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Macbeth's Downfall

Good Essays

Macbeth lived in a world where salvation was the highest goal of all people. This hope of going to heaven motivated people to be good and virtuous in order to avoid punishment in the afterlife. This is clearly evident in every part of Macbeth, in characters, plot, theme, and dialogue. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are the only ones who act immorally in order to fulfil their selfish desires. They know they are wrong. They know that the path they stride upon will lead to their own destruction. They agonise over the violation of moral laws. They know they will go to hell. But they foolishly forged ahead to their own downfall. T Even the lowly porter fears divine retribution and is bound by the moral code– unlike those in our criminal society. 1 Even …show more content…

3 Even though Kobi Alexander, former CEO of Comverse Technology, was caught embezzling millions of dollars, he now lives like a king in Namibia, unable to be extradited. 4 Even though digital piracy costs the music industry upwards of $12.5 billion in losses annually, 70% of North Americans do not think there is anything wrong with it. 5 Even though 15% of sexual assault victims are children, only 2% of rapists ever serve a single day in prison. T But how did the bacchanalian mess we call a culture evolve from the holy and pious world of Macbeth? In medieval society, the word of the Church was law. When a scientist named Galileo Galilei challenged the widely accepted theory of geocentrism, he was met with accusations that he was in violation of verses from Psalms, Ecclesiastes, and other biblical texts. The people of Galileo’s time did not care about where the heavens were; they only cared about making it into heaven. Galileo was an absolutely brilliant scientist who was especially known for his telescope that he used to discover Io, Callisto, Europa, and Ganymede– the Galilean moons of …show more content…

Firstly, before he even he commits the, “sacrilegious murder,” he feels guilt over his future actions and worries over being caught. Lady Macbeth has to convince him to actually, “screw his courage to the sticking place,” and commit the deed. Macbeth’s indecisiveness is an indicator of his own battle between ambition and what he knows to be moral; he constantly agonises over the killing of Duncan. He begs the stars to hide their light and not see his, “black and deep desires,” almost like he is asking God not to look at what he is doing because he fears divine retribution for his despicable deed. Secondly, Macbeth is well aware of the consequences, in this world and the next, of his actions. He knows that he will face harsh punishment in the, “everlasting bonfire,” after he dies, but he continues to break the moral code. Several times within the play, Shakespeare alludes to the ancient Greek notion of the afterlife as the far bank of a river and this life as the shore we are currently on. Hecate, the Greek goddess of magic, makes reference to Macbeth being at the, “pit of Acheron,” the river that Charon ferried dead souls across in order to reach their ultimate fate in Hades’ kingdom. Macbeth acknowledges that if he could, “jump the life to come,” he would not care about acting immorally in this world. Even the porter makes reference to this fear of the afterlife that looms over their

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