The Moment of Recognition in “Macbeth” and “Hedda Gabler”

William Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a tragedy in which the main characters are obsessed by the desire for power. Macbeth’s aspiration for power blinds him to the ethical implications of his dreadful acts. The more that Shakespeare’s Macbeth represses his murderous feelings, the more he is haunted by them. By analyzing his hallucinations it is possible to trace his deteriorating mental state and the trajectory of his ultimate fall. Throughout the play Macbeth is never satisfied with himself. He feels the need to keep committing crime in order to keep what he wants most: his kingship. The harder Macbeth tries to change his fate the more he tends to run into his fate. His ambition and struggle for power was Macbeth’s tragic flaw in the play.

Hecate accurately predicts and sets in motion future events to her liking. After the battle in Act I, the witches chant “All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter!...” (Doc A), using their prophecies to awaken Macbeth’s bloodthirsty and greedy nature. Throughout the play, Hecate uses her witches to cultivate Macbeth’s ambition, inciting him to “Be bloody, bold, and resolute; laugh to scorn The power of man, for none of woman born Shall harm Macbeth” (Doc D). A literary analysis aptly states that “The witches bring dark thoughts into being and give flesh to the forbidden and unacknowledged demons of the unconscious from which no one is free” (Cohen 7). Guiding the plot without consequence, Hecate is granted the ultimate

It has become clear at this point, that Lady Macbeth cannot bear to live with herself, knowing of all the affliction and devastation that she and her husband had caused. She concedes her guilt, and then brings forth comeuppance upon herself via suicide. Although Lady Macbeth is willing to accept the disconsolate reality that enshrouds her life, Macbeth still persists on living a life of

Shakespeare’s play ‘Macbeth’ is about the leading male protagonist succumbing to his ambition and need for power. Though Macbeth is liable for his own actions, he is not solely responsible for the events that eventually result in his downfall. Macbeth is corrupted by his wife, Lady Macbeth, as well as the three weird sisters. Macbeth’s contribution towards his downfall is his strong ambitious nature. Lady Macbeth is the person who induces Macbeth to assassinate King Duncan. The three weird sisters (witches) play with Macbeth’s ambitious nature and sense of security. Macbeth’s downfall is due to himself and two external factors.

The strive of ambition for power can seem to be true perfection, but one should be careful what they wish for, because that power might be exactly what caused their downfall. This is true in William Shakespeare's story of a man named Macbeth. And C.J. Lewis’s novel about a White Witch, Jadis. Merciless, cruel, and power-hungry, both Macbeth and the White Witch portray an image of pure evil.

    William Shakespeare's tragic play Macbeth presents the fizzled drive of an ambitious husband and wife. This essay is the story of their destructive ambition.

In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Lady Macbeth goes through many emotions and feelings. It’s important for people to express their feelings and emotions, but do they know how to control what they are feeling? People often keep their emotions bottled up such as Lady Macbeth does, which can cause negative emotional reactions. William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth shows how Lady Macbeth experiences many emotions and keeps them bottled up, which eventually causes her to lose control of her own emotions and thoughts. People need to learn how to express and control their emotions to avoid negative reactions, such as what Lady Macbeth has come to experience.

Conversely, as the play begins to progress due to Macbeth’s over ambition for power; we start to view how Macbeth chooses to segregate/isolate himself from his wife; in order to justify on his own behaviour in relation to the witches’ prophecy. This specific moment in time is where Macbeth’s behaviour starts to perilously change; this is established through the manner in which he seeks council from the witches rather than his subjects. Therefore his behaviour and actions have substantially been altered as he now does not approach circumstances in the just way, but rather clandestinely; "She would have died hereafter; There would have been a time for such a word..." (V.v) His isolation from his wife results in Macbeth’s private ambitions to be made clear through his soliloquies.

Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler portrays the societal roles of gender and sex through Hedda as a character trying to break the status quo of gender relations within the Victorian era. The social conditions and principles that Ibsen presents in Hedda Gabler are of crucial importance as they “constitute the molding and tempering forces which dictate the behavior of all the play's characters” with each character part of a “tightly woven social fabric” (Kildahl). Hedda is an example of perverted femininity in a depraved society intent on sacrificing to its own self-interest and the freedom and individual expression of its members. It portrays Nineteenth Century unequal relationship problems between the sexes, with men being the independent factor and

Left alone, Lady Macbeth reflects upon what has become of their lives since they murdered Duncan. In Act III Scene II, she says: ‘Noughts had, all’s spent/ Where our desire is got without content’. The Macbeths have gained nothing and lost everything, she feels, in killing Duncan. Having achieved their ambition by way of murder they must now live in doubt and fear. Lady Macbeth says that they would feel safer if they were dead like Duncan. The Macbeth’s lives do not revolve around each other anymore; they are constantly being pursued by feelings of guilt, fear and worry.

In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the title character Macbeth and his wife are both exceptionally ambitious, often taking rather radical measures to accomplish their goals. While this ruthless drive to power is seemingly prosperous at first, it quickly crumbles to naught as guilt infects their minds with grim consequences to follow. Macbeth transforms from a noble general to a guilt-ridden and despaired murderer, while Lady Macbeth’s usually stoic and masculine persona deteriorates into a pitiful and anxious shell of her former self. The feeling of remorse quickly plagues the two characters and overpowers ambition through manifesting itself through nightmares, ghosts, and paranoia, and ultimately leads to their demise.

‘Macbeth’ is a play in which a Lord and his Lady come into supreme power through acts of injustice and despicable inhumanities. In the play Macbeth there is no main focal theme that overrules the others; the play however has several underlying themes, namely there are important themes i.e. good and evil (like ying and yang), greed and power, guilt and conscience, fear, ambition – this leads to the murder of other people illustrating to the reader that even the most sane of people can result to character diminishing methods to get what they want. These particular themes are the most prominent and when closely looked at, it can help to understand characters and meanings behind the play. The theme of ambition is very important in this play,

The witches cannot be blamed, nor Lady Macbeth, for Macbeth himself acting on his ambition and making his desires become reality. When the witches tell Macbeth of his future, his first thought is how murdering Duncan would be "fantastical". This shows that Macbeth is prepared to kill simply to climb the hierarchy. Although the witches give predictions and Lady Macbeth persuades him, neither have actual control over Macbeth. He recognises that he is "so far" in blood but instead of changing his ways, he decides that it would be "tedious" and pointless. He realises after killing many people, he can never go back to the man he was before. His ambition continues to drive him forward and he embraces evil. Macbeth chooses not to tell his wife about his plans and slowly begins to cut off connection to her. Even when she dies, he shows little remorse by saying "she should have died hereafter". This demonstrates that he has little human emotion left. By the end of the play, Macbeth has fallen from a hero to a

As Lady Macbeth receives the message from her husband claiming that he has earned the title of Thane of Cawdor she is very proud and grateful to have such a successful husband. “Glamis thou art… yet I do fear thy nature; it is too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness… thou wouldest be great, art not without ambition, but without the illness should attend it. What thou wouldest highly…” Although she is proud of him there is an undertone of doubt and belief that he could do more. She loves him undoubtedly and wants the best for him. When she asks of him to fulfill the strangest of deeds he contemplates “if we should fail?” They are a team, everything they plot they do together. They are honest and wholesome with each other. As they successfully gain the title of king and queen of Scotland, their relationship starts to hinder. They fight more frequently, almost growing out of the honeymoon state of marriage and into a business like attire. As the power and murders incline, all honesty is shot. Macbeth no longer tells Lady Macbeth of the innocent blood on his hands. This environment holds no hope for a relationship to last. The guilt and dishonesty between them separates them from even having a casual chat. They have become so consumed with what they have done that they have no room to remember each other. As Lady Macbeth kills herself, Macbeth just simply says, “She should have died hereafter. There would have been a time for such a word.” He looks at her dislodged

In life, there are two types of people: those who do the right thing and those who don’t. In the play Macbeth, by Shakespeare, the main character Macbeth is given a prophecy by three witches that says he will become king; however, there is no descending line of kings of his own blood. With the knowledge of the Witches’ prophecy, Macbeth’s ambition, and manipulation from his wife, Lady Macbeth, Macbeth is quickly dragged into a never-ending, bloody murder rampage to obtain the crown and get rid of those who stand in the way of obtaining it as well. Macbeth constantly battles with his moral dilemmas; however, he easily falls victim to influences that go against his morals. Influences on major characters emphasize how easily one’s decision making can be negatively affected, resulting in one going against his or her morals/integrity.