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Shakespeare - Macbeth (1 Viewer)

sugarnaut

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Yes, hi guys I'm having a little trouble understanding some of the themes of the play. Here's what I got for the main themes:

-The Chaos and Destruction resulting from the death of a lawful king
-The struggle between good & evil
-The downfall of a man because of his lust for power

Could someone help me with this because I don't think these themes are 100% okay and i don't really trust sparknotes.

Thanks guys!
 

x jiim

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Ahaha, Macbeth. I think when we were studying it last year my thesis was about how man's inate flaw lead to his downfall. Like in Macbeth [the character], his destructive flaw was his ambition, although his morally upright nature hindered his descent into butchery. And he's influenced by his wife, and the supernatural world. Or something. If that helps? =\
 

Kat92

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It's been awhile since I read the text. However basic outline from what I remember:

Macbeth's vaulting ambition leads to his tragic flaw.

The witches ("Conspirators")- help his tragic flaw.

Lady Macbeth also plays a significant role as well, her ghost later haunts Macbeth.

McDuff is seen as noble and valiant for the death of Macbeth.
 

lezah

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-The Chaos and Destruction resulting from the death of a lawful king
During Shakespeare's time, the king was thought to be appointed by God, so murdering the king ruins the balance of nature. As a result, Macbeth caused the chaos and destruction of Scotland when he stole the throne. Examples of chaos and destruction:
- The weird occurances in nature where the horses eat each other or something like that (Sorry, I can't remember the actual scene. We finished this topic a while ago)
- Suspicion amongst the masses
- Macbeth murdering more people (Banquo and Macduff's family)

-The struggle between good & evil
Macbeth was initially in a dilemma. His ambitious nature wanted the throne, but his conscience told him not to murder Duncan. Was the witches' prophecy a direct cause for Macbeth's leap into the darkside, or did they only motivate him? Some people argue that Lady Macbeth was the one who motivated and persuaded Macbeth to take the throne. In the scene where Macbeth hallucinates about the dagger is the scene where people usually say that he has fallen over to the darkside. Macbeth becomes increasingly evil after he murders Duncan while Lady Macbeth, the one who previously mocks Macbeth for being cowardly and "not a man", goes insane and kills herself.

-The downfall of a man because of his lust for power
Were the prophecies going to become true anyway, or did the witches only tell Macbeth half of the story to see if Macbeth would go by all means to reach his goal: the throne? The way I see it, Macbeth caused his own downfall by choosing evil over good under Lady Macbeth's motivation. He is very ambitious - highly praised, thane of Glamis, great fighter and loyal subject. Yet this loyal subject murders his king so that he could take the throne. This deed never escapes his conscience (blood references, seeing the ghost of Banquo) and only prompts him to commit more murders and become more corrupted.

It's just a brief outline but I hope it helps! Macbeth was very fun, I hope you enjoy it.
 

Poltergeist

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i have an essay on macbeth and this is the question could someone please help me out : Explain how Shakespeare uses the character of Macbeth to explore the themes of ambition and evil.
 

Green Yoda

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i have an essay on macbeth and this is the question could someone please help me out : Explain how Shakespeare uses the character of Macbeth to explore the themes of ambition and evil.
I did my essay on: How does Shakespeare use the text Macbeth to explore significant ideas and themes?

Shakespeare has purposefully constructed texts to reflect his ideas about the values from the world in which he lived in. These ideas inform our own understanding of the human condition at the time, and thus expand our empathy for others across time.

The first theme that is explored through the language of Shakespeare's Macbeth is ambition, and the consequences of following either a good or bad ambition. The imagery shown the quote by Macbeth illustrates the negative implications following your evil desires, as shown in "Is this a dagger I see before me". The symbolism of the dagger represents Macbeth's inherently evil desire to be a King, and the motivation behind his lethal actions when he decides to kill Duncan. Therefore, the human experiences can be enhanced or eroded through our decisions that affect others. This is further seen in the symbolism of the dagger in the quote ‘There’s daggers in men’s smiles’, which reveal the underlying motivations for men and how they long for power from others. This is relevant because it shows the need for understanding what is beneath people and their ambitions, so showing the need for us to understand others. Therefore shakespeare's language reveals that ambition can be a positive or negative thing and we need to decide what we implicate in our lifestyles.

The second theme explored through the language of Shakespeare’s Macbeth is Fate and Freewill, the quote “If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me” shows the irony because Macbeth is talking about chance but he will ironically be king by free will and nothing to do with chance. Therefore going against god’s will will lead to the unbalancement of Fate and Freewill structure. It further seen in the quote “I bear a charmed life”. Through the use of personal pronoun ‘I’ in this quote, we see the inherent tension between Macbeth’s ‘charmed life’ and his desire for power. He acts against his fate through free will, and because he acts against his destiny Shakespeare creates a need to restore the natural order through Macbeth’s downfall.

The third theme is explored through the language of Shakespeare’s Macbeth is Appearance and Reality, the quote “All the perfumes of arabia will not sweeten this little hand” shows a metaphor that shows imagery of bad deeds cannot be ultimately hidden. It is further seen in “look like the innocent flower, but the serpent under’t” shows that Macbeth had two faces, “innocent flower” in appearance but “serpent under't” in reality. It also says how people have many faces, each for different people and situations. Therefore shakespeare's language implicates that people are 2 faced people and are different in appearance and reality.

Language in Macbeth used by Shakespeare from the explored themes, Ambition, Fate and Freewill and Appearance and Reality shows ambition can be good or bad but we need to choose which path. It also shows that during shakespearean times having a free will, which means going against your fate and god's will, will lead to destruction. And it finally shows that people have many faces and are very different in appearance and reality.

Hope it helps :)
 
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