Wednesday, June 10, 2015

How do ideas in Macbeth surrounding superstition, ambition and the difference between appearance and reality reveal human nature?

Macbeth's superstitious belief in the fate which the Weird Sisters have predicted for him, his incredible and violent ambition, and his failure to discern the difference between appearances and reality show just how easily human nature can be corrupted, especially when these factors combine.  If Macbeth had chalked the Weird Sisters' words up to the fantastic ramblings of a bunch of odd old women and never ambitiously dreamed of the life of which they spoke to him, he would probably be at home in Glamis, happy with his loving wife.  However, Macbeth allowed his ambition to run away with him, and it kept him from being able to see that things are not always as they seem, or put another way, that appearances can be deceiving.  It doesn't take much to turn a good man into a bad one, and this shows how easily corruptible human nature can be.

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...