Fate and Free Will Idea Sheet: Macbeth II. ii. 1-3 “That which hath made them drunk hath made me bold. / What hath quenched them hath given me fire.” Lady Machbeth’s thoughts are strongly influenced by how much she’s sufferenced since executing Duncan’s death along with Macbeth and how this event is going to act as a turnaround in her life. It executes how her free will in life gave her the choices that she decided to take, executing her fate as making her miserable and full of sorrow.
After all, ambition brings about the success and downfall of Macbeth; Lady Macbeth’s ambition got Macbeth started on success, then his on ambition led him the rest of the way to his eventual downfall. Lady Macbeth’s ambition unquestionably helped convince Macbeth to do the things he did. She had so much ambition she wished she were someone else so she didn’t need her husband to do things for her, “Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here… that
The denouement of Kiritsubo seems to foreshadowing the fates of Genji’s ladies who later would be dragged into the swirl of jealousy. Jealousy has been regarded as the major force behind spirit possession in Genji. When the emotion growing to an intense level, it rage out of control and wreak a wounded psyche. The case is seen mostly through Genji’s eyes. Yugao is the first victim of spirit possession or in another word--jealousy.
Once I gave him the title of Cawdor, he so thoughtlessly believed in the witches' power and fell willingly under their spell. What an ignorant fool! Also responsible would have to be Lady Macbeth. Once she learns of the prophecy, she is all too ready for Macbeth to become king, no matter what evil deeds had to be done to ensure he would attain the throne, including the quickest route to the crown, my crown! Even when Macbeth does have second thoughts, Lady Macbeth is there, insulting his manhood and shaming him into action.
One main character is Lady Macbeth. In the beginning of Shakespeare’s play, she is a strong-willed, dominant figure. She takes on the role of being the dominant partner, almost male-like, when she sees Macbeth will not do so himself. She has infinite influence over her husband, who is portrayed as weaker than she is. She is the one who plans the betrayal of Duncan and pressures Macbeth into thinking the only way to fulfill the witches “promise” is to kill the king.
The second verse as well as second speaker of the poem slings right back at the attack on his work by obliging that for people like him alcohol is the best medicine. Non-thinkers would despise serious subject matter. “And malt does more than Milton can/To justify God’s ways to man. Ale, man, ale’s the stuff to drink/For fellows whom it hurts to think…” (Line 21-24). John Milton's theme in Paradise Lost combined with alliteration with the letter M to juxtaposed with the mood-enhancing qualities of Ale.
Throughout the play Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, Shakespeare uses various types of metaphoric language to demonstrate Macbeth’s downfall. In the play Macbeth, by William Shakespeare uses similes as one of the largest parts of metaphoric language to show Macbeth’s downfall. Shakespeare uses similes in the very beginning of the book, “…fortune, on his damned quarrel, smiling show'd like a rebel’s whore” (Shakespeare 9). This shows a simile used by Shakespeare that hints at Macbeth’s downfall as early as Act I. The captain compares fortune, which seems to favor Malcolm at first, to a prostitute who favors a man for a short time and then leaves him shortly afterward.
In Jacobean times women were seen as inferior and even in the Victoria era, thus she required external forces to crush her conscience to allow her to fulfil her ambition. Yet she is afraid her feminine qualities will prevent her from achieving the murder of King Duncan. Which would gradually lead to her mental breakdown. Regicide was considered a mortal sin in Jacobean times, one God couldn't forgive. Whereas Browning’s protagonist in The Laboratory sustains her feminine qualities this is reflected in the line “The colours too grim” in which she is referring to her dislike of the colour of poison and that it needs to be 'brightened' up in order to convince her victim to drink it.
Shakespeare shows through Duncan, who carries a legitimate power, that only direct threats to the kingdom are punished accordingly. Illegitimate power is also shown to result in manipulated relationships. Macbeth’s relationship with Lady Macbeth is evidence of this. They were both madly in love with each other in the beginning, Macbeth greeting his mistress tenderly and saying that she is his “dearest love” (1-6-57). However as the events unfold, they become allies more than lovers in their quest to claim the throne, and Macbeth is manipulated and encouraged to do wrong.
Albeit Macbeth may seem as a strong and independent character his actions are substantially influenced by the female characters of the play. In addition, the leading female characters of the play are essentially portrayed as evil and their actions lead the play’s tragic development. The premise of the play is revealed at the very beginning of the play. The three witches awaken Macbeth’s ambition when they call him “thane of Glamis, thane of Cawdor and king hereafter” (I.iii. 48-50) and present the main characters and their relationships.