...Delivering Deception (A Discussion of the Deception Existing in Macbeth Act 1 & Act 2) Shakespeare wrote many plays in his lifetime and his style varied in many of them. There are at least thirty seven plays that have proved to be written by Shakespeare. In Macbeth, there are many different interesting aspects that secretly hid between the lines. To be able to detect these lines, one has to analyze what Shakespeare was wanting to occur on stage and read the tension between characters as well as assume other moods and thoughts. The play of Macbeth has many occurrences of deception within the flowing lines of many characters. To begin, Shakespeare’s Macbeth demonstrates its first taste of deception when the King speaks of Macbeth after naming him Thane of Cowdor. The King was very proud of Macbeth for the victory he had in the battle for his country and he was excited to name him the new Thane of Cowdor. However, he was unware of the information that Macbeth just received notifying him that he will end up killing Duncan to take over the thrown. Of course...
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...One of the main ideas in the Shakespearian play Macbeth is deception, which is not only practiced by the villains but by other characters as well who have to rely on this at the time of disorder and distrust. However, Malcolm’s deception in testing Macduff’s loyalty and in deceiving Macbeth about the number of his troops is far less crucial as the central motif of the play, for it is the deception conducted by both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth that grapples the interest of the audience with its resounding morals about human nature. It is one thing to be deceived by another person and quite another to “fool yourself” by engaging in self-deception. Of all forms of deception, I think it can be argued that self-deception is perhaps the worst. In the words of Bemos Thenes, “Nothing is easier than self-deceit for what man wishes he also believes to be true.” Self-deception is a human weakness. It means that even though something maybe wrong and untrue if an individual believes it enough it will come to pass. No matter what someone may say, it is hard to change ones opinion because that is what the person truly believes. This is portrayed in William Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth, through the actions of various characters. Shakespeare clearly shows the idea of self-deception through their actions and how this self-deception leads to moral disorder. Deception is introduced to the play right from the beginning when the three witches meet to talk, the mood being nothing is quite as it seems...
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...Blind Leading the Blind In MacBeth, Shakespeare writes about a greedy, power-hungry man who murders the king to fulfill his selfish desires. MacBeth was one of King’s Duncan’s noblemen and honorable general. However, after he is claimed as the Thane of Cawdor and Glamis, he believes a prophecy by three witches that he will become King and, along with his wife, decides to murder King Duncan in an attempt to gain more power. Although MacBeth grew uncertain about going through with the assassination, his wife, Lady MacBeth, manipulates and deceives him to follow through. As a king, he becomes a tyrant and starts to kill anyone who he felt threatened his position on the throne, including one of his good friends, Banquo and the family of MacDuff. Throughout his reign, the MacBeth’s guilty consciences take a toll on them and eventually lead to both of their downfall. Furthermore, MacBeth’s reign does not last long when MacDuff gets revenge against the tormentor by killing him in the end. As a result, King Duncan’s son, Malcolm, becomes king. Through the use of symbolism and characterization, William Shakespeare, in MacBeth, depicts how one’s desire to gain power causes others to change gender roles to create deception within an environment. In MacBeth, MacBeth’s horrific murders proved how strongly he desired to gain power. Desire means to have a strong feeling of wanting to have something or wishing for something to happen. When a person desires something, he or she becomes...
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...In Shakespeare's classic Macbeth, from the first line of act one, the reader is assaulted with conflicts. Though these conflicts seem so different, they all stem from the same issue; ambition. Ambition can be a good, however, all the drive and desire that comes with ambition can consume the very person attempting to harness it. Take Macbeth for example; the man was very loyal to all of his companions.The very thought of betraying any of those closest to him had not entered into his mind until the third weird came to him with the prophecy of his future. “All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter!”. At this exact moment, the reader notices a change in Macbeth, just as the future king feels rise up within himself. Macbeth has known about...
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...In the play, The Tragedy of Macbeth, William Shakespeare develops the theme of hunger for power through the use of irony, foreshadowing, and symbolism. Shakespeare ultimately proves that hunger for power can mislead a person from situations and turn good intentions, to bad intentions all because of there blind lust. Power, as grand as it may be, can always be misleading. William Shakespeare, often called the English national poet, is widely considered the greatest dramatist of all time. Known throughout the world, the works of William Shakespeare have been performed, taught, and studied for more than 400 years. William Shakespeare was born in 1564 to a successful middle-class glove maker in Stratford Upon-Avon, and created the play “Macbeth” in 1606. In 1582 William at the age of 18, married an older woman named Anne Hathaway. They had three children, Susanna, Hamnet and Juliet. Their only son Hamnet died aged just 11. By the early Seventeenth Century, Shakespeare had begun to write plays in the genre of tragedy. These plays, such as Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth and King Lear, often hinge on some fatal flaw in the lead character, and provide intriguing insights into the darker aspects of human nature. You can now see where this comes into play in other situations Macbeth is a play of contradiction and ambition. Macbeth, a well-known war general driven to become King, killed not only King Duncan to receive his kingship, but also all the heirs to the thrown which happened...
