Macbeth Themes
Macbeth SE.
Themes
Man’s conscious descention into evil in the name of personal ambition can lead to massive disorder. (and the corruptive influence personal ambition has).
Chain of Being being constantly disrupted. -The king is killed. He is the highest in the hierarchy in the chain of being of man. When the king is killed, the weather and animals go crazy. indication that its bad. - Lady Macbeth wants to be a man. This is completely against the Chain of Being. The woman has a lower ranking than the man. Lady Macbeth wants to be ’unsexed from the crown of her head to the tip of her toe. Not acting female leads to insomnia and madness. - Macbeth is not brave, ambitious or strong, as a man is supposed to be, but I showing womanlike features. He is being indecisive and acting like a wimp. (again against the chain of being, man is supposed to be ranked higher than woman)
Foul and Fair. - The witches, Scène 1, Act 1 : Fair is foul, and foul is fair: Hover through the fog and filthy air. - Macbeth, Scène 1, Act 3: Such a day so foul and fair I have not seen. - Macbeth is a host for the king, which is a fair (a righteous) deed. However, his intentions, to kill the king, are foul. - Committing a murder is foul, but the courage to commit one is fair. - The fair Macbeth turns foul during the entire play, Lady Macbeth is foul at first, but after she feels regret which is fair. - Contrasts in the whole play: Light and Dark, Day turns to Night, Good and Bad, Beautiful and ugly.
Internal Conflict - Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have ‘internal conflicts’. Via soliloquies you notice that sometimes they have ambivalent feelings. They feel courage and fear at the same time. Or rage and complete calmness. A good example is Lady Macbeth. She looks fine on the outside, but on the inside she is feeling guilty as hell! She sleepwalks every night trying to wash the blood off her hands.
Consequence - Because of the
Themes
Man’s conscious descention into evil in the name of personal ambition can lead to massive disorder. (and the corruptive influence personal ambition has).
Chain of Being being constantly disrupted. -The king is killed. He is the highest in the hierarchy in the chain of being of man. When the king is killed, the weather and animals go crazy. indication that its bad. - Lady Macbeth wants to be a man. This is completely against the Chain of Being. The woman has a lower ranking than the man. Lady Macbeth wants to be ’unsexed from the crown of her head to the tip of her toe. Not acting female leads to insomnia and madness. - Macbeth is not brave, ambitious or strong, as a man is supposed to be, but I showing womanlike features. He is being indecisive and acting like a wimp. (again against the chain of being, man is supposed to be ranked higher than woman)
Foul and Fair. - The witches, Scène 1, Act 1 : Fair is foul, and foul is fair: Hover through the fog and filthy air. - Macbeth, Scène 1, Act 3: Such a day so foul and fair I have not seen. - Macbeth is a host for the king, which is a fair (a righteous) deed. However, his intentions, to kill the king, are foul. - Committing a murder is foul, but the courage to commit one is fair. - The fair Macbeth turns foul during the entire play, Lady Macbeth is foul at first, but after she feels regret which is fair. - Contrasts in the whole play: Light and Dark, Day turns to Night, Good and Bad, Beautiful and ugly.
Internal Conflict - Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have ‘internal conflicts’. Via soliloquies you notice that sometimes they have ambivalent feelings. They feel courage and fear at the same time. Or rage and complete calmness. A good example is Lady Macbeth. She looks fine on the outside, but on the inside she is feeling guilty as hell! She sleepwalks every night trying to wash the blood off her hands.
Consequence - Because of the