1. Is Macbeth a Tragedy?
A tragedy is often thought of as a sad, pitiful event. The factors used to label an event as tragic are
the consequences and the lasting effects. For example, the consequences of one or more deaths
can be seen as a tragedy. And tragedies are often remembered long after the event, clearly
impacting the future for those involved. Many people interpret events such as a natural disaster, a
death of a loved one, or a permanent disability as tragic. However, others say that this definition of
a tragedy is incorrect and is misused in modern conversation. The people who think this way use the
word tragedy to define literature. The literary definition of the word requires more careful
consideration of the character and the overall effect of the...show more content...
He shows this by saying if he had "died and hour before this chance, [he would have] lived a blessed
time" (2.3.103–104). Without a doubt, the play arouses fear and pity in the audience.
In addition to arousing pity and fear in the audience, the play calls into question man's relationship
with God. At the start of the play,Macbeth's relationship with God is good. Macbeth fought nobly
and courageously for a good cause, defeating the traitor to the king. Similarly, at the end of the
play, Young Siward also fights nobly and dies for a good cause, defeating Macbeth. For this
reason, Young Siward is described as "God's soldier" (5.8.55). Therefore, Macbeth could also be
described as "God's soldier" (5.8.55) up until he murders Duncan. As the King of Scotland, Duncan
can be viewed as God. By killing Duncan, Macbeth has killed God. As a result, Macbeth has
become the opposite of God, the devil. From this point on, Macbeth's relationship with God is bad.
At the scene of the murder, Macbeth could not say "Amen." After committing a terrible crime, he
"had most need of blessing, and 'Amen' stuck in [his] throat" (2.2.47–48). These events show that
Macbeth's relationship with God is questionable, which is one of the characteristics of a tragedy in
literature.
Another characteristic of a literary tragedy is that the tragic figure must be capable of great
suffering. The tragic figure in
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2. Tragedy Of Macbeth
Revised In Class Essay on The Tragedy of Macbeth
In the play, The Tragedy of Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Macbeth is a very strong man in the
throughout the play but due to some of his decisions in the play, many actions backfire on Macbeth.
Though the play, Macbeth wants to become King and tries to do anything he can to become the man
that will rule everyone. He fights in battles which proves his nobleness. Unfortunately, there is a
downfall in the story in which would be when Macbeth doesn't prove his fortune. Macbeth meets
with three witches. The witches tell him, "All hail Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of Glamis, thane of
Cawdor, that shalt be King hereafter! (I.3.48–50)" The witches tell Macbeth that he will be Thane of
Cawdor and King
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5. Macbeth
According to the classical view, tragedy should arouse feelings of pity and fear in the audience.
Does Macbeth do this?
Tragedy has most definitely influenced the viewer's thoughts on Macbeth within this play. In
Shakespeare's Macbeth, the audience sees a gradual breakdown in the character of Macbeth himself,
due to the tragic events that unfold during the play. This has a direct effect on the audience's views
and thoughts of Macbeth, thus creating pity and fear within the audience. Macbeth, being a man and
a human being himself, is in–clined to some forms of temptation, to which man himself has quite
often succumbed. The guilt that Mac–beth experiences after the death of his beloved King Duncan
also experienced in every human's...show more content...
By Sinel's death I know I am Thane of Clamis But how of Cawdor? The thane of Cawdor lives, A
prosperous gentleman; and to be king Stands not within the prospect of beliefВ…"
Macbeth [I.iii.70–74]
The audience sees how Macbeth is introduced into taking over the throne of his great friend Duncan.
This unleashes pity and fear within the audience, because they felt for a man succumbing to
grievous temptation. The events in which took place after this increase our pity of Macbeth. The
audience sees a grown, noble and mighty officer degraded into a pool of immense guilt.
Macbeth was, shortly after the murdering incident, driven insane by the immense guilt produced by
his withered conscience. The dagger that was used in the killing of King Duncan haunted him
before the murder took place. This tragedy in the play gives us both fear of where the sword came
from and pity for Macbeth's character that had degraded to such a point that he has become paranoid.
