Initially, Macbeth's political ambitions seem perfectly normal for someone of his time and class. Yes, there's something deeply treacherous and disturbing about his betrayal of Duncan; but there's nothing out of the ordinary about it. All that changes as the play progresses, however. Once Macbeth's safely established on the throne, his actions go beyond the pale, crossing over into outright evil. His cruel, bloodthirsty behavior towards Banquo and Macduff's family is utterly senseless. In ordering their brutal murders, Macbeth has made a disturbingly smooth transition from the natural to the supernatural world.
But then, this shouldn't really surprise us. For the Weird Sisters' prophecy pertains to both worlds, admitting of interpretations that are consistent with the natural and the supernatural. As Macbeth's tyranny becomes ever more bloody and unhinged, mere earthly ambitions give way, and he takes his stand unequivocally with the forces of darkness, making it easier for his enemies to express their opposition in terms of a struggle between good and evil, instead of as a bid for political power.
Monday, June 24, 2019
In Macbeth, how is there a smooth transition from the real world to the world beyond?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Why is the fact that the Americans are helping the Russians important?
In the late author Tom Clancy’s first novel, The Hunt for Red October, the assistance rendered to the Russians by the United States is impor...
-
There are a plethora of rules that Jonas and the other citizens must follow. Again, page numbers will vary given the edition of the book tha...
-
The poem contrasts the nighttime, imaginative world of a child with his daytime, prosaic world. In the first stanza, the child, on going to ...
-
The given two points of the exponential function are (2,24) and (3,144). To determine the exponential function y=ab^x plug-in the given x an...
-
The play Duchess of Malfi is named after the character and real life historical tragic figure of Duchess of Malfi who was the regent of the ...
-
The only example of simile in "The Lottery"—and a particularly weak one at that—is when Mrs. Hutchinson taps Mrs. Delacroix on the...
-
Hello! This expression is already a sum of two numbers, sin(32) and sin(54). Probably you want or express it as a product, or as an expressi...
-
Macbeth is reflecting on the Weird Sisters' prophecy and its astonishing accuracy. The witches were totally correct in predicting that M...
No comments:
Post a Comment