The Ambitious Male in Macbeth :: Macbeth essays

The Ambitious Male in Macbeth The tragedy Macbeth by William Shakespeare brings to center stage an interesting, guilty, ambitious usurper named Macbeth, on whose function this sample will focus. Charles Lamb in On the Tragedies of Shakespeare explains the impact of Macbeths sign mop up The state of sublime emotion into which we are elevated by those images of wickedness and horror which Macbeth is made to utter, that solemn prelude with which he entertains the term bank the bell shall strike which is to call him to murder Duncan, - when we no yearner stain it in a book, when we become given up that vantage-ground of generality which edition beares over seing, and come to see a man in his embodied shape before our eyes actually preparing to commit a muder, if the playacting be true and impressive as I keep back witnessed it in Mr. Ks performance of that part, the painful anxiety about the act, the natural desire to prohibit it while it yet attends unperpetrated, the too close pressing legerdemain of reality,give a pain and an uneasiness . . .. (134) In Everybodys Shakespeare Reflections Chiefly on the Tragedies, Maynard mackintosh shows how Macbeth complements his wife Her fall is instantaneous, even eager, like Eves in Paradise wooly his is gradatory and reluctant, like Adams. She needs only her husbands letter about the weyard sisters presage to precipitate her resolve to kill Duncan. Within an instant she is inviting murderous spirits to get her, fill her with cruelty, thicken her blood, convert her mothers milk to gall, and darken the gentlemans gentleman That my bewail knife see not the wound it makes (1.5.50). Macbeth, in contrast, vacillates. The images of the statute title that possess him simultaneously repel him (1.3.130, 1.7.1) When she proposes Duncans murder, he temporizes We will speak shape up (1.5.69). (189) Lily B. Campbell in her volume of criticism, Shakespeares Tragic Heroes Slaves of Passion, explores the workings of Macbeths mind as he plots the wipeout of Banquo and son If the witches have spoken as truly to Banquo as to him, Macbeth sees that he wears a fruitless crown and carries a barren threshold in his hand he has indeed given peace and immortality to make the run of Banquo kings. And he proceeds to his interview with the murderers, plotting what he dare not do openly, for the fear that comes when we are rivals for a thing and cannot both have it makes it seem to Macbeth The Ambitious Male in Macbeth Macbeth essaysThe Ambitious Male in Macbeth The tragedy Macbeth by William Shakespeare brings to center stage an interesting, guilty, ambitious usurper named Macbeth, on whose character this essay will focus. Charles Lamb in On the Tragedies of Shakespeare explains the impact of Macbeths initial murder The state of sublime emotion into which we are elevated by those images of night and horror which Macbeth is made to utter, that solemn prelude with which he entertains the time till the bell shall strike which is to call him to murder Duncan, - when we no longer read it in a book, when we have given up that vantage-ground of abstraction which reading possesses over seing, and come to see a man in his bodily shape before our eyes actually preparing to commit a muder, if the acting be true and impressive as I have witnessed it in Mr. Ks performance of that part, the painful anxiety about the act, the natural longing to prevent it while it yet seems unperpetrated, the too close pressing semblance of reality,give a pain and an uneasiness . . .. (134) In Everybodys Shakespeare Reflections Chiefly on the Tragedies, Maynard Mack shows how Macbeth complements his wife Her fall is instantaneous, even eager, like Eves in Paradise Lost his is gradual and reluctant, like Adams. She needs only her husbands letter about the weyard sisters prophecy to precipitate her resolve to kill Duncan. Within an instant she is inviting murderous spirits to unsex her, fil l her with cruelty, thicken her blood, convert her mothers milk to gall, and darken the world That my keen knife see not the wound it makes (1.5.50). Macbeth, in contrast, vacillates. The images of the deed that possess him simultaneously repel him (1.3.130, 1.7.1) When she proposes Duncans murder, he temporizes We will speak further (1.5.69). (189) Lily B. Campbell in her volume of criticism, Shakespeares Tragic Heroes Slaves of Passion, explores the workings of Macbeths mind as he plots the destruction of Banquo and son If the witches have spoken as truly to Banquo as to him, Macbeth sees that he wears a fruitless crown and carries a barren sceptre in his hand he has indeed given peace and immortality to make the race of Banquo kings. And he proceeds to his interview with the murderers, plotting what he dare not do openly, for the fear that comes when we are rivals for a thing and cannot both have it makes it seem to Macbeth