Preview

Compare Macbeth & Ttth

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
359 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Compare Macbeth & Ttth
It seems as if Edgar Allen Poe wrote the story “The Tell-Tale Heart” with “Macbeth” in mind. There are parallel structures in his writing that corresponds to Shakespeare’s play making the themes between the two pieces of writing similar. the theme of desire to kill is important in both Macbeth and “The Tell-Tale Heart”. In Macbeth, Lady Macbeth has the desire to kill King Duncan in order to gain power. In the short story, the narrator has a desire to kill the old man. In both situations, they succeed in the murder.
Also, the fear of being found out is present in the two readings. After the murder is done, in The Tell-Tale Heart, he hides the body in an undiscoverable place, so well hidden that if the old man had been alive he wouldn’t have noticed. When the police are sitting in his house, he hears voices in his head. He can hear the sound of the old man’s heart beat. With the pressure of the presence of the police pressuring him, the narrator cracks and exposes the old man. Similarly, after Macbeth murders King Duncan, both he and Lady Macbeth decided to suggest that it was the morning knockers who killed the King. They too, are afraid of being discovered.
Another parallel between the two is the guilt regret after sinning. Lady Macbeth goes insane and begins to sleepwalk, and killed herself. In Edgar Allen Poe’s story, the narrator less drastically, also goes insane from the thoughts of murder in his mind. He then comes clean and pulls out the body of the victim proving himself guilty in front of the police.
The narrator in The Tell-Tale Heart motivated himself towards killing the old man for his personal reasoning, which is the old man’s eye. In Macbeth, it is Lady Macbeth who drives Macbeth to kill King Duncan. The difference is that Lady Macbeth is pushing Macbeth to kill. However, this is not directly done for her own sake, but for Macbeth to gain power. In The Tell-Tale Heart, the narrator empowers himself without any

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Lady Macbeth was guilty and was probably was telling someone in a dream. So that means she needs to get this thing off her chest by telling someone…

    • 446 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    There are many differences between interpretations of William Shakespeare's MacBeth. This essay wall contrast Shakespeare's original version and a movie version by Roman Polanski produced in 1970. Three major differences will be discussed.…

    • 518 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    “Tell Tale Heart” is well-written as Edgar Allen Poe creates suspense throughout the scenes in the story. As he does this in an appealing way to attract the reader's interest. This is well written as it starts off with a good introduction about how the old man is loved by the narrator but he wants him dead because of his vulture eye. Edgar Allen Poe then shows direct and indirect characterization about the narrator as he stalks the old man at night planning how he will kill him. As Edgar Allen Poe is great with showing the narrator's emotions through indirect characterization. The story never goes off topic and is in good order from start to finish on the relationship with the narrator and the old man.…

    • 132 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the story “Tell Tale Heart” the author Edgar Allen Poe uses his madness and intention to create suspense. The author builds the story in a way that there's excitement on every page that you read. He uses a different way of writing with his words, he writes his words like he's crazy and with intention. In the story he has the urge to kill the old man because of the man's eye that he thinks is eval. He explains how he kills the man very precisely, also he tells you how he was at the door of the old man's room ready to kill him when the man wakes up, (that's one way that he builds his suspense) and yells “WHO'S THERE” then he stops and waits for the man to lay back down and go to sleep so he can move on with his crime and kill the man, now at this point in the story the suspense is built to the top and you're on the edge of your seat waiting to see what happens next then he tells you that he hears the heartbeat of…

    • 565 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Tell-Tale Heart and The Cask Of Amontillado, both written by Edgar Allan Poe in the 18th century, are two tales that shows how Poe focused on the dark and mysterious. Both stories being written by the same author has a few similarities however there are also some differences.…

    • 723 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Macbeth is renowned for his continuous list of killing, for example that of Duncan and Banquo, and the potential killing of Fleance. In this essay, Macbeth’s thoughts and actions leading up to these murders will be analyzed and a conclusion will be drawn from this deciding if murder appears easier for Macbeth as each of his ‘enemies’ are eliminated.…

    • 937 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Dreadfully chilling, "The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe is a horrific short story that introduces the reader to an utterly mad narrator who is driven to commit vile and heinous acts because of his unnatural obsession with his roommate's, an old man, cataract eye. The narrator's madness is revealed instantly, only to be substantiated when he devises a sinister plan to rid himself of the "vulture eye" forever. After seven nights of watching his prey sleep, the narrator strikes and coldheartedly murders the old man. A shriek calls the attention of a neighbor, who contacts the local authorities. The narrator, who is so overwhelmed with his own hubris, cheerily invites the three officers in to investigate, and even chat afterwards. However, the narrator's own guilt grows to such a point that his heart begins beating louder and louder, all the while convinced the heartbeat he hears belongs to his victim. Even though it's impossible, the narrator believes the police can hear the heartbeat, provoking him to confess to the violent crime. As if these dilemmas weren't disconcerting enough, Poe creates even more terror in "The Tell-Tale Heart" through his adept use of similes, metaphors, and irony.…

