Friday, December 21, 2012

Does Macbeth offer a moral lesson?

Shakespeare's Macbeth can be viewed as a study of human nature and its corruption. The play explores various themes, such as appearance versus reality and the perils of unrestrained ambition. We could argue the play does provide us with a moral lesson. Macbeth seems to warn us that one must not succumb to one's perilous "black and deep desires" because if we do, we are likely to put aside all the values we should stand by. 


Macbeth, the main character of the play, is guided by his unchecked ambition to become the king of Scotland at any cost. He knows murdering his relative and benevolent king would be a great sin, but he is willing to risk anything in order to gain power and control. 


When Macbeth obtains the supremacy he desperately wants, he is hungry for more. He cannot stop. He believes others will endanger his position, so he must eliminate anyone who could potentially harm or usurp him. He starts having hallucinations as a result of resorting to murdering innocent people to maintain his power.


Shakespeare shows us that, once Macbeth gains power unlawfully, he triggers the beginning of his own demise. By embracing evil, Macbeth rejects humanity and his life becomes meaningless, as we can see from his confession in Act V. Soon after that, his death becomes inevitable.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Thomas Jefferson's election in 1800 is sometimes called the Revolution of 1800. Why could it be described in this way?

Thomas Jefferson’s election in 1800 can be called the “Revolution of 1800” because it was the first time in America’s short history that pow...