-
Essay / Themes in Macbeth - 1817
In William Shakespeare's play Macbeth, evil is conveyed in many ways through the characters, themes, and settings. Many themes are explored in detail, contributing immensely to the sense of evil, with the characters being used with these themes to create evil within the characters. These themes and characters are presented in different contexts at different times, thus affecting the mood and atmosphere of the play. In relation, Shakespeare uses characters in order to increase the appeal of the themes presented. The character who most influenced the play is Macbeth. Macbeth is someone who is tortured by the pain of the words of those around him. Macbeth is strongly influenced by the three witches who prophesy that he will take Duncan back; “Good sir, why do you begin and seem to be afraid/Of things that seem right?”, this shows that Macbeth was already thinking about killing Duncan and the witches read his thoughts. The idea of becoming king taunts Macbeth and pushes him more and more to want to become king. Macbeth knows that killing Duncan would be a mistake, but it still plays an important role in his mind. He continually debates whether or not he should kill Duncan. However, Lady Macbeth changes all that. When Lady Macbeth hears about this prophecy from the witches, she instantly realizes what is at stake. She continually urges Macbeth that he is a coward. Shakespeare instantly grabs the audience's attention because they will immediately recognize the different mannerisms and personalities of the two characters. Shakespeare uses Lady Macbeth against Macbeth to show the evil associated with her. Furthermore, Lady Macbeth believes that Macbeth does not have it in him to kill Duncan; "Unsex me... middle of paper... dominating its place of honor, was mowed down and killed by an owl mouse." This is about unnatural evil - as has been said - and once again foreshadows that something is going to happen that will affect the storyline. Furthermore, the feeling of chaos and disorder is evoked when one associates with the Duncan horses, “…beautiful and fast…gone wild in the wild…for they would make war on humanity.” In conclusion, William Shakespeare shows evil effectively and clearly. associated with human wants and desires. Shakespeare clearly shows the audience the main and important themes that affect these desires and the consequences that follow. Blood represents guilt which, consequently, is linked to the appearance and reality of things. The ambition of desires fuels the fire of the other themes because they cannot function without it..