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...Celton Brito-Lobato Analyse and compare how Lady Macbeth and Curley's wife are presented Shakespeare’s ' Macbeth' and Steinbeck’s ‘Of Mice and Men’ In the Shakespearean play of ‘Macbeth’ we are introduced to the character of Lady Macbeth. Similarly in John Steinbeck's novella Of Mice of Men we also presented with an equally diverse character of Curley's wife. ‘Macbeth’ was written during the early 17th century, and was a play 'fit for a king'. It outlines a couple's ambition to become rulers of Scotland and sees them fulfil this ambition and in doing so, killing the king in the process. Despite being written during patriarchal Jacobean society, Lady Macbeth is a female protagonist. Throughout the play, through Lady Macbeth's actions we are forced to believe that she is evil. In contrast, in the novel John Steinbeck tells a story of dreams, hopes and loneliness. We are introduced to a majorly significant and complex character, named Curley’s wife. Steinbeck shows us that Curley’s wife is flirtatious, mischievous (despite the patriarchal society of the 1930’s) but most of all she is an isolated character. Her hasty marriage to Curley proves to be failed attempt to escape her own spiral of disappointment of not fulfilling her ambition of becoming an actress. This ironically is a main theme in both texts. This essay will analyse and compare the presentation of Lady Macbeth and Curley's wife through structure, themes, what is said about them, their actions and what they themselves...
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...Macbeth’s character is a prime example of what happens when ambition leads to a choice that is morally wrong, followed by betrayal of other people in order to advance their own greed or power. Throughout the play of Macbeth three themes are present. Ambition, betrayal, and retribution are evident in the play in numerous different scenarios. Ambition is the source of most, if not all of the problems in this play. It all started with the witches prophecies “All hail Macbeth! Hail to thee Thane of Glamis/All hail Macbeth! Hail to thee thane of Cawdor/” (at this point Macbeth does not know he is the Thane of Cawdor, so when it happens he believes firmly in the witches prophecies). “All hail Macbeth! Shalt be king hereafter (Act 1:3:49-53)”. Macbeth is fascinated to a point where becoming king becomes an obsession for him. Furthermore, this ambition leads him to not only think about being king, but how to eliminate Duncan in order for him to become king. “If it were done, when ‘tis...
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...problems, and as the story develops the character’s life begins to crumble and eventually leads to their death after everything has been lost. Othello is a prime example of this Shakespearian story line, where we see everything Othello has at the start of the story fall to pieces and end in tragedy with the character’s suicide. Jealousy and deception are central themes in many of Shakespeare’s plays, and are often what leads to the hero’s downfall. There are a number of key scenes in Othello that represent these themes of jealousy, deception and tragedy throughout the play. In Act 2 Scene 3 Iago uses different techniques in order to deceive Othello and change his opinions of Cassio. Iago says: ‘I would rather have this tongue cut from my mouth, then it should do offense to Michael Cassio.’ Iago is setting up his later deception, as he is tricking Othello into thinking that he likes Cassio and would never speak ill of him, which enables him to seem more believable when he later deceives Othello about Desdemona’s affair. This deception is confirmed when Othello says ‘I know Iago, thy honesty, and love doth mince this matter, making it light to Cassio.’ Othello is suggesting that Iago may not tell the whole truth as he wants to protect Cassio. This is ironic as Iago is actually wanting to do the opposite, and his deception has worked better than he expected. This highlights a weakness in Othello which is that he feels like an outcast because of his race, and he is easily deceived...
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...The play Macbeth and the film The Social Network (TSN) share many similarities, despite the fact that they are from two completely contrasting settings. One is a famous tragic play written by William Shakespeare, and another is the modern film about the creation of the popular social network in the 21st century, Facebook. Trust is a good trait to have in some situations, but it can also cause bad things to happen. Many characters in the movie and the play are affected by the trust that they have in others. Although Macbeth and The Social Network have different outcomes, but the idea of being trusting is demonstrated as a negative trait through both productions. People should be more cautious of whom to trust. In both the film and the play,...
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...witches from Shakespeare’s Macbeth, symbolizes a common theme found in English literature: the effect of the supernatural. The supernatural is constantly exploited by authors to develop their plot. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the supernatural is something “belonging to a realm or system that transcends nature, as that of divine, magical, or ghostly being.” As well as William Shakespeare, Charlotte Bronte and Jean Rhys utilize the supernatural in their books Jane Eyre and Wide Sargasso Sea, respectively, to affect the amount of power each character has the ability to attain. No matter the gain or loss of power, the supernatural...
