Macbeth Act IV

Scene I:

• Imgery is very powerful tool in this scene. The witches use graphic and horrific images in there 'cauldron' like 'birth strangled babe' which creates a sense of the supernautral in this scene. The images that they use are very evil - this reflects thier nature and provees that it is not wise for Macbeth to trust them threrfore proving no good can come out of his endevours. also the withces refer to Macbeth as 'Wicked' so he must be evil.  As supernatural is a common theme in the Gothic - this scene is a key footstone in this genre.
• The witches talk in rhyming couplets which gives the language a recitive and chant like feel. Macbeth also starts speaking like this in line 94 which could reflect how his charcter has changed to become more like the witches.
• Each apparition is signifcant to Macbeths down fall and relate to his life. The first, an armed head,

How has the Gothic nature of the play been used to heighten tragedy in Macbeth by the end of act three?

The Gothic nature of Macbeth is highlighted in act three and is used to heighten the tragedy. It is argued that Act Three hosts the Gothic centre of the play. I the next following paragraphs, I will be investigating the main themes of the Gothic which are present in Act Three; mainly morality, ambition and insanity.  


Morality:
Morality is a theme which is quite hard to define. The general definition is ‘The concern with the distinction between good and evil or right and wrong; right or good conduct' - but this definition itself depends greatly on the view of good and evil at the time. Shakespeare wrote 'Macbeth' in the early 17th century. At this time Christianity had a major influence over the view of morality, which effects the view you must take when analysing it. Also, the King at the time of writing, James I, was obsessed with witches and hunting them. He wrote the ‘Daemonologie’ which inspired Shakespeare in Macbeth.

Act three is almost the turning point in Macbeth's morality. He performs many 'immoral' actions like consorting with murderers and easily ordering the murder of Banquo and announcing 'Banquo is your enemy' 3,1, 114. Originally Macbeth and Banquo were close friends - we were first introduced to Macbeth with Banquo. This makes his murder particularly immoral on Macbeth's part because of his original attachment with Banquo. However Macbeth sees a ghost of Banquo which suggests that Macbeth's morals are  starting to 'fight back' or perhaps Macbeth is getting a conscience.


However, did Macbeth have moral standards to begin with? True, he is described as ‘brave’ and ‘noble’ by the king in Act 1, but this description is not backed up by his actions. He consorts with the witches, which is against the Christian religion and therefore against his morals. He also considers regicide before he even encounters Lady Macbeth (1.4 lines 49-54) which suggests he is not ‘full o’ the milk of human kindness’ as Lady Macbeth suggests. It is wrong in the eyes of Christianity to kill kings because of the belief in the ‘Divine Right'. This does suggest that Macbeth has been a immoral character from the beginning. 


Both Lady Macbeth and Macbeth are presented to have an understanding of morality as they clearly recognise they are doing wrong. This is shown through the constant portrayal of light and dark 'let light not see my black and deep desires' 1,4, 51. This would mean that they are actively choosing to be immoral, which would make them classic Gothic figures. Macbeth seems to develop a moral conscience after his actions as shown through the apparition of Banquo and his lack of sleep 'you lack the season of all natures; sleep' 3, 5, 140. This is also reflected in the actions of lady Macbeth who starts to sleep walk. Because sleep is almost seen as a 'natural gift', the absence of it in both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth's lives reflects there conscience and nature ridding them of this gift because it realises the impact of there moral actions.

Morality is presented in a similar way in other works by Shakespeare. 

• Richard III: Richard is the epitome of immoral character because he aims to ‘prove a villain’. Throughout the play he has not even a scene of morals, which makes his sudden realisation more effective and surprising. In the same way as in Macbeth, Richard develops a conscience a little too late, and, as in Macbeth, this is shown through the apparitions he sees. 
• Hamlet: Hamlet experiences a conflict in moral duties in the play; the need to avenge his father, but the fact that killing a king is against religious views. However, it can be argued that Hamlet’s crime of regicide is more morally correct than Macbeth, who murders Duncan for his own ends. 

Ambition:

Ambition is a common theme in Gothic literature as it evidences the essence of insanity in a person because it can almost guide them to perform immoral actions. It is commonly used as the 'motive' behind the tragedy of the play or even an excuse for it. Ambition is commonly the Hamartia or downfall of the Gothic figure. An example of Ambition in Gothic literature would be in 'Frankenstein' where it could be argues that Victor's ambition to create life and to obtain knowledge goes too far. Shakespeare has also used this before, for example in Richard III where Richards ambition to 'prove a villain' and to gain the throne conquers everything else. It is though gothic that Ambition is presented as a failing rather than a gift. Characters are presented with too much of it, and it is this overbalance which leads to fatal results. perhaps it is the sense of 'overbalance' and how it doesn't fit with nature that creates the tragedy in the Gothic? 

