showing us that the thought of murder was already at the back of his mind. Macbeth could not have been as honourable and trustworthy as people believed him to be, given that if he had had but a shred of integrity, murder would have been the last thing on his mind. Macbeth is given prophecies by the witches and he is encouraged to act on these suggestions by Lady Macbeth, but he ultimately makes the choices to murder Duncan, Macduff's family and Banquo. The fact that Macbeth feels guilt, fears being caught and fears losing the throne reveals he has hidden anxiety. If Macbeth was truly at the mercy of fate, following the prophesise that was “set out”, he would have no difficulties in carrying out his crimes.
Don Pedro and Don John are both deceivers but while Don Pedro’s deceptions come from his desire to bring the lovers together, Don John’s deceptions derive from jealousy and spite. Don John, being the main antagonist, is made to be born outside of wedlock. Modern audiences watching this play may not understand why his character is the outsider that he is but Elizabethan audiences would understand that children born out of wedlock were largely presumed to be naturally evil. This is apparent in the language that Don John’s character uses because he often uses words that connote violence and death when plotting with his followers, Conrade and Borachio, to sabotage Hero and Claudio’s marriage. When inquiring how he could do this Don John describes what he wants as ‘the death of this marriage’ and in reply Borachio, his accomplice, says they will ‘misuse the Prince’, ‘vex Claudio’, ‘undo Hero’ and ‘kill Leonato.’ Although their words are not literal and they’re not really going to ‘kill’ Leonato, using words such as ‘death’ give very negative connotations and make the character sound like the villain he is.
Was Shakespeare trying to simply tell a story of revenge? Of course there is the possibility that Shakespeare included all the violence to teach a lesson to those who view his works. The persistent physical mutilation and injury in Titus Andronicus shows the audience that violence, in the name of revenge, is considered a social and moral norm, especially when said violence is argued as necessary. Over and over again the audience watches characters commit physical sins against their peers; however some characters seem completely justified in their actions while others do not. Titus is the prime example of a character that commits acts of physical violence and possesses reasoning for such acts that is acceptable and justifiable.
The above statements serve to prove that Macbeth is Shakespeare’s most profound and mature vision of evil. In this play, Shakespeare presents the overspreading influence of evil over the guilty and ambitious minds which lead them to commit the most treacherous villainy that affect not only the man and the state, but the family and the physical universe as well. But this evil is not the one that finally triumphs, Shakespeare in this play also provides the essential morality and courage which in their progression defeat the evil and restore the natural order of things. This paper endeavors to present the various viewpoints from which this evil can be interpreted. It shows how Shakespeare has depicted the transformation of a good person to a ghastly figure.
A puritan is: somebody who lives by a strict moral or religious code, especially somebody who is suspicious of pleasure. Malvolio’s laughs do not come from one-liners or cheap gags- the crux of the play is centred on a cruel trick played on Malvolio that concludes tragically with imprisonment and insanity Shakespeare’s comedy can be described as “a play characterized by its humorous or satirical tone and its depiction of amusing people or incidents, in which the characters ultimately triumph over adversity” . Twelfth Night there is undeniably an ‘amusing tone’ and evidently ‘amusing incidents’ however, not all of the characters ‘triumph over adversity’. The character of Malvolio is distressed in order to force the audience to explore the borders between farce and cruelty. This definition highlights and contributes to the debate whether Malvolio is really a comic character in
However, if the overall narrative of Michael Collins suggests that violence has tragic consequences, the film does not repudiate republican violence. At one point Collins says "War is murder. Sheer bloody murder", and the assassinations carried out on Collins's orders are depicted in all their casual brutality. The story of Collins is another instance of the theme of violence spinning out of control; as Jordan says in his film diary, published with the screenplay, the film shows both "the exhilaration of violence, [and] the grotesque conclusions of its outcome".# It is not only the tragedy of the story which implies the need for an end to violence, however; Collins himself is depicted as a reluctant warrior who wants peace. He declares his belief in the future in a sequence which intercuts between Collins and his fiancée, Kitty Kiernan, in a hotel room, and Collins's assassination squad executing British intelligence agents.
Using Card’s definition, both events would be considered evils. I argue that this line of reasoning is confused. A person’s intention should play a role in whether or not her action is evil. In the first example, the driver does not intend to fall asleep at the wheel and as a result the action is merely bad (more specifically, driving while sleep deprived is bad: falling asleep is neither good nor bad). In the second example, the driver decides to murder the pedestrian: the action is evil.
In Act 1 Scene 7 Macbeth says, “I have no spur To prick the sides of my intent, but only Vaulting ambition which o’erleaps itself And falls on th’other” In this soliloquy, Macbeth admits that his only reason for committing murder is ambition. The ambition presented him with negative characteristics such as greed, intolerance, ruthlessness and an unhealthy drive for power. In addition, it blocked out his respect for others and his compassion. Earlier in his soliloquy, Macbeth also uses foreshadowing as he declares, “Bloody instructions which, being taught, return To plague th’inventor” Here, Macbeth explained his deeds will eventually come back to haunt him. Earlier in the soliloquy ,he uses dark imagery, in phrases such as “Deep damnation” a “Poisoned Chalice” and “Bloody Instructions”.
Nevertheless, it is the innate evil in Macbeth that makes him curious about their predictions. In fact Banquo’s statements on noticing Macbeth’s reaction to the witches’ prophesies, “Look how our partner’s rapt,” make us suspect Macbeth’s integrity. Again, the fact that he gets dependant on the witches for further advice clearly demonstrates the evil in him. While it was the initial influence of the witches, that led Macbeth astray, it is ultimately Macbeth’s decision to commit such heinous crimes.” Apart from the witches, Lady Macbeth also has a profound influence on bringing about Macbeth’s tragedy. Lady Macbeth is an evil and ruthless woman who, being aware of Macbeth’s ambitious nature decides to exploit it and manipulates him into murdering King Duncan.
Examples of madness would be found through Hamlet’s searches for honesty and his hate towards cheating and deception. This gives us a much stronger understanding of how Hamlet’s main goal throughout the play is a search for truth. Everywhere in the play Hamlet is surrounded by deception and lies, such as Claudius killing his own brother just so he could have the thrown to the kingdom and marry the old kings wife. Following very shortly after the death Gertrude also known as the dead king’s wife and Hamlets mother marries Claudius without any shame and shows no regret or sorrow towards her husband’s death as Claudius. These are examples of madness as these as not things you would expect from normal minded people in today’s society and even back then.