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Strong Feelings in Macbeth and the Old Nurse's Story Essay

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By examining ‘The Old Nurse’s Story’ and ‘Macbeth’, in detail, compare and contrast how Elizabeth Gaskell and Shakespeare explore strong feelings in these two texts.

‘Macbeth’ was most likely written before the Gunpowder Plot in 1605 during the Jacobean era and it is thought that Shakespeare wrote the play in order to compliment the current King, James I. Shakespeare adapted his source material from ‘Holinshed’s Chronicles’; and one way he did this was by giving the audience full access to Macbeth’s tortured mind, so they could witness Macbeth’s most powerful emotions. The play also reflects a widespread fascination with witchcraft and Shakespeare exploits this interest for dramatic effect. In 1597, James I published his own book …show more content…

Whilst Hester is exploring the mystifying house, she discovers a portrait of the young Miss. Grace (later Miss. Furnivall). She was a beauty with a ‘proud, set look, and such scorn looking out of her handsome eyes’ as well as eyebrows that were ‘just a little raised’ and a ‘curled’ lip. Miss. Grace is wearing posh clothes in the portrait, which shows that she is upper class, but even this artificial beauty doesn’t mask her malevolence. This shows that appearances are deceptive, but a person’s true colours are always revealed, no matter how hard they try to hide them.
The impression that we are given in the opening scene of ‘Macbeth’ is that the actions of only a few people will deal with the fate of the whole kingdom. This is hinted at when the witches speak of ‘a battle’ being ‘lost and won’, as the word ‘battle’ usually refers to a conflict on a large scale, which suggests that numerous people in the kingdom could be affected. This ‘battle’ could tie in to the strong feelings of guilt, ambition and determination on many levels. The battle could be a spiritual one between the good (the Thanes) and the evil (the supernatural), or a mental battle in Macbeth’s conscience; all of which could cause the characters to explore their innermost thoughts. Both of these openings anticipate the release of strong emotions from the protagonists, which are caused by

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