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Shakespeare's Use Of Moral Conflict In Macbeth

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HOW IS MORAL CONFLICT PRESENTED IN WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE’S MACBETH

Moral conflict is conflict in which a person feels two or more moral obligations. William Shakespeare's play Macbeth explores the consequences of moral conflict and the destructive nature of power. The play follows the story of Macbeth, a powerful character in 11th century Scotland, who is prophesied to become king by the three witches. As we go through the play we see a morally conflicted Macbeth struggling with his ambition and greed for power, leading to him betraying and murdering people who he once trusted and cared for. Moral conflict also follows Macbeth’s wife Lady Macbeth as she struggles with the guilt of killing Duncan after being so determined and driven to her new …show more content…

However we can still see that Macbeth's hasn't gone fully insane as he is still able to determine what is reality and what isn't as he is still aware that the dagger isn't real. We can say that Macbeth might be feeling guilt linked to religion as he says “ a false creation.” This can link to God and the divine right of kings(Divine right of kings) as in the Jaquobean era, divine right of kings is a strong belief among many people that God appoints a king as a representative of himself on earth in the form of a king. If Macbeth is to follow this belief it would mean he would be killing a part of God himself, which would lead to eternal damnation. This leads to him saying that he has created a ‘false creation.’ which signifies the wrongdoings Macbeth has created in his mind. This links to religion as God is the one who created all so Macbeth creating this ‘false creation,’ shows him not following in God's image. Furthermore we can also link Macbeth’s insanity to the phrase “Thou canst not say I did it; never shake thy gory locks at me!.” Macbeth says this in Act 3 Scene 4 when Macbeth invisions Banquo’s ghost sitting down on Macbeth's throne. This is relevant to Macbeth’s insanity as at this point in the play as Macbeth has killed Duncan and Banquo in order to gain and secure power which will add moral conflict into Macbeth's mind as he has murdered a close friend and distant cousin. The fact that Banquo sat in Macbeth's throne could signify that even though he has been murdered Banquo’s prophecy will still come true( his prophecy is that his descendants will become King.) This will also introduce more moral conflict into Macbeth and only make him go more insane as despite what he tries

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