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Contradiction And Ambition In Othello And Macbeth By William Shakespeare

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Othello and Macbeth were both written during the Jacobean era by William Shakespeare. Macbeth is a play of contradiction and ambition. Driven to becoming King, Macbeth will kill all and any that get in his way. He puts his faith in the words and prophesies of three witches that he will become Thane of Cawdor. Back in the Jacobean era people thought that witches existed and although women were supposed to be lower ranked than men and loving mothers, many people believed that they had made a pact with the devil to gain powers. Othello, on the other hand, is set in 16th-century during the war between Venice and Turkey. Othello promotes the Cassio to the position of personal lieutenant and Iago is deadly jealous. Iago begins an evil and malicious …show more content…

He is irittated about not being promoted to Lieutenant so he plans to disrupt the social order by dissembling and causing upheaval as he breaks up relationships between the other characters. He says 'in following him I follow but myself' which also shows he wants to create confusion and uncertainty. This describes how Iago is not a true soldier because he does not meet the criteria of an honest soldier and goes against his leader. He is not loyal because he obeys only himself and that makes him self-serving and self-centered. He is narrow-minded as his mind is already made up so he is being stubborn and headstrong. He is very cunning and unfaithful because he will not accept the social order as it is and wants to make it corrupt. Alternatively, in the same scene we see how Iago subverts hierarchy and undermines Brabantio's power. Firstly we see the stage directions 'Enter Brabantio above' and later on we see 'Enter Brabantio with servants and torches at street level'. Two different levels are used to show the ranking of importance. Firstly we see that Brababtio is on the higher level and Iago and Roderigo are on the lower level.This describes to us how Brabantio is more important and higher ranked than Iago and Roderigo. But Iago's eloquence soon wins over Brabantio and he comes down. This shows how Iago has subverted Brabantio's status and weakened him. After Brabantio comes down we see he is no longer as significant as …show more content…

She says, "Thus thou must do/...thou dost fear to do". Both the phrases describe the same thing which is killing Duncan. The perspective is Lady Macbeth's. The perspective is the murder of Duncan must be done. The second perspective is Macbeth's which is that he fears to kill Duncan. Both intentions contrast; Lady Macbeth's ambition is contrasted with Macbeth's nature. The phrases are positioned on two different lines and this reveals to us that the perspectives are separated, which make the too different to be together. It emphasises the conflict and distance between Lady Macbeth's and Macbeth's natures at this part of the play. Additionally, the phrases are also positioned on top of each other on the page. Even though the two views are apart from each other on two consecutive lines, they are close to each other. This reminds us that the characters are married and the potential for both these perspectives become one. Overall, the semicolon that stands between them is a strong barrier that tells us of the distance between them. There is a chance Lady Macbeth will persuade Macbeth to kill Duncan. Ultimately, Lady Macbeth must break down the division between their perspectives and change Macbeth's nature by convincing him. She must bring Macbeth's nature in line with hers. Furthermore, Lady Macbth then gets on to subvert her own nature and we see this hen she says, "Unsex me here". This

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