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...Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” Theatre Review. There are many who do not know the famous tale of ‘Macbeth’ by the literacy mastermind, William Shakespeare. For those few who are not familiar with the story, it is one of pride, fate, deception and treachery. Macbeth, who returns from battle is confronted by three witches who have foreseen that he will become King of Scotland. The present king of Scotland, Duncan decides he will confer the title of the traitorous Cawdor on the heroic Macbeth. Macbeth makes the decision to murder Duncan, unaware of Duncan’s plan, and thus claims the throne for himself, placing the blame on the King’s guards. What follows can only be described as madness, as Macbeth and his wife become consumed with guilt, leading Macbeth on a road to insanity, which ends in a violent spectacle… I became excited to see this adaptation of Macbeth, as I had seen from its advertising was a darker and more modern take on the original play, after seeing a flyer featuring on it three hooded figures in a graffiti filled subway. Upon further inspection of the flyer I read that this production was described as a “darker, modern take on the Shakespearian story with darkly comic elements.” Well, as soon as I arrived in the lyric theatre and took my seat, I could definitely see I was in for a ‘darker’ version of the story by just looking at the greyish monotone set, resembling the inside of a castle on its ground floor, then just above it was an angled stage, giving the impression...
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...William Shakespeare’s ‘The Taming of the shrew’ consists of disorder which is further enhanced by the comic devices. Confusion is prominent throughout Shakespeare’s plays, for example ‘The comedy of errors’ and ‘Macbeth’. The disarrangement would be expected by an Elizabethan audience; however the structure of the play subverts traditional, more conventional plays and suggests disorder in itself. There are various comic techniques that Shakespeare utilises, the most significant being deception, most of the characters are able to transgress past social boundaries in order to get their way, which ultimately causes disorder. He is able to use both subtle and obvious techniques to cater for all of his audience. Shakespeare immediately presents his audience with this idea of disorder through the induction; the chaos at the start is further emphasized by comic techniques. Although the induction would be highly amusing for an audience, it does highlight that a person’s behaviour can quickly change depending on how they are treated. Shakespeare uses dramatic irony not only to evolve comedy but to engage the audience, when Sly says ‘well, bring our lady hither to our sight, and once again a pot o’th’smallest ale’. As well as being bawdy the quotation epitomizes the idea of gender roles, however Shakespeare establishes dramatic irony as ‘our lady’ is one of the page boys. The aspect of disorder is developed by the disguise, and tricking Sly. Shakespeare through the induction might be challenging...
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...Shakespeare’s Characters: Self-Gratification Over Human Kindness William Shakespeare wrote in his tragedy, Julius Caesar, “The evil, that men do lives after them; The good is oft interred with their bones.” It is shown that Shakespeare’s lead characters are concerned with their need for self-satisfaction, gratitude, and dignity. They lack the solicitude for human kindness and the thought of others. The more the audience analyzes the characters, the more they see the true ambition and reasoning for their evil deeds. During Shakespeare’s time, it wasn’t unusual for men to seek such power. For instance, Taming of the Shrew is a play that focuses on the desire for marriage; but the emotions of young couples were not the main consideration in courtship (McDonald 267). Katherina actions portray her as the shrew, but the audience knows her ultimate desire was to receive genuine love from a man. Richard III makes it abundantly clear that he desires to take over the English thrown and do whatever it takes to grasp it. Additionally, Hamlet seeks revenge and is motivated to do so by his supernatural spirit of his father (Sobran 45). The need for wealth, power, ambition, and greed lead many of Shakespeare’s characters to satisfy their own self gratitude over the basic ideas of human kindness. London, during the sixteenth century, was a time of extreme corruption. Gender roles were unequal, marriage was spurious, and seeking wealth or power of some sort became every man’s objective. The...
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...productions of his dramas over the centuries, we often forget what a rollicking, bawdy and entertaining spectacle his plays presented to their original audience — and still can to a modern audience, in the right hands. The timelessness of Shakespeare's themes continue to keep his plays fresh. He dramatized basic issues: love, marriage, familial relationships, gender roles, race, age, class, humor, illness, deception, betrayal, evil, revenge, murder, and death. The essential question that Shakespeare explored in his plays is, "what does it mean to be a human being?" The genius of Shakespeare is that he manged to show us ourselves in every conceivable light. It really doesn't matter when the plays were written since they are about the human condition which is timeless. Shakespeare was an incredible observer of his fellow human beings. We, as human beings, may dress differently or have more technology than people in Shakespeare's day but we are still motivated by the same desires and have the same feelings. The themes of his plays are as universal as his characters. For example, in his history plays, he explores the...
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... | |List of Abbreviations/Acronyms ……………………………………………………. | |Introduction……………………………………………………………………….. | |2. Appearance of Behavioral Finance…………………………………………………… | |2.1. Important Contributors…………………………………………………. ………. | |3. Behavioral Biases…………………………………………………………………… | |3.1. Self Deception………………………………………………………………….. | |3.1.1. Over-Optimism………………………………………………………… | |3.1.2....
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