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English Literature essay

Please can someone mark this essay and give any feedbacks, I'd really appreciate it
explore how far Shakespeare presents Macbeth as a violent
character.
https://filestore.aqa.org.uk/sample-papers-and-mark-schemes/2019/june/AQA-87021-QP-JUN19.PDF

Shakespeare presents Macbeth from the start to the end as a violent, ferocious character who is spurred by ‘Vaulting ambition’. Macbeth’s immense strength associated with masculinity at first is praised for the glory it brought amongst the soldiers in the battle, however this very same violence exhibited by Macbeth is later on condemned by the audience and the surviving characters at the end of the play. Perhaps through this shift in attitude towards Macbeth’s violence, Shakespeare is alluding that idea that one’s strength and physical power isn’t what makes them masculine as was heavily believed by the audience as the time.

At the start Macbeth is portrayed as an aggressive character who ‘carved out his passage’ through the battle with his sword which ‘smoked with bloody execution’. The use of the verb ‘carved’ indicates that Macbeth was skilful with his sword and was an excellent soldier, the way he handled his sword against his enemies was effortless and slaughtering people came with ease to him, it also indicated that he was inhumane with his violence as ‘carving’ is an action you’d do to sculpt an object to your desire rather than slaughtering people, since he didn’t view his opponents as human this meant that his violence had no boundaries and therefore he was able to unleash his ultimate aggressiveness in the battle field with no consequences – only approval and praise. The fact that his sword ‘smoked’ illustrates how aggressive he was to Shakespeare’s audience causing them to view him as a brave, ‘noble’ soldier as in this scene Macbeth embodied the qualities of what was expected of a soldier loyal to his country and King. The violent imagery built by the use of words such as ‘bloody’, ‘smoked’ and ‘execution’ meant that Macbeth was clearly seen as a strong masculine soldier as these words fit into the Jacobean ideals of the nature of a man. In addition to this, Macbeth ‘unseamed’ his opponents from ‘the naves to the chaps’ the use of the verb ‘unseamed’ indicates that Macbeth ruthlessly destroyed his opponents with no mercy, as if he was undoing all of God’s work and undid all the ‘seams’ which kept their bodies as well as their souls intact, this implication almost portrays Macbeth in a negative sinful light which could foreshadow his later straying away from God.

Later on, after Macbeth had been shown the witch’s prophecies his dark thoughts begin to arise, these sinful thoughts combined with his immense violence is ultimately what leads to the destruction of the anointed monarch and thus the great chain of being. Macbeth states, ‘stars hide your fires let not light see my black and deep desires’, the semantic field of religion through the use of the words ‘light’ and ‘stars’ indicates that Macbeth feels incredibly guilty of his thoughts of regicide and therefore wants God to turn away from what he’s thinking of doing as he knows that committing regicide will damn him to hell and anger God, in the Jacobean times to attempt to transcend from a status given by God through violence was seen as a grave sin therefore Macbeth’s soliloquy would have greatly shocked the audience and cause them to hold deep hatred for Macbeth. The contrast between ‘black’ and ‘light’ shows that Macbeth felt an inward conflict between his hamartia ambition and his moral conscience, this conflict suggests that Macbeth mind is slowly being corrupted by his unchecked ambition which fuels his growing violence however it could also indicate that Macbeth is no longer the ferocious warrior he once was as although he’s still exhibits violence psychologically he is unstable and weak which becomes a common theme seen from this point onwards. Through the downfall of Macbeth (who Shakespeare constructs to be a product of the combination of ambition and violence), both physically and psychologically from the point onwards Shakespeare presents to the audience the dangers of breaking the divine right of King, in hopes of preventing another crime of treason similar to the one carried out by Guy Fawkes and pleasing the King by re-enforcing his claim on the throne.

