As we progress through his soliloquys in the play we see changes in Hamlet’s emotions and feelings towards what he eventually wants to do. By the third soliloquy we have found out about Hamlet’s fathers ghost and that Claudius was the one who killed him. Hamlet is angered by this and assures that he will only think of getting revenge on Claudius. Later he realizes that he should stop procrastinating and hurry up and avenge his father, but he doesn’t have the courage to do it. Hamlet also expresses the possibilities that the ghost could have been the devil.
Next, the devil’s staff, in which is carved as if it were a deadly evil serpent appears to be the lifelike serpent from the Book of The Genesis. The staff biblically symbolizes and alludes to the evil demon, in which tempts Eve to defy God’s will and eat the fruit from the forbidden tree that brought wrath to humanity. In the short story itself, the devil tells Young Goodman Brown, “Take my staff, if you are so weary.” First, Brown had refused because he is a moral man but then becomes tempted just as Eve, and grabs the staff. As a result, his morals become infected with evil. In that rare moment, Young Goodman Brown was ultimately stern and distrustful to take the staff but became
Oedipus as Protagonist and Antagonist If, in literature, the protagonist is the moving force in a work and the antagonist is the opposing force, then in Oedipus Rex, Oedipus serves as both. Oedipus, as the king of Thebes, desires to discover the murderer of Laïos and banish him from the city. However, Oedipus is himself the man he seeks. It is Oedipus’ desire for self-preservation and his ignorance of his own deeds that prevents him from reaching this goal. The curse on Thebes serves as the conflict in the story.
In other words, he was saying I would rather die and honorable death and be myself then become a part of Salem’s lies. In the very beginning of the play, I believed that John Proctor was a sinner and a feared man among the townspeople of Salem. I though that John Proctor was cheating on his wife, Elizabeth, and that he was considered by the townspeople an “evil man”. He commited lechery when he “thought softly” about Abigail. However, John Proctor eventually told Abby that he would “cut off his hand before he reached for her again”.
Steinbeck explores many Good & Evil relationships in his novel, two of them being Cathy and Adam, and Cathy and Lee. In Cathy and Adam’s relationship, Adam represents the good, and Cathy, the evil. Their entire relationship is centered around Cathy’s power over Adam, and how tempts him to do evil things. For example, when Adam comes to see Cathy at the whorehouse, she seduces him to sleep with her, further exerting her power over him. But Adam, maintaining his “good” persona, refuses.
Is Macbeth Responsible For His Downfall? Who is responsible for the downfall of Macbeth? He is manipulated by the witches, encouraged by his wife, but ultimately he chooses to act. His first conference with the witches, Macbeth’s ambition was planted and his mind was overwhelmed with thoughts of murder and betrayal. It fair to say, in addition, that if his betrayal caused this extensive pain that clouded him after he murders Duncan, Banquo and the Macduff’s that it wasn’t a case of fate and was his own doing.
With the witches’ prophecies mulling over in his mind, and knowing that he was not the successor of the throne, he knew he had to take matters into his own hands. With the support and persuasion of Lady Macbeth, he kills King Duncan and gains his kingship. When Banquo makes his vow to find out who killed Duncan, Macbeth knew he had to silence him. After Macbeth is named king, he seeks out hired murderers to kill Banquo and his son, Fleance. Macbeth does this because he is afraid that Banquo will get in the way of his new title and Fleance, because he is prophesied to be king.
During the murder of Duncan, Lady Macbeth invokes the night not only to hide from herself and her husband their evil deeds, but also to hide it from heaven, the source of morality (i.v.49-53). Soon Macbeth and his wife are embracing night and its evil (iii.ii.46-55), and becoming inured to the horror of the murders they are committing. Darkness is also used as a symbol of danger, as when Banquo says that he “must become a borrower of the night for a dark hour or twain” (iii.i.27-8), and the reader knows that Macbeth plans to have him murdered. In fact at the stroke of nightfall, when Banquo comes to the palace holding a fresh torch, both he and the light are struck down by the hired murderers. Darkness is used to illustrate the unnatural character of Macbeth's crime in killing the king (which was considered at that time to be a crime against God and nature) when Ross remarks that although it should be day, it is still as dark as night (ii.iv.6-10).
“What’s it going to be then, eh?” Each time this question is asked, it calls the reader to think about the themes of the book. During part one; Alex has to make the choice of being “good” or “evil.” At this point in the novel, he is still capable of making that choice. In part two, his choice has been made for him. Upon accidentally murdering an old woman, he chose evil for himself. This is fine by him in a way, because after seeing the corruption of the police he decides, “If you bastards are on the side of good then I’m glad to belong to the other shop.” (71) He is brainwashed into “goodness.” He can no longer stand to see or think about violence without feeling pain.
The prophecy stated by the witches, that Macbeth would become king, prompted Macbeth to make that a reality. However, the witches never said that he would murder Duncan, or that he would become so paranoid and guilt-ridden that he would be his own undoing. Indeed, is not the point of fate that it achieves what is meant to be regardless of the path chosen? The witches also stated that Macbeth would rule, but Banquo’s descendants would rule Scotland. So, naturally, because man is a sinful creature, Macbeth sets out to destroy Banquo and his family, eliminating the possibility of Banquo’s descendants becoming kings.