    • 1288 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Macbeth vs Holden

    • 1449 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Throughout both stories paranoia becomes a large theme between the two. Terrified someone will discover Macbeths act of murder and find him guilty his mind begins to wonder. He wonders about murder, he wonders how his wife can pursue him to this; he is curious how her cheeks stay rose with beauty as his fill with fear and un-reliable courage. (Quote: Macbeth: “Can such things be,…

    • 1449 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    plan is to make the person he is avenging to feel guilt and die in…

    • 1948 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Macbeth Power Analysis

    • 587 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Despite Macbeth seeming noble and courageous towards the court, I, as a reader, am knowledgeable of his true feelings and do not feel sympathetic towards him. He does not fulfill the definitions of a sympathetic literary character that I carry in my mind, as he is aware and in control of his evil intentions and actions. In Act I, Macbeth’s initial reaction to the prophecy is murder, and his eventual commitment to the act showcases his true character as a murderous but independent…

    • 587 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Circling the idea of stories relating much to another story is clearly demonstrated in the transfer of character comparisons in Macbeth by William Shakespeare with “A Tell Tale Heart” by Edgar Allen Poe is very evident. In the two stories, both of the main characters are not that different then each other; they are both built upon the same characteristics and lead forward by their thriving ambitions. Firstly, in the play before Macbeth’s eyes appears a dagger. This dagger represents much more than death; he seeing this in his mind was what led Macbeth into the room of King Duncan. He was much confused with Banquo proclaiming his loyalty for the King, as he stood there asking “Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle towards my hand? Come, let me clutch thee/ Mine eyes are made the fools o’th’other senses/ the bell invites me…That summons thee to heaven or to hell (II. i. 32-66). In the short story the main character’s last straw to go forth and finally commit the murder, was the hard beating of the old man’s heart. He/she stood there waiting “but the beating grew louder, louder! I thought the heart would burst. And now the anxiety seized me…the old man’s hour had come! (2). These are very similar scenarios in two different stories; in both the story and the play the protagonists both have a goal and this is like a final string for them, they both imagine these items/senses but yet these made up objects had such a big impact on the protagonist to make them actually commit it. These both revolve around the idea of murder overcoming all senses. Secondly, in the play Macbeth gains confidence through the pervasion of the 3 witches and this leads to his demise. He listens to the witch stating about the forest falling “That will never be: Who can impress the forest, bid the tree unfix his earthbound root? / Macbeth shall live the lease of nature” (IV. i. 93-102). Also in the…

    • 489 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Guilt in a Heartbeat

    • 935 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Cited: Poe, Edgar A. The Tell-Tale Heart. 2010. Literature an Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama and Writing. By X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. New York: Pearson-Longman, 2010. 36-40. Print.…

    • 935 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In conclusion, “The Tell-Tale Heart” shows different techniques and themes that are derived from the story by Poe. The narrator gives the background of his deeds that included the murder of an old man because his eyes were “vulture” like. Additionally, the narrator explains his life experiences through this…

    • 688 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Lady Macbeth Comparison

    • 444 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are depicted very differently and simply wanting kingship are among the few similarities. It is also interesting how the differences between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are caused by other differences in their traits, starting chain reactions of contrariety.…

    • 444 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Comparitive Paragraph

    • 436 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The character of Macbeth in Shakespeare’s Macbeth and the narrator in Edgar Allen Poe’s story The Tell Tale Heart has many key similarities. They both plan out and commit a murder of someone in their sleep but go insane after they have committed it. The first similarity is that both these character begin to go insane from the guilt of committing a murder in cold blood. Macbeth begins to hear voices after he commits the murder of King Duncan. He says “Still it cried ‘sleep no more!’ to all the house: ‘Glamis hath murdered sleep, and therefore Cawdor shall sleep no more: Macbeth shall sleep no more!” (2.2.41-43). In The Tell Tale Heart, the narrator starts hearing the beating of the old man’s heart. The beating heart drives him to the point where he tells the police officers in the room about the corpse buried under the floorboards. At the very end of the story he says “’Villains!’ I shrieked, ‘dissemble no more! I admit the deed! – tear up the planks! – here, here! – it is the beating of his hideous heart!’” (Poe, 4). They both began hearing things and went crazy from the guilt of the murder. The other similarity between the two is that they both planned out and executed a murder specifically when their victim was asleep. Macbeth planned to murder King Duncan. He had planned it all out from the signal bell to the guards who would be his scapegoats. As Macbeth approaches King Duncan’s chamber, he says “I go and it is done: the bell invites me. Hear it not, Duncan, for it is a kneel, that summons thee to heaven or to hell.” (2.1.62-64). In The Tell Tale Heart, the narrator devised a plan throughout the span of many days to murder an old man because his eye resembled that of a vulture. He spent many night planning and doing small things that would eventually lead to him murdering the old man. While explaining why he did it, the narrator said “Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold; and so by degrees - - very gradually - - I…

    • 436 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays