"Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more.” These are some of the final words to one of William Shakespeare’s most famous tragedies, MacBeth. Set in medieval Scotland, MacBeth centers around...a successful warrior of the same name whose growing obsession with power consumes him and ultimately destroys him. Literary scholars have been writing papers about the intricacies of MacBeth for centuries, but there’s still plenty of opportunity for you to write your own essay. Check out samples of essays online and use them to create your outline. In turn, use it to make an essay with an introduction, body and conclusion.
In the play “Macbeth” Shakespeare uses many types of imagery. Imagery is a figurative language that writers use. Five different types he uses are blood, ill-fitting clothes, weather, darkness, and sleep. One of the most used ones is the blood imagery. Why does Shakespeare or...
In ‘Macbeth’, Shakespeare shows three types of female characters, which will now be looked at in further detail, starting off with Lady Macbeth. Though her name, Lady Macbeth, would suggest that she should be just as her name says, a lady, an accessory to Macbeth...
Society believes in a wide range of supernatural notions, such as ghosts, witchcraft, and arguably higher powers such as gods. Often, when believing in such supernatural powers, individuals alter their behaviour due to the feelings provoked by said powers, altering their ability to utilize their...
Power has the ability to destroy one’s nature, thus making one capable of doing things that they usually wouldn’t intend on doing. The main theme that is revealed in The Tragedy of Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, is that humans are corrupted by unchecked ambition....
In 1603, James I became both king and patron of the King’s Men, William Shakespeare’s company formerly known as the Lord Chamberlain’s Men. James I was obsessed primarily with two things: witchcraft and murder. He feared that people, usually witches, were conspiring against him to...
In Shakespeare’s, Macbeth, there seems to be an uncanny connection between the images of sleep and nature. The play refers to the results of nature being thwarted, and since sleep is the primarily natural function of every human being, its seems the most appropriate in...
The universal themes of ambition, power, and greed make William Shakespeare’s Macbeth remarkably applicable to countless other times, places, and people. It is with this mindset that directors Akira Kurosawa and Billy Morrisette approached their respective adaptations of the play, Throne of Blood and Scotland,...
Starting with the witches’ assertion that fair is foul, and foul is fair, it is clear that Macbeth is a play in which appearances will be deceiving and morality will be muddled. From the dialogue between King Duncan, Malcolm, and the wounded sergeant in Scene...
The nature of the three witches in Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a controversial subject. Mildred Tonge suggests in her essay Black Magic and Miracles in Macbeth that the witches represent women that serve a dark power, most likely Satan, or even that they are a form...
There is truth to Duncan’s line “There’s no art to find the mind’s construction in the face,” for throughout Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are not what they most often appear to be. Even Macbeth does not know the extent to which...
In Greek tragedy, inevitability plays an important role, portraying the protagonists as pawns of the fates, whose roles in the tragedy are distributed arbitrarily and without justice. The outcomes of these roles are decided before the play even begins, for example in Sophocles’ Antigone, and...
The collective minds of people in England during the time of Shakespeare struggled to explain the unexplainable; they struggled to understand randomness and human nature. They believed that from the beginning of time a certain cosmic order had emerged. This order was expressed in the...
In the play Macbeth, some of the most significant characters rely upon their ability to equivocate, in order to hide their treacherously covetous, or purely malicious intentions. Most characters take part in these acts of subterfuge, but the three witches, the porter and above all,...
Hamlet and Macbeth are two of William Shakespeare’s most famous plays. Each share not only fame, however, but format: Both feature main characters with tragic flaws that become their demise. In the cases of Hamlet and Macbeth, this flaw is madness. Whether their insanity is...
The bulk of the drama in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth is based in murder. Throughout the play, much of the dialogue and action have to do with plotting a homicide, carrying out the terrible deed, or being haunted by the guilt of taking another human life....
In Scene 2 of Act 2, Lady Macbeth’s master plan to promote her husband to the throne finally comes to fruition. For the first time in the play, however, Lady Macbeth reveals some degree of weakness in her inability to actually murder Duncan with her...
In ‘Macbeth,’ the eponymous character fulfils his own overwhelming thirst for power by committing what was viewed to be worst possible crime: regicide. This initial murder of King Duncan acts as a starting point for Macbeth’s reign of terror, and results in him no longer...
Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a male dominated play. Most of the noticeable characters in Macbeth are male, including Macbeth, Macduff, Banquo, King Duncan, and Malcolm. Despite the lack of female power by numbers, Lady Macbeth proves to be a formidable force of influence. She accomplishes this...
The snake has long been used as a symbol of sly subtlety. A serpent’s presence has been characterized by cunning cynicism dating as far back as biblical times, when the snake persuaded Eve to eat the forbidden fruit of Eden’s garden. Even the phrase “snake...