In 'Macbeth', Macbeth's ambition to become king, it could be argued, is the reason for his downfall and therefore it would represent his hamartia. Act three represents his ambition becoming out of control. he orders the death of his friend because he doesn't want his children to take 'his' thrown. This can evidence ambition leading to insanity because Macbeth turns a friend into an 'enemy' and he goes against what is guiding him to do this in the first place - the words of the witches. If they said that Banquo 'shalt get kings' then surely if Macbeth believed what they said to him was true then he is challenging the supernatural, an insane move for a mere mortal. 

Ambition can be evidenced in Macbeth through his actions throughout the play. By killing Duncan and ordering the death of many, including his friend and children, Macbeth goes against the original image we are given of him; the 'brave' and 'noble' solider who fought for his country. This evidences how ambition has corrupted Macbeth and made him lose sight of his morals, his sanity and his self.

Lady Macbeth - up to act III scene 2 - my opinion

At the start of the play 'Macbeth' we first are introduced to lady Macbeth through the letter, written to her by her husband. This produces the idea that she is very close to her husband, and that he values her, and her opinion very highly, because a letter is alot of trouble to go to when Macbeth is on his way to see her anyway.

During the first interactions between Lady Macbeth and her husband, lady Macbeth is presented as very domineering and over powering, as she seemingly takes control of  'operation King Macbeth'. This could seem unusual as she is a woman, but because the audience would have been used to he likes of Queen Elizabeth, female authoirity might not be too surprising.

Here, she is also presented with supernatural tendencies. She call upon spirits to 'unsex her' and seems to be filled constantly with violent thoughts. She is in fact presented unlike a woman or as one who wants to lose all sense of femininity. this idea is created through the images she uses, like the pulling her baby from her nipple and 'gashing its brains out', which is not what a mother would be expected to do.

She is also very deceptive. She comes across to Duncan as  'the perfect hostess', and yet she is planning to kill him that very night. Also, when the king is discovered dead, she 'swoons'. In this way she is presented to the rest of the court as a 'typical' woman, and only the audience and her husband understand her true tendencies.

During the murder of Duncan Lady Macbeth is presented as a very strong character. She gets annoyed at her husband when he does not full fill her plans exactly as she has planned them and so she has top hid the daggers. she even claims that she would have killed the king if he didn't resemble her father. The image of a Strong women, unaffected by guilt is reinforced when she say 'a little water will wash us of this deed' in comparision to Macbeth's opinion that the whole of the ocean won't wash the blood from his hands.

In act 3, however, Lady Macbeth seems to have lost some of the control over her husband. she is now asking him 'whats to be done' rather than instructing him. This makes it seem like she has lost control over 'operation King Macbeth' because Macbeth has become confident because of his 'trimph' over his murder of the king.

Marxism in 'North and South' by Elizabeth Gaskell

'North and South' by Elizabeth Gaskell can easily be analysed by the Marxist theory.  Gaskell's both conforms and questions the criticism of Marx, which makes it intriguing to study and creates an interesting accompaniment to the theory. 

In the literary theory it argues that 'social circumstances determine much, if not all, of your life'. This can be applied to the character of Mr Boucher. He is a worker at 'Mulbourgh Mill's' who has to strike because of the force of the union. He then has not enough money to support his wife, his seven children or himself. This drives him to violence at one of the strike protests where he hits Margret Hale with a stone. Finally he drowns himself in the river. Marx would argue that this is because his birth circumstances were low class, and that they was no way he could have escaped his fate.

The marxist theory argues that 'the way we think and the way we experience the world around us are either wholly or largely conditioned by the way the economy is organised.' This can be evidence in 'North and South' through the two characters 'Bessy Higgins' and 'Margret Hale'. Both characters are women of a similar age and daughters to strong fathers. the only difference is their place in economy. Margret is the daughter of a former vicar and professor, who teaches for a living. She as inherits a wealthy sum at the end of the book and it can be argued that, because of all these factors, she ends up marring 'Mr Thornton' the master of a mill. Bessy, however, is the daughter of a low class factory worker, and consequently ends up as one herself. this leads to her lung disease, which then leads to her death. This can successfully be applied to the marxist theory as it is only their difference in circumstance which leads to the different life outcomes in these two characters.

However, Gaskell challenges this theory by writing these two characters as dearest friends. If this were to completely agree with Marx's views then the two women wouldn't want to mix, and if they were to be friends it would because of 'economy'. However the characters are friends because of a mutual respect shared between each other, and therefore it questions the marxist theory.  Gaskell clearly recognises the difference between the effect of the social status on a person, and the person themselves:

'if Mr Thornton would be patient enough to listen with his human heart, not with his masters ears-'

And this supports the idea that questions if Marxism can completely be applied to 'North and South'.