Ambition=Sensitivity and Violence

The second half of the essay by A.C. Bradley talks about how the dark atmosphere exemplifies the qualities of two main characters: Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. He says that Macbeth is “cowardly criminal” while his wife is a a true criminal- a “fiend”. Macbeth and his wife fuel each other in their actions because they both share the same passion, which is to rule. Bradley also describes there attitudes. They are both self-centered people who only care about themselves; they are proud, and they have high opinions. He briefly talks about Lady Macbeth because she falls behind Macbeth who is the leading figure. Macbeth is a warrior of the king who is fueled by ambition which later becomes his only passion. His ambition causes two things to happen to him 1) “sensitive to impressions” and 2) capable of “violent disturbances”. Shakespeare uses this ambition to keep in the action the role of the supernatural in the play. Bradley also says that the only thing that is Macbeth’s strength is his imagination which of course he does not use. If he had used it he would have been “safe”, but he does not understand it. His courage is his flaw since it is actually his cause of cowardliness. He is overcome by his deed of killing the king that it consumes him completely. He becomes paranoid and believes that everyone is out to get him, thus he kills Banquo and tires to kill Macduff. As the play continues the evil consumes him more and more.

“Hell is murky”-Lady Macbeth

A. C. Bradley’s essay on Macbeth talks about the plays setting, metaphors, and use of color. He begins by saying that the beginning starts out dark with thunder booming and a war going on in the distance; he notes that it is very different from the other three tragedies written by Shakespeare. The other three were Othello, Antony and Cleopatra, and Hamlet. Some distinctions in this play is the opening setting, which sets the tone through out the play, and the supernatural element. The setting which is dark  foreshadows the deaths and Macbeth’s downfall at the end of the play. Bradley says that even though tis dark it is more colorful then plays like Othello or Hamlet. The supernatural element can be see when the witches enter in the midst of conversations and when they prophesize the future for Macbeth. How can the witches possibly know the future? We also see the supernatural when Banquo comes back in the four act. Bradley also talks about the metaphors which help to portray how nasty the scene actual is. Take for example the phrase, “meant to bathe in reeking wounds” which is to show the gory battle. Lastly Bradley notices that their is vivid imagery; such as they description of a child being torn from its mother’s breast to being killed.

Macbeth: The Issue of Witchcraft

1. Reginald Scott believed that witchcraft came from the ignorance of the world around you. He noticed that for any “adversity” people were quick to judge and find someone responsible for it, even if that person was completely innocent. People that believed in witches are faithless because they didn’t believe that God can be both just and unjust. It is in fact God that has the power to do what ever he wants even if it is bad. If we obey God then all our troubles will go away and we will find happiness. Scott then goes on to describe what witches look like showing us that they was a common type of women that was thought to be a witch. He also says that there are three types of witches(this helps to give insight to what people thought): 1) those that hurt and do not help 2) those that help and do not hurt and 3)those that hurt and help. 

2. a. King James’ News from Scotland tells about what is happening with witches around him. He himself is a firm believer and follower of God, but he also believes in witches. He shows us two examples of “witches” and what happened to them. The first one dealt with a mid who helped people and sometimes cured them from aliments. Since she achieved many miraculous things her master and people around her thought she was a servant of the devil. So they questioned her and tortured her until they made her confess to something she did not do; they got her to confess by saying they found the devil’s mark on her. The second story is very similar to this one, but is about a women who was a follower of the first. 

     b. Daemonology was written by King James I against those who did not believe in witchcraft; he wrote is against Reginald Scott. Here he uses the dialogue of two characters to show that witches really do exist and that it is a produce of Satan. Here the issue of where does evil come from comes back into play. James says the God cannot be evil and therefore works with Satan to punish those that are deserving of it. When someone does something wrong like commit a sin God “calls upon” Satan so that he can punish the person. He ends the dialogue by saying that the only way to get away from witches is to live a life dedicated to God.

Macbeth: Cultural Controversies

1. Martin Luther attacks the idea of free will saying that it only leads to sinful acts. Free will leads us to sinful acts because we are allowed to choose what path we want to go down. Luther believes that we will pick the path that causes us to commit a mortal sin because we do not take free will seriously. According to Luther, there a couple of things that happen to free will, 1) we throw it out and give it over to the power of Satan, 2) it withers because we sin more and more. Luther brings up a point, that he shows from Jeremiah, if a “person’s path is not his own”, then man does not have free will. In the end, of the passage Luther comes to the conclusion that since free will only allows for us to sin then free will was given to us Satan.

