Vaulting Ambition in Shakespeares Macbeth Essay -- Macbeth essays

Vaulting Ambition in Macbeth Can one expect to find in Shakespeares tragic adjoin Macbeth a heavy dose of ambition? Yes, indeed. Such a heavy dose that it is lethal - as we shall describe in this paper. Clark and Wright in their Introduction to The Complete whole works of William Shakespeare interpret the main chemical group of the play as intertwining with evil and ambition While in Hamlet and others of Shakespeares plays we feel that Shakespeare lissome upon and brooded over his thoughts, Macbeth seems as if smitten out at a heat and imagined from first to last with rapidity and power, and a subtlety of workmanship which has become instructive. The theme of the drama is the gradual dash through yielding to evil within and evil without, of a man, who, though from the first tainted by base and aspirant thoughts, yet possessed elements in his nature of possible honor and loyalty. (792) In Macbeth as the Imitation of an Action Francis Fergusson states the place of Macbeths ambition in the action of the play It is the phrase to outrun the pauser, terra firma 2.3, which seems to me to describe the action, or motive, of the play as a whole. Macbeth, of course, literally means that his love for Duncan was so strong and so brisk that it got ahead of his reason, which would have counseled a pause. But in the same track we have seen his greed and ambition outrun his reason when he committed the take out and in the same way all of the characters, in the irrational darkness of Scotlands evil hour, are compelled in their action to strive beyond what they can see by reason alone. evening Malcolm and Macduff, as we shall see, are compelled to go beyond reason in the action which destroys Macbeth and ends the play. ... ...iion of Critical Essays. Alfred Harbage, ed. Englewwod Cliffs, NJ Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1964. Johnson, Samuel. The Plays of Shakespeare. N.p. n.p.. 1765. Rpt in Shakespearean Tragedy. Bratchell, D. F. new-made York, NY Routledge, 1990. K emble, Fanny. Lady Macbeth. Macmillans Magazine, 17 (February 1868), p. 354-61. Rpt. in Women knowledge Shakespeare 1660-1900. Ann Thompson and Sasha Roberts, eds. Manchester, UK Manchester University Press, 1997. Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Macbeth. http//chemicool.com/Shakespeare/macbeth/full.html, no lin. Siddons, Sarah. Memoranda Remarks on the Character of Lady Macbeth. The Life of Mrs. Siddons. Thomas Campbell. London Effingham Wilson, 1834. Rpt. in Women Reading Shakespeare 1660-1900. Ann Thompson and Sasha Roberts, eds. Manchester, UK Manchester University Press, 1997. Vaulting Ambition in Shakespeares Macbeth Essay -- Macbeth essaysVaulting Ambition in Macbeth Can one expect to find in Shakespeares tragic play Macbeth a heavy dose of ambition? Yes, indeed. Such a heavy dose that it is lethal - as we shall see in this paper. Clark and Wright in their Introduction to The Complete Works of William Shakespeare interpret the main theme of the play as intertwining with evil and ambition While in Hamlet and others of Shakespeares plays we feel that Shakespeare refined upon and brooded over his thoughts, Macbeth seems as if struck out at a heat and imagined from first to last with rapidity and power, and a subtlety of workmanship which has become instructive. The theme of the drama is the gradual ruin through yielding to evil within and evil without, of a man, who, though from the first tainted by base and ambitious thoughts, yet possessed elements in his nature of possible honor and loyalty. (792) In Macbeth as the Imitation of an Action Francis Fergusson states the place of Macbeths ambition in the action of the play It is the phrase to outrun the pauser, reason 2.3, which seems to me to describe the action, or motive, of the play as a whole. Macbeth, of course, literally means that his love for Duncan was so strong and so swift that it got ahead of his reason, which would have counseled a pause. But in the same way we hav e seen his greed and ambition outrun his reason when he committed the murder and in the same way all of the characters, in the irrational darkness of Scotlands evil hour, are compelled in their action to strive beyond what they can see by reason alone. Even Malcolm and Macduff, as we shall see, are compelled to go beyond reason in the action which destroys Macbeth and ends the play. ... ...iion of Critical Essays. Alfred Harbage, ed. Englewwod Cliffs, NJ Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1964. Johnson, Samuel. The Plays of Shakespeare. N.p. n.p.. 1765. Rpt in Shakespearean Tragedy. Bratchell, D. F. New York, NY Routledge, 1990. Kemble, Fanny. Lady Macbeth. Macmillans Magazine, 17 (February 1868), p. 354-61. Rpt. in Women Reading Shakespeare 1660-1900. Ann Thompson and Sasha Roberts, eds. Manchester, UK Manchester University Press, 1997. Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Macbeth. http//chemicool.com/Shakespeare/macbeth/full.html, no lin. Siddons, Sarah. Memoranda Remarks on the Character of Lady Macbeth. The Life of Mrs. Siddons. Thomas Campbell. London Effingham Wilson, 1834. Rpt. in Women Reading Shakespeare 1660-1900. Ann Thompson and Sasha Roberts, eds. Manchester, UK Manchester University Press, 1997.