Macbeth Essays (1214 words) - Characters In Macbeth,

Macbeth THE NATURE OF EVIL How does the play portray evil as a perversion of human nature? Show how Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have to go against their own natures in order to kill Duncan. Trace the effect the betrayal of human nature has on each of them. How does the imagery of disease function in Macbeth? Trace the way in which evil works on Macbeth and on Scotland like a sickness. Find imagery to support the idea that Malcolm and Macduff heal the country by overthrowing Macbeth. What makes Macbeth susceptible to evil? Explore the nature of Macbeth's ambition, and show how it overrides his sense of right and wrong. Evil within vs. evil without. Is evil an outside force, or does it come from within a person? Find instances in the play to support either theory, or both. How is Macbeth destroyed by evil? Trace the path of Macbeth's downfall and show how it happens as a consequence of his murdering Duncan. As Macbeth becomes more evil, how do his feelings change? Start by exploring how his feelings at the beginning of the play are much like anybody else's. Trace the way in which his feelings about people and his responses to events become twisted and abnormal. Trace how Lady Macbeth is destroyed by evil. Show how she renounces all human feeling in Act I and seems to be successful. After the murder, follow her downward course into madness and death. How does evil work by deception? Contrast what Macbeth and Lady Macbeth believe they are gaining through murder with what they actually get. Do they deceive themselves, or are they deceived by others? How can evil be avoided? Macbeth gives in to temptation. Take several characters who maintain their integrity and investigate what the play says about how they do it. How does Shakespeare establish the atmosphere of evil which pervades Macbeth? Start with the witches, and show how their presence reflects on all the events of the play. Give examples of how the imagery in the language creates a feeling of evil. Also examine the setting. THE SUPERNATURAL How does Macbeth's changing attitude toward the supernatural reflect the change in his character? Contrast Macbeth's reaction to the witches when he first sees them with his attitude toward them in Act IV. Supernatural events occur throughout the play. Discuss their dramatic function. Each time Macbeth encounters something supernatural- the witches, the floating dagger, a ghost- he moves more deeply into evil. List the supernatural events and comment on how each marks a step in Macbeth's downfall. Do the supernatural events really occur, or are they projections of Macbeth's inner state? Some readers believe that the floating dagger, Banquo's ghost, and even the witches are products of Macbeth's imagination. Explore that possibility. Point out in what way, if any, the meaning of the play is changed by accepting or rejecting the reality of the supernatural. How do the witches' predictions influence Macbeth's actions? Analyze what they tell Macbeth at the beginning of the play. How do they win his confidence? Why do those particular prophesies have such an effect on him? Do the same for the second set of predictions. Nature itself reacts to some of the events in a super-natural manner. Explore how the theme of good vs. evil is supported by such occurrences. Good in the play is not relative; it is absolute. Give examples in which nature itself seems to be condemning an evil action. THE CHARACTERS Describe the way Macbeth and Lady Macbeth influence each other in the play. What effect does Lady Macbeth's determination to kill Duncan have on her husband? After the murder, how does Macbeth change, and how does that affect Lady Macbeth? Contrast Macbeth's imaginative nature with Lady Macbeth's pragmatic nature. Compare their attitudes toward Duncan's murder, both before and after the deed. Throughout the play, give instances of his poetic description of feelings and situations and her prosaic, practical way of thinking and expressing herself. Compare Malcolm, the rightful king, with Macbeth. What motivates each of them? Does Malcolm care about his people? Does Macbeth? Compare the way Macbeth manipulates the two murderers for his own purposes and the way Malcolm temporarily deceives