"Is this a dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee. I
have thee not, and yet I see thee still. Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible To feeling as to sight? Or
art thou but A dagger of mind, a false creation, Proceeding from the heat–oppressed brain? В…"
[II.i.33–39]
The events before the murder of Duncan, which include Macbeth's fear of killing Duncan, the timing
at–which it will take place; all of which these things made the audience fearful. Macbeth seemed
nervous in a
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6. The Tragedy of Macbeth Essay
"The Tragedy of Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare in 1604, portrays women in a variety
of strengths. In Elizabethan society, women were considered the 'weaker sex' but in many of his
plays Shakespeare appears to question this patriarchal society. Shakespeare wrote ' Macbeth'
intending to flatter King James I, the ruler in this era. James I had very strong opinions regarding
women and, particularly, witches. He saw Women as inferior and expected them to be housewives
and mothers. Shakespeare portrays the witches as evil, worthless and completely mad. This fits into
the view of witches in Shakespeare's time that they were poor, elderly women who didn't fit into
society. Macbeth was also written to persuade King James I to reopen the...show more content...
Witch– hunts were popular and many executions took place. This was because King James I
considered himself an expert on witchcraft and therefore Shakespeare portrays the witched as sub –
standard human and mysterious in order to win favour with the king. When practising witchcraft,
the witches appear to be strong and aggressive. However, it's suggested that they have to meet
together to be powerful and strong:
"When shall we three meet again in thunder, lightning or in rain?"
This also shows pathetic fallacy as it insinuates that the witches are evil. Bad weather such as
thunder, lightning and rain is associated with unhappiness or, in the case of the witches, evil. The
fact that they have to meet indicates that the witches are weak individuals and rely on one another
for strength. This agrees with beliefs of the time that witches were poor and elderly. In Polanksi's
film 'The Tragedy of Macbeth', the witched first appear on a deserted beach at dawn. They bury
items such as a severed hand, which creates a mysterious atmosphere around them. This is
emphasised by the screeching of the gulls, the unpleasant music and the fog. Furthermore, the
rhythm and verse couplets cause the witches to sound completely insane this makes them seem
weak. It also makes their speech sound like a charm or spell. The witches' ability to foretell the
future illustrates them as supernatural. Their prophecies set the ball rolling and cause Macbeth and
Lady
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7. Macbeth
William Shakespeare is the noted author of a vast array of plays, ranging from comedies to
histories to tragedies. Perhaps one of his most famous in the tragedy genre is Macbeth. Though
Shakespeare can be considered as a scholar in the sense that he was both a renowned and prolific
playwright, look back a few hundred years to find Aristotle, one of the most famous scholars and
philosophers of all time. In his treatise titled Poetics, he defends poetry against criticism as well as
sets standards for tragedies in "The Nature of Tragedy," a section of the Poetics. Is
Macbeth fit to be included in the tragedy genre according to the standards set by Aristotle?
According to Aristotle, a tragedy is "an imitation of an action...show more content...
Now Macbeth has to accept that fact that he will yield, and in doing so, dies. Another part of the plot
is the Scene of Suffering, which is "a destructive or painful action." In the case of
Macbeth, the Scene of Suffering could be the bloody murder of Duncan by Macbeth.
As stated in "The Nature of Tragedy," the change in fortune should be from good to bad
rather than from bad to good. Although the sequence of events that occur throughout Macbeth may
not appear to document a change in fortune from good to bad, they all constitute of a change because
it shows Macbeth's moral downfall. Also, according to Aristotle, the misfortune should be brought by
the character's own error or frailty. In the case of Macbeth, the frailty that brings about his misfortune
and eventual destruction is ultimately ambition.
Another important aspect of a tragedy is character. In his Poetics, Aristotle says that "first and
most important, it must be good." Macbeth's character in Macbeth is not exactly the portrayal
of an ideal man, but he is not the worst man either. He may appear to be wicked and corrupt
throughout the play, but he is actually portrayed as a relatively good man in the beginning of the
play. At the start of the play, he possesses valor and bravery in the war and Duncan considers him to
be honorable. "What he hath lost noble Macbeth hath won."
The
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