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Examples Of Humanism In Macbeth

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Renaissance Literature’s Shift from Religion to Humanism Humanism is defined as a philosophical position that emphasizes human reason more than their religious beliefs (Collins English Dictionary). During the Renaissance, various works, unrestricted to literature, strayed from the Church and focused on “self”. Shakespeare is a famous play-writer during this time period, and many of his work incorporates Humanism. Macbeth, one of Shakespeare’s famous pieces, demonstrates the shift of religious values to humanism by Lady Macbeth’s attitude towards King Duncan’s murder, Macbeth’s development throughout the play, and the distinction between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. From the very beginning, Shakespeare has implemented the idea of religion …show more content…

Macbeth is hesitant to do it, but eventually commits the act and becomes King. Lady Macbeth was the master planner of the murder, but she eventually becomes very guilty: “Out, damned spot! Out, I say! One: two: why,/ then ‘tis time to do’t. Hell is murky. Fie, my lord, fie!” (5.1.31-32). Lady Macbeth washes her hands as a symbol of washing her attempt to wash her sins away. But she knows she is determined to go to hell for contributing to the murder of King Duncan and Macduff’s family. Her guilt consumed her, therefore, she commits suicide: “It is the cry of women, my good lord” (5.5.8). Lady Macbeth went against her religious morals and followed her desire for power, and she could not handle the guilt therefore she committed …show more content…

In the beginning, Macbeth was rational and did not desire to kill King Duncan but Lady Macbeth provoked him of his manhood and the prophecy influenced him: “We will proceed no further in this business:/ He hath honored me of late, and I have bought/ Golden opinions from all sorts of people,...” (1.7.31-32). After Macbeth’s succession as King, his power increased along with his humanity and sanity diminishing, thus he carried out malicious deeds. He became obsessed with his power that he couldn’t trust anyone and believed everyone to be after his power, “Fleance his son, that keeps him company,/ Whose absence is no less material to me/ Than is his father’s, must embrace the fate/ Of that dark hour. Resolves yourselves apart:…” (3.1.135-138). Macbeth followed the prophecy and was willing to murder Banquo, his blood brother, with his son. Unlike the beginning of the play, Macbeth was hesitant to commit malevolent acts, but now he is prepared to kill anyone that is a threat to his power. Macbeth can be a symbol of “purity” at the beginning of the play because he didn’t want to hurt anyone, but as the story progressed, Macbeth’s purity diminished along with his humanity because of his

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Firstly, Lady Macbeth presents a moral opposition to her husband during the beginning of the play. When the opportunity to kill King Duncan and put Macbeth on the throne arises, she does not hesitate. In fact, she immediately knows that Macbeth will not be able to succeed without her words,

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Macbeth goes through a series of events related to his flaw that leads to his downfall and death. The very first event that Macbeth experiences which ultimately began showing the negative impacts of his ambition was his encounter with the witches who told him his destiny: “All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor!/ All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!” (MB1.3.49-50). If it was not for Macbeth being made aware of his fate and what was in store for his future, it’s very likely that these thoughts would never have occurred to Macbeth in the first place about killing King Duncan.

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Macbeth: A Murdering Tyrant Macbeth is a tyrant created through the bloodshed of victims who stood in the way of the one thing he needed, power. In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, protagonist Macbeth, the underdog who takes the throne, murders various characters to get to his position. All the killing has come from various forms of trickery that affects his frame of mind and alters how he rationally thinks. Multiple characters have affected his intellect, such as the Witches and Lady Macbeth, but the biggest effects come from himself.

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Lady Macbeth puts on a fierce and intimidating front but proves incapable of the egregious act of murder. Macbeth, however, actually commits murder and determines to do any vile deed to fight for the crown. He holds this disposition even until the point of death, unlike Lady Macbeth who dies repentant. Macbeth’s murderous actions and attitude prior to death ultimately demonstrate that he is the worse villain of the

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However, Shakespeare made Macbeth’s only motivation greed and a lust for power. Therefore, because Macbeth cannot legitimatize his reasons to himself, he finds himself later haunted by his human consciousness. Similarly, Lady Macbeth realizes that her actions will not accord with her moral values and has to “stop up th’ access and passage to remorse” and “unsex” herself because killing her king goes against her nature (I.v. 48-51).