2. Erasmus believes in the concept of free will because it leads us toward the path of eternal salvation. By having free will we can choose the path of perfection or the path of sinfulness. If we choose the path of sinfulness then it is free will that can lead us back to God. In this passage Erasmus attacks the ideas that Luther feels toward free will. Erasmus says that if you look closely to Luther’s evidence for why free will is evil, you will see that it only gets his evidence from a couple of Old Testament books. Erasmus also says that Luther mixed the words of Scripture because the words only applied to the “men” at the time who had been corrupt. This idea leads Erasmus to talk about the relationship between free will and sinfulness. Erasmus says that free will allows us to turn in either direction and that no one sins unless they willingly submit to the act of sinning. He concludes by saying that without faith we would have no free will. 

3. Luther and Erasmus’ thoughts on free will relate to the tragedy of Macbeth. During Shakespeare’s life (Renaissance) in England, people no longer believed in gods and their role in fate. Instead because of the Protestant Reformation and Christianity, the people believed in a future where you could control your own destiny. This is were Shakespeare got the idea to write about free will and not fate. Luther believes that free will is evil and leads people committing sinful acts. This idea about free will relates to Macbeth because since Macbeth’s use of free will only leads him to sinning. We can see this when he chooses to kill the king of Scotland Duncan. The idea of becoming king (not killing the king) is put into his head by three witches. Luther’s concept on free will fits perfectly because Macbeth is lead toward the path of evil rather then the path of good. Since Macbeth chooses the path to hell Erasmus’ thoughts on free will can also be used on Macbeth. The only way to be under God’s grace is to suffer and lead a sinful life. By living a sinful life everyone is able to learn from their mistakes and realize that God only wants to help us achieve eternal salvation.

Macbeth: Summary of pgs. xi-xiii

These three pages talk about the people responsible for Macbeth’s decline and the difference between heaven and hell. Macbeth’s “demons”, who he says he will never submit to are the the witches. The witches are the example of the devil in reality. They go against anything that is common with Catholic teaching such as security that brings fruit-fullness and necessity. The author gives the names of other authors at that time like John Stockwood and Thomas Rogers that talked about the importance of security; we also find out from the reader that during Shakespeare’s time there was an anti-Catholic movement. Hecubate (the main witch) gives a “sermon” saying that it you don’t have these things you will be more awake. The author then shows how Macbeth is not awake because his security is not peaceful but instead it is dreadful. However Macbeth is awake in a way because he is eaten up by the guilt of his sins. Since Macbeth is asleep he looses many things around that cause him to move between the realms of heaven and hell; heaven is the opposite as hell and is seen as a “divine providence.” Other authors, like Samuel Taylor Coleridge, have added to Macbeth’s image and have shown that people who act like him walk the thin line between hell and heaven if they don’t already.

Proposal: Easter 1916

In the poem “Easter 1916″ Yeats uses repetition and metaphors to conveythe speaker’s attitutde toward the nationlists. The nationlists were a group of Irishmen who tired to free Ireland from British rule. Through the speakers use of repetition we can see how originally the speaker was impartial to the nationalists. As the poem continues we can see that the nationalists were like a stone that disrupts the normal flow of life. His use of repetition emphasizes his changing attitude toward the nationalists.

Easter 1916: A Loss Makes Us More United

The speakers attitude is modified through the poem because he starts out against the people but as he reflects discovers that these people were important. The poem by William Butler Yeats is about a time in Ireland when a group of Irish nationalist decided to try and free their country from the rule of the monarchy. In the beginning of the poem the speaker mocks the Irish nationalists for breaking away from “small talk” and standing up for something important. The speaker sees how the group was like a “stone” that caused a the flow of life in Ireland to go off course. As the poem continues the speaker along with the rest of his country men realize that these men should be treated as heroes because al they wanted was to create a better country for their piers. 

Through the speaker’s uses of  repetition in the beginning and the rest of the poem the reader can see how his attitude changed. The speaker says that if he would pass someone he would “pass with the nod of the head” and speak “polite meaningless words”. If he was to stay awhile with an acquaintance he would still say “polite meaningless words.” The use of this phrase over and over emphasizes how people at that time did not care about major issues and would take a “gibe” at them. The speaker then realizes that these people were like a “stone” that changed things “minute by minute” and caused things to happen “minute by minute”. Through “minute by minute” the “stone’s” are in “the midst of it all.” The speaker believes that to give the people justice because they stood up for their country is to ” murmur name upon name” like “a mother names her child.” By doing this he is giving “MacDonagh and MacBride/ And Connolly and Pearse” fame. 

At the end of every stanza is the phrase “A terrible beauty is born.” This speaker uses this to emphasize the point that even though they were killed the nationalist did something beautiful by unifying the country of Ireland. Thus allowing death to bring about a new life; in this case pride for one’s country.