Literary critic Frances E. Dolan states, “No critic has suggested that the play [Macbeth] might more properly be called, The Macbeths, thereby asserting that Lady Macbeth’s role in Macbeth is not given adequate recognition1. Professor A.C. Bradley even points out that “Lady Macbeth is the...
Character Juxtaposition: The Twoness of Macbeth Shakespeare’s Macbeth relays the tale of a Scottish general, at first presenting a seemingly brave and noble warrior. Macbeth is eventually prompted by ambition to seek the throne upon hearing a prophecy from a trio of supernatural forces, ultimately...
Macbeth has been performed by many different groups and companies throughout the years because it is perhaps one of the most potent political statements in Western drama, and perhaps one of Shakespeare’s best scripts. Though the PBS and RSC versions of the play have many...
Dramatic tragedies are by definition plays that enact the struggle and downfall of their main character or characters. “The Tragedy of Macbeth”, by William Shakespeare, is a perfect example of this; the entire play portrays the fatalistic misadventure of the Macbeths. This Shakespearean play is...
Come you spirit, That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here. –Lady Macbeth More so than any other Shakespearean play, Macbeth functions the most vividly as a psychoanalysis of the state of humanity’s development of a sense of sexual self. Now, in a time where...
‘Macbeth’ by William Shakespeare is a play in which great contrasts lie between its main characters. ‘Macbeth’ is a tragic play, set in eleventh century Scotland, which explores the psychological and political effects of the eponymous character, who commits regicide in order to fulfil his...
Power and social status is commonly determined by one’s drive and ambition. Successful people are set apart by their willingness to make sacrifices to accomplish their goals. Emotions are often cast aside in order to more easily make difficult moral decisions. While this callous attitude...
Supernatural elements in any story intrigue, thrill, and capture the attention of readers, adding an extra dimension to the text and performance. Rather than merely to delight his readers, though, Shakespeare incorporates ghosts and apparitions into his plays to serve a very specific purpose in...
Shakespeare frequently makes use of the adjective ‘weird’ in his tragedy Macbeth. Along with bringing to mind the supernatural and unearthly, the word also forces one to consider the nature of the word’s antonym – what is normal? Macbeth’s emotions and actions become progressively more...
The Macbeth (1971) film production by Roman Polanski blends this classic Shakespearean tragedy to the film noir cinema genre creating a rich, dynamic combination. Classic film noir encapsulates “pessimism, bleakness, despair and paranoia which are readily evident […] shot in gloomy grays, blacks and white,...
A central theme of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth is the title character’s willingness to accept his fate. Macbeth’s attitude toward the prophecies of the witches varies depending on how much he likes the prediction. At first, he follows along with the prophecies that say he will...
Lady Macbet, Macduff, Macbeth, Banquo, Duncan, Malcolm, Three Witches
Symbols/motives
Ambition, Light and Darkness, Loyalty, Sleep, Blood
Influence
The title of the novel "Fire, burn!" by British detective author John Dixon Carr is a quote from the Witches' Song in Act IV of Macbeth. Rebellion's 2002 album is called Shakespeare's Macbeth - A Tragedy In Steel. In 2005, the BBC released a mini-series ShakespeaRe-Told, the second episode of which was a free adaptation of Macbeth. The action of the plot is moved to our time, and the events unfold around a famous restaurant owned by Duncan.
Quotes
“Fair is foul, and foul is fair.” "False face must hide what the false heart doth know." “What! can the devil speak true?” “I bear a charmed life, which must not yield, To one of woman born.” “I dare do all that may become a man; Who dares do more is none.”
Interesting facts
In theater society, it is considered bad luck to say the title of a play aloud in the theater. Instead, the actors and other members of the theater group use the euphemism Scottish play. The play was filmed 13 times.
Date
1623
Author
William Shakespeare
Type
Play
Genre
Shakespearean tragedy
Characters
Lady Macbet, Macduff, Macbeth, Banquo, Duncan, Malcolm, Three Witches
Symbols/motives
Ambition, Light and Darkness, Loyalty, Sleep, Blood
Influence
The title of the novel "Fire, burn!" by British detective author John Dixon Carr is a quote from the Witches' Song in Act IV of Macbeth. Rebellion's 2002 album is called Shakespeare's Macbeth - A Tragedy In Steel. In 2005, the BBC released a mini-series ShakespeaRe-Told, the second episode of which was a free adaptation of Macbeth. The action of the plot is moved to our time, and the events unfold around a famous restaurant owned by Duncan.
Quotes
“Fair is foul, and foul is fair.” "False face must hide what the false heart doth know." “What! can the devil speak true?” “I bear a charmed life, which must not yield, To one of woman born.” “I dare do all that may become a man; Who dares do more is none.”
Interesting facts
In theater society, it is considered bad luck to say the title of a play aloud in the theater. Instead, the actors and other members of the theater group use the euphemism Scottish play. The play was filmed 13 times.
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