The Character of Shakespeares Macbeth Essay -- GCSE English Literatur

Macbeth A Question of Character The play Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, is a portrait of wiz man, Macbeth, showing how he changes. Although we are presented with his deterioration from good to evil, we can see his human side throughout the play, which makes it a tragedy. It is the shortest of Shakespeares tragedies, and has a very disruptive pace. Once Macbeths ambition has set the ball rolling, events happen quickly in the play as it gathers momentum. The themes of Macbeth are ambition, effects of evil, and violence, shown mainly by the language of the play, as in Shakespeares time plays were performed in daylight with very few props. Ambition is something that everyone can identify with, and Macbeth is a compelling topic of how ambition can destroy a person, so the audience is interested in Macbeths character. Our first impression of Macbeth is of a heroic, famous, popular man who is substantially liked by the king - Duncan refers to Macbeth as noble Macbeth.(Act 1 Scene 2 L67) Macbeth is tempted by two sources of external evil - the witches and his wife. However, he was already ambitious, and the women still magnified this by making his ambitions seem like they could be reality. The war hero becomes a murderer and then dies a shameful and violent death. Shakespeare creates an ambience of evil and darkness mainly through his language, although scenes containing violent actions or the witches are often played in darkness. Shakespeare uses poesy (verse) as opposed to prose, as poetry often contains more metaphors and imagery, which he uses to create a feeling of darkness and evil. The language gives an insight into the character of Macbeth - we see his ruthlessness and cruelty, but also fear, discredit and som... ...ess, 1995. Page Cooper, The Mystery of Witchcraft, capital of the United Kingdom, 1617. Epstein, Norrie, The Friendly Shakepeare, New York, Viking Publishing, 1993. Harbage, Alfred, Macbeth, Middlesex England, Penguin Publishing, 1956 . Magill, Masterplots- Volume 6, New Jersey, Salem Press, 1949. Staunten, Howard, The Complet Illustrated Shakespeare, New York, Park Lane Publishing, 1979. Gove, Philip Babcock. Websters Third International Dictionary. Springfield, Mass G. & C. Merriam, 1967 Johnson, Samuel. The Plays of William Shakespeare. London J & R Tonson, 1788 Jorgensen, Paul A. Our Naked Frailties. Los Angeles U of CA, 1971. Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. New York Penguin Books, 1987. Van Doren, Mark. Shakespeare. NY Doubleday, 1939. Watkins, Ronald. The Theology of Macbeth. Oxford Oxford University, 1964.