essay about macbeth
Macbeth was a hero, warrior, and is now a villain. In him there was little to admire. Also because he just became Thane of Cawdor. The feelings and actions of Macbeth is that in him, there is little to admire which is extreme and does not reflect the whole truth. Macbeth is ofcourse a villain of the bad. This wouldn't have happened if he had made right decisions. Unfortunately this is all caused by mis-treatment, being betrayed by his loved ones, not seeing any improvments he has made or the efforts he has put in, also lack of love.
A villain can be defined as a wicked or evil person, or a dramatic or fictional character who is typically at odds with the hero. Macbeth is a goo example of a villain in this situation. The witches did predict that Macbeth would be Thane of Cawdor. This is because it would have been relatively common knowledge that he was Thane of Glam due to the death of his father. The witches did inspire Macbeth with the first murder he had commited. If the witches never greeted him King of Scotland in the first place, he never would have contemplated about killing the king. Macbeth's actions led to him being the king.
He then would still try to maintain the integrity in his behaviour, but when he goes opposite to the system, the system will oppose him making him feel hate for the humanity for whom he was expecting good but gave him nothing. In other words hi loved ones. Some other reasons of becoming a villain is greed, heartbreak, depression, and temptation.
We all have self- preservation instincts. Strong ones. To be truly 'good', is also to be vulnerable. If or when one gets hurt, and depending on the regularity, and the depth of the pain, whether it be emotional, or physical, one is inclined to put up defenses, and become more careful, and dis-trusting. In Macbeth's case he was going through alot.
And with christ we are all over-commers. A person who seems to become stronger when they are bad is actually displaying the pain they went through. They are not necessarily stronger especially if the now commit the offence that was committed against them. At some point Macbeth was not a villain. Yet he was cold hearted and a serial killer. There is no doubt in mind that Macbeth was a villain.Ouch! First off, Macbeth is generally considered a tragic hero rather than a villain. There is in fact a lot to admire about him. That's why he is Thane of Glamis, promoted additionally to Thane of Cawdor. He has fought bravely and courageously in the service of his King, risking his own life to bring order to Scotland in a chaotic time. He is also, at least at the outset, a profoundly moral man, which is why he initially resists his wife's entreaties to kill Duncan. It isn't even that he's ambitious, though he is that too. Really, his great strength, his valiant machismo, is also his great weakness. He can't stand being called a coward, and whenever anyway impugns his courage and manliness, he just has to prove himself. Consider some of the key passages (paraphrased):
Lady Macbeth: Let's kill Duncan.
Macbeth: No, that would be wrong.
Lady Macbeth: A real man would do it, you coward.
Macbeth: I'm no coward! I'll show you! Where's Duncan! I'll kill him right now.
And later . . .
Macduff: Stand and fight
Macbeth: No way! I know you're prophesied to kill me!
Macduff: You only say that because you're a coward.
Macbeth: Fine, let's fight.
So, start with an exploration of the concept of a tragic hero, and how Macbeth fits that description, and rewrite the essay accordingly. Then we'll take a look at issues of grammar and style.
Yeah, I think Macbeth deserves more credit, but don't be discouraged! You can make little adjustments at key spots in the essay, like here:
In him there was once much to admire, but he succumbed to...
So, you can focus not just on the bad direction his life took, but on the contrast between that downward spiral and his original virtue. If you ignore his virtue, you seem to miss Shakespeare's point, and that is not good for your essay.
Ahh, I see that as the essay goes on you do give him some credit. Here is a little correction:
Yet he was cold-hearted and... (words like that ned a hyphen).
:)