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Macbeth ultimately decides to murder King Duncan, out of his ambition to become king. Macbeth talks to himself, going back and forth, thinking if he should kill King Duncan, and ultimately decides to kill him and solemnly states “I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but

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In the play MacBeth by William Shakespeare, the main character MacBeth commits a slew of monstrous acts to gain and remain in power. His wife succeedes in persuading him to commit some of these acts and helps him cover them up. Although MacBeth becomes King, like they both hoped for, neither of them are happy and they ultimately go insane. Shakespeare uses MacBeth's path rise to power to show that when one commits an immoral act it will haunt them even after they have what they want.

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Despite the confidence and agency Lady Macbeth once showed, her karma caught up to her and put her through a state of madness. This results in her suicide because her karma becomes too much to

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In my essay, I will discuss carrying the spirit of our humanity, and how it relates to the book Macbeth by William Shakespeare and the speech Mandela gave called the fire of our human spirit. What does it mean to carry the flame or fire of our humanity, and how does this affect the world and relate to these topics? Despite the tyranny, oppression, and dread that the people in the various resources we have studied faced, the majority of them are able to leave behind in their works a significant legacy of love, hope, and optimism about the survival of the human spirit. the author's (Nelson Mandela) ultimate outlook for humanity, hopeful or pessimistic in each instance, and how do their outlooks differ and contrast with one another? Guilt is one

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The forceful nature of humans paired with the greed for power can lead to their own and other’s downfall. Though coercive power is stereotypically influenced through authority, Shakespeare disregards authority in consideration of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s relationship. Lady Macbeth preys on her husband’s tenderness and submissive nature to gain an assertive status but, as prophesied, will ultimately ‘plague the inventor’ (Act 1 Scene 7). Macbeth’s humble but fallible identity of a tragic hero is instigated by his own wife in Act 1 Scene 5 as she challenges his manhood as written in her letter.

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Humanism is when a person believes that the worth of people overall is very important (. Though Macbeth has his moments of "being on the fence" with his religious values and his humanistic thoughts, throughout the play shows many strong examples of humanism to the very end of the play. Demonstrating his shifting of religious values to humanism when he believed that he was the one to rule, everybody was to listen and not question his authority, and lastly how everything was to fall in his favor. In the beginning of the play Macbeth starts off by having very religious values, though he does change his way of thinking and starts having humanistic thoughts. His first humanistic thought is that he is supposed to oversee his ruling as King.

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Macbeth wants to kill the king, Duncan, because he believes that it is the only way to fulfill the prophecy given to him by the three witches. After being given the position as the Thane of Cowder he is driven by his ambition to become king and his desire for power and authority. “Against the use of nature? Present fears/Are less than horrible imaginings./My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical. ”(1.3.150-152).

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Throughout “Macbeth” William Shakespeare provides the audience all of the consequences involved with the ambition of Macbeth to become king. He begins by presenting Macbeth as a great warrior who becomes Thane of Cawdor and later does everything to become king. Macbeths ambitions lead him to kill King Duncan. In Act I Scene VII Macbeth mentions “ To prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself and falls on th’other” (Shakespeare W.) this means that the only thing that drives him is his ambition, and he is trying to convince himself to kill the king which he does because he is led by his ambition. Macbeth does not want to kill the king but he knows that the king’s death is the only way for him to get closer to the throne.

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William Shakespeare is known as one of history's most famous English writer of all times. According to Shakespeare, “We know what we are, but know not what we may be” it relates to the Macbeth play by showing the unexpected changes that occurred with the characters. There are two different sides to the story; one being a tragic hero and the other being an unstable person. Macbeth is defined as a tragic hero because he started off the play as an innocent man. Lady Macbeth is an unstable woman, that goes through a lot of turns; in this Shakespearean work.

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677 Words | 3 Pages

She tries her best to cover up the mistake by making excuses for her husband's outburst. Since Lady Macbeth was wanting to swim in power she knew that certain phrases pertaining to his manhood would push him towards the throne. Human instinct in general is to be praised and in order for that appraisal, individuals will strive for society's

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