Right up until the moment of King Duncan’s death Macbeth is still internally conflicted between his morality and desires however his violence overcomes his reluctance he faces. Macbeth questions ‘Is this a dagger I see before me?’ upon first glance the audience may believe that this could be a result of supernatural intervention from the Witches and therefore Macbeth isn’t entirely to blame for Duncan’s death as he could’ve been a victim of the Witches power which was seen as a real threat in the Jacobean era, if this was the case this would’ve confirmed King James’s suspicion that witches were conspiring against him. In addition to this the dagger was pointed towards his hands further supporting the idea that this was a plot of the witches. However, this hallucination could be due to the corruption of Macbeth’s mind and imply that his moral conscience is losing the battle against his evil desires, the use of the question marks shows that Macbeth himself also isn’t sure if this an illustration of his imagination or if it’s real, maybe this confusion is a pathetic attempt of an excuse for his actions claiming that he didn’t know what he was doing as he knows deep down what he’s doing is wrong yet still decides to actively make the wrong decision. Through the internal conflict of Macbeth, Shakespeare explores the nature of the human mind, and the impact guilt, violence and corruption can have in people psychologically, as well as their free will and what they decide to do with it, Shakespeare intentionally leaves the scene ambiguous so that his audience themselves can feel the sense of confusion felt by Macbeth in this very moment.

Towards the end of the play, just as Macbeth is about to face his inevitable death, he talks of life being a ‘walking shadow’ that’s full of ‘sound and fury signifying nothing’ in response to his wife suicide. The metaphor of the ‘walking shadow’ suggests that Macbeth’s use of violence and ‘fury’ to transcend his status and secure the crown was all futile and his efforts have all gone to waste as at the end of the day he’s simply a ‘shadow’ which eventually disappears showing that his power was temporary and like a shadow he’s simply following someone else’s plan, he hasn’t got the power to change his fate. The ‘sound’ and ‘fury’ symbolises his chaotic violent life that’s resulted in the suffering of him, his wife and his surroundings.

Reply 1

Michael Chambers

You could have given a better ending. You also could have given a better hook for this essay. Not too bad though for an essay. This is a good informative essay and good storytelling. Good Job! I will give you an example.

William Shakespeare was an English author also writer and actor. he was born in 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon. it had been conjointly believed that he passed away on the 23rd of Apr in 1616. he was the oldest son of John and Mary Shakespeare. He had 2 sisters Anne and Joan; who didn’t live long after infancy. William had also 3 younger brothers, Richard, Gilbert, and Edmund. his father, John Shakespeare, was a businessman and a leatherworker who specialized in the soft white leather used for gloves and similar items. He married Mary Arden. John was an alderman but after working at some local offices in Stratford just until William became years old, however, he stepped back from public life for no mentioned reason.

William Shakespeare almost certainly attended Stratford’s grammar school whose curriculum is revolving around the Latin classics and also writing, memorization, and acting classic Latin plays. Shakespeare attended this school until he became 15 years old. He left the school and a couple of years later, he married Anne Hathaway in 1582 when he was 18 years old then while Anne was 26. Anne grew up just outside Stratford at Shottery’s village and she spent the rest of her life in Stratford after her marriage. In early 1585, Shakespeare was working in London, while Anne and the children were at Stanford. He had only one son called Hamnet but he died in 1596 at the age of 11. Then he has his first grandchild in 1608 from His older daughter Susanna’s marriage to a good doctor from Stanford and in 1616, Shakespeare’s daughter Judith married Thomas Quiney, a Stratford vintner.

William Shakespeare’s works are including 38 plays, 2 narrative poems, 154 sonnets, and a variety of other poems. and we have about half of his plays thanks to a group of actors from Shakespeare’s company who kept it all of these years. after Shakespeare’s death, the plays were collected, and preserved for publication. These writings were brought together in a common name called folio and It contained 36 of his plays, but none of his poetry.

By 1597, Shakespeare had already written and published 15 of his 37 plays and he decided to build his theater, so by 1599, Shakespeare and his business partners built their theater and called it the Globe Theater. In 1605, Shakespeare purchased contracts of real estate near Stratford for 440 pounds, and it earned him 60 pounds a year which means the doubled value. He was only an artist but this made also him an entrepreneur, and that might gave him time to write his plays uninterrupted.

Overall though, GREAT JOB!