ENG2DB Tuesday, May 6, 2014 Word Count: 1287 The Allocation of Responsibility for Immoral Actions in Things Fall Apart and Macbeth Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe and Macbeth by William Shakespeare both demonstrate the ill effects of excessive ambition and pride. The protagonists of both texts act in a way that would normally be appalling and unforgivable. However, the authors make the audience tolerant, and even sympathetic, towards Okonkwo and Macbeth. This is done by portraying the characters as not fully responsible for their actions. Okonkwo and Macbeth are both heavily influenced by other characters, fuelled by the expectations of their societies, and driven to act based on their tragic flaw.
We always make decisions without knowing the exact outcome of what we do, despite whether our intent is good or evil. In the play, Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, he develops the idea that an individual’s good intentions can have devastating results. This idea is developed through the characters Romeo, Friar Laurence, Juliet, and Mercutio. In the scene where Mercutio and Tybalt were fighting, Romeo intervenes and ends up losing Mercutio the match, costing his life. “I thought all for the best.”(Act 3, Scene 1, line 99) Romeo had the best intentions however; best intentions in Shakespeare’s plays always have a negative impact.
Poet T.S. Eliot infamously referred to Titus as “one of the stupidest and most uninspired plays ever written,” while playwright Edward Ravenscroft dismissed it simply as a “heap of rubbish” (Shakespeare, 399). Yet for all of Titus’s grotesque horrors, the violence that seemingly repulsed Eliot and company should not be viewed as erratic, uncalculated acts. Rather they should be understood as representations of a wider, symbolic significance. It is through dismemberment, and the dismemberment of hands in particular, that the play can be seen through an emblematic perspective to signify the justification of vengeance and the loss of political and personal agency.
Many people today, make careless decisions based on their impulsive and rash emotions which usually leads to disaster. In the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, Romeo Montague was a great example of this. His rash emotions and decisions caused him suffering and ultimately his own destruction. The fact that Romeo is overly dramatic, impulsive, and stubborn proves that he is nowhere near being admirable nor is he heroic. Throughout the play, Romeo exemplifies many instances of where his emotions take over.
Creon becomes too vain that he assumes Haemon “is hopelessly on the woman’s [Antigone’s] side” (224). Creon’s ignorant qualities evolve him to make imprecise choices. Creon is the “real tragic hero” in the play Antigone because of his insensible defects and his destiny which evolves
Macbeth's character flaws are having too much greed for power, lack of judgement, and insanity. In Shakespeare's play, Macbeth's ambition and poor decision making lead towards his tragic downfall. Mabeth is referred to as a hero for killing the first Thane of Glaims. "By Finel's death, I know I am Thane of Glaims, But how of Cowdar?" (I. iii.
William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing is a play which uncovers the positive and negative consequences that various interactions can have on society and individuals. Throughout the play multiple themes are discovered. One theme in particular that stood out to me was that not everyone and everything is as they appear. Some factors which come to light from this theme are the dishonour which comes with deceit and misunderstanding, the betrayal that one feels when being deliberately fooled, and the negative and positive results which can come from deception. Through both direct and indirect character interactions, we learn the importance of looking beyond ones façade to find where the truth lies.
He’s useless tricks display vanity and indicate his wastefulness to the audience. The Tempest is a problem play; Prospero is presented with the opportunity for spiteful revenge but realises the importance of forgiveness. Doctor Faustus is a morality play; he never realises the importance of repentance and banishes any opportunity to save himself, which results in his eternal damnation in hell. In the first act of the play, the audience is confronted with a magic fuelled spectacle. We see Prospero with the help or Ariel conjures the tempest.
Commonly regarded as Euripides’ most controversial work, Medea is a powerful story of how one’s impassioned love can turn into furious hared. As a tragedy, it is completely unlike the Aristotelian work, yet it has a nerve jarring impact due to the unforseen climax. Throughout the play, Euripides has positioned minor characters to subsidize the major characters. The clever work of Euripides also suggests that the less significant characters are used in the play to develop the plot of the play and also to reveal and recall the events that could not have been shown. As a result of this, secondary character present dramatic importance throughout the play.
Immoral acts result in destruction when tempted with ambition and inability to act on the righteous conscience. Some of the many consequences include guilt and regret. In Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth, and Mister Pip, written by Lloyd Jones, the characters are hungry for power and their own profit, which only results in mixed emotions of guilt and revenge and eventually, their downfall. Both writers use the theme of ambition and consequences of immoral acts as a conflict and advancement in plot, as their characters carry out impulsive behaviour thinking of only their own profit. As shown by Lloyd Jones and William Shakespeare in their respective novels, too much ambition for power and not being able follow one’s conscience leads to immoral acts that result in nothing but regret and guilt.