For Measure: Criticism, Utilitarianism And Injustice

The human condition has been explored throughout time and its study has primarily allowed us to learn from our past and develop as people. The Elizabethan era is very different from the world today as our values and beliefs have changed to suit our level of knowledge and intelligence. These differences become clear when exploring an audience 's response to William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, from the Elizabethan era and today. The text was written in 1606 and was set in Scotland. The tragedy construes what egotistical ambition can do to the mind. Key themes of loyalty and betrayal, the increase in intelligence of humans, the way laws govern society and the balance in power between genders affect an audience 's response to Macbeth. Specifically

The lust for power often renders humans blind, and the fear of losing that power causes them to become corrupt. The tragedy Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare follows this line of reasoning. The play is about a Scottish lord, Macbeth, who rises to power by devilish means. The murder of his best friend, Banquo, is not only the mathematical middle of this play but it is also the turning point as Macbeth’s morals, reputation, and relationship with his wife deteriorates.

Thesis: Throughout the play Macbeth, the reader is given the advantage of knowing more things than the characters in the play through the literary device, dramatic irony. This results in suspense and heightens the flaws of the characters.

Shakespeare's tragedy, Macbeth, is a play that transcends time due to its timeless and universal themes. The themes presented in this play are just as relevant to modern audiences as they would have been to contemporary Elizabethan audiences. The play has been able to maintain its textual integrity, withstanding the fact that it is now performed out of its original context to remain a successful play for modern audiences. The issues of heroism, abuse of power and the deceptiveness of appearances are all key within the play, conveyed through the use of dramatic and literary techniques, are issues which still resonate with contemporary audiences. Shakespeare has tested the parameters of the conventional tragedy that was extremely popular during his lifetime and in doing so has created text, which is still relevant today.

Not only is Macbeth by far the shortest of William Shakespeare’s great tragedies, but it is also anomalous in some structural respects. Like Othello (1604) and only a very few other Shakespearean plays, Macbeth is without the complications of a subplot. (Bradley, 1905) Consequently, the action moves forward in a swift and inexorable rush. More significantly, the climax the murder of Duncan takes place very early in the play. As a result, attention is focused on the various consequences of the crime rather than on the ambiguities or moral dilemmas that had

‘Macbeth’ is a play in which a Lord and his Lady come into supreme power through acts of injustice and despicable inhumanities. In the play Macbeth there is no main focal theme that overrules the others; the play however has several underlying themes, namely there are important themes i.e. good and evil (like ying and yang), greed and power, guilt and conscience, fear, ambition – this leads to the murder of other people illustrating to the reader that even the most sane of people can result to character diminishing methods to get what they want. These particular themes are the most prominent and when closely looked at, it can help to understand characters and meanings behind the play. The theme of ambition is very important in this play,

Measure for Measure and Macbeth are both very psychological plays that deal with moral decisions. However, it seems that Measure for Measure deals with a corrupt society, and Macbeth, on the other hand, is more concerned with the actions of the main characters, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Moreover, Macbeth deals with moral dilemma and how one's actions are in conflict with moral constraints. Furthermore, it seems that the nature of injustice in Measure for Measure is more difficult to determine than it is in Macbeth, whereas in Macbeth the main characters realize themselves their actions were wrong. Measure for Measure makes the reader think - what is justice? What is right or wrong?

Throughout the play of Macbeth, the reader can see a decay of morals in the two main characters, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. As the characters grow more brutal, the need for a harsh punishment grows with them. Though they do receive retribution, Macbeth’s does not fit his crime. Because of Macbeth’s lack of remorse along with the amount of blood on his hands, he deserves a harsher punishment than Lady Macbeth, who only directly contributed to one murder.

In the Elizabethan Era, society was highly suspicious of the power of supernatural forces and it was commonly accepted that one’s life was governed by fate and was predetermined. Shakespeare’s Macbeth challenges the Elizabethan ideology of fate by privileging that although Macbeth was a victim of his “vaulting ambition” (1:VII 27), he was ultimately responsible for his villainous actions. Shakespeare has foregounded certain events to privilege that a person has free will and a concience and the cosequences of going against one's conscience, thus challenging the assumption of the Elizabethan Era. The audience is invited to sympathise with the protagonist, Macbeth, and see him as a tragic hero. Before his descent into evil, Macbeth

Aristophanes’ play, The Clouds, has an inconsistent message about morality. Morality is the difference between what is right and what is wrong. Morality affects our action, thoughts, and what is perceived as good and bad. For the ancient Greeks nomos was the concept of law and moral conduct, while physis was natural behavior. In both plays there were incidents that have a moral argument. In The Cloud, there are scenes where morality is question about what a character is doing. Compared to Euripides’ play, Electra, morality is a key issue. Some people may say that in The Clouds, the moral argument is view differently than in Electra. In this paper I will argue that the concept of what is moral is different yet the same for the characters in both plays and some characters are more vulnerable to having their sense of morality swayed.

In today's society, men and women alike are often faced with difficult decisions that conflict with his or her morals. Whether it is a person's sense of right and wrong, or his or her ability to distinguish between social and nonsocial acceptable behavior; everyone faces these dilemmas at some point or another. In William Shakespeare’s world renowned play Macbeth, the characters, especially the protagonist Macbeth, struggle with maintaining moral integrities. This goes in part with the idea that Macbeth’s behavior throughout the play is affected by his anguish to become both the man the witches prophesied and remain a moral man. There are three main things which haunt Macbeth. First, Macbeth's vaulting ambition is one of the reasons why his

Macbeth, a tragedy by William Shakespeare, highlights and explores the struggles to maintain and protect a natural moral order in the face of evil and chaos. There are many factors to highlight this struggle such as, the loss of better judgement when significant rewards are present, going against morality and the presence of overwhelming guilt that results in the loss of mental sanity. Amidst evil, the struggle to maintain and protect a moral and natural order becomes challenging and brings forth consequences when, one’s moral conscious is overlooked.

“Fair is foul, and foul is fair: Hover through the fog and filthy air.” On October 17th, I had the pleasure of going to see Macbeth performed at the Shakespeare Tavern. Along with its reputation for being “cursed,” Macbeth is also known as one of the crown jewels of William Shakespeare’s repertoire. In my opinion, the central concept of this particular retelling of the play was the murkiness of character. Throughout the play, the many characters go through fierce temptation and strife, and none truly rise above moral contention.

Eventually, these plays later moved outside of the church walls and into the mainstream. Consequently, they became a very popular form of entertainment in theaters. The main characteristics of morality plays include; being tailored to educate the audience through entertainment, they made complex issues for instance, original sin and their consequences to be easily understandable, they personified aspects such as -Vices, Virtues, the Devil and the Good Angel, and God making them easy to understand and communicate meaning to thus who could not read. Therefore, a character representing either humanity as a whole or a fraction of the social structure; supporting characters that are exemplifications of either the good or evil; Objects towards providing the audience with moral leadership and they aims at encouraging human beings men to lead righteous lives (wonderfulfaustus.com, 2013).

Throughout time, there have been many books, plays, songs, pamphlets, sermons, lectures, etc. written. These writings were all written with some kind of purpose to either inform, persuade, entertain, or teach their audience. One such form of literature not too widely known about is that of the medieval morality plays. These plays were not aimed to entertain, but to teach morals and religion to the uneducated lower classes of people in medieval Europe. The morality plays were also quite necessary to teach and inform the underclass people, through the thoughtful persuasion of play entertainment.