Skip to main content

How has Shakespeare has created contradictory representations of Macbeth in the play, Macbeth?

Some times, Macbeth is quite courageous; other times, he is cowardly.  The first description we hear of Macbeth is from the captain who calls him "brave Macbeth (well he deserves that name)" and discusses the way he slashed his way through the battle in order to "unseam [his enemy] from the nave to th' chops" (1.2.18, 1.2.24).  He places himself in grave danger to defend the kingdom and the king against traitors and invaders.  However, later in the play, he hires murderers to kill his friend Banquo when he feels too threatened by Banquo's prophecy and noble nature.  He is too cowardly to do the job himself, lying to the murderers to get them to do it for him; then he absolutely panics when Banquo's ghost appears, and he totally loses his cool. 


Likewise, Macbeth is, at times, in possession of a sound conscience; other times, he is totally unscrupulous.  After he weighs all of the reasons he has not to kill Duncan, he decides that "We will proceed no further in this business" (1.7.34).  He actually tries to make the right decision here, and we really feel for him when his wife berates and insults him as a result.  We might even continue to feel badly for him after Duncan's murder when he panics and feels absolutely terrible.  However, toward the end of the play, when he becomes angry at Macduff, he has Macduff's innocent wife, children, and even his servants slaughtered savagely.  He becomes utterly corrupt, so corrupt that he will kill children. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Is there a word/phrase for "unperformant"?

As a software engineer, I need to sometimes describe a piece of code as something that lacks performance or was not written with performance in mind. Example: This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. Based on my Google searches, this isn't a real word. What is the correct way to describe this? EDIT My usage of "performance" here is in regard to speed and efficiency. For example, the better the performance of code the faster the application runs. My question and example target the negative definition, which is in reference to preventing inefficient coding practices. Answer This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. In my opinion, reads more easily as: This coding style leads to unmaintainable and poorly performing code. The key to well-written documentation and reports lies in ease of understanding. Adding poorly understood words such as performant decreases that ease. In addressing the use of such a poorly ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Is 'efficate' a word in English?

I routinely hear the word "efficate" being used. For example, "The most powerful way to efficate a change in the system is to participate." I do not find entries for this word in common English dictionaries, but I do not have an unabridged dictionary. I have checked the OED (I'm not sure if it is considered unabridged), and it has no entry for "efficate". It does have an entry for "efficiate", which is used in the same way. Wordnik has an entry for "efficate" with over 1800 hits, thus providing some evidence for the frequency of use. I personally like the word and find the meaning very clear and obvious when others use it. If it's not currently an "officially documented" word, perhaps its continued use will result in it being better documented.
Post a Comment
Read more