhythm of spoken English. Macbeth is not the