Macbeth Critical Response Essay
Macbeth Critical Response
Hail Macbeth! Hail! The paramount warrior, the paramount ruler, and nonetheless, the paramount failure. A puppet on a lonely string, Macbeth had the freedom, the power, the glory, the kingdom, all under his command, yet all under his ultimate annihilation. Similarly, we may experience homogenous scenes in our own personal lives in the 21st century, or within our own society, as the themes, relationships, characters and messages featured in William Shakespeare’s, Macbeth, intertwine themselves in contemporary situations. The relevance of this tragic story in modern society can be detected throughout my own scripted interpretation of Act 1, Scene 7 of Macbeth, where the themes of blind ambition, guilt and gender subversion are explored …show more content…
Both Robert and Zara, stimulated by the idea of a presidency, are driven to use a nuclear war to annihilate the president. Their plan seems doomed to failure by any sane person, yet they are so blindly driven by their goal that they cannot comprehend the consequences. Society today has an aim, yet a misunderstanding of repercussions and the acquired taste of an ultimate desire cause people to act on impulse. Similar representations of this blind ambition can be found in elements of popular culture, where the dramatic technique of catharsis is used to show relevance of Shakespearean themes within today’s society. Coldplay’s 2008 song, Viva La Vida, represents the theme of blind ambition within its lyrics: “One minute I held the key, next the walls were closed on me, and I discovered that my castles stand upon pillars of salt and pillars of sand.” These quotes and lyrics resonate to the audience and represent the play as a whole, highlighting the journey of rise to fall and the walk through the thematic similarities of 16th and 21st century
Hail Macbeth! Hail! The paramount warrior, the paramount ruler, and nonetheless, the paramount failure. A puppet on a lonely string, Macbeth had the freedom, the power, the glory, the kingdom, all under his command, yet all under his ultimate annihilation. Similarly, we may experience homogenous scenes in our own personal lives in the 21st century, or within our own society, as the themes, relationships, characters and messages featured in William Shakespeare’s, Macbeth, intertwine themselves in contemporary situations. The relevance of this tragic story in modern society can be detected throughout my own scripted interpretation of Act 1, Scene 7 of Macbeth, where the themes of blind ambition, guilt and gender subversion are explored …show more content…
Both Robert and Zara, stimulated by the idea of a presidency, are driven to use a nuclear war to annihilate the president. Their plan seems doomed to failure by any sane person, yet they are so blindly driven by their goal that they cannot comprehend the consequences. Society today has an aim, yet a misunderstanding of repercussions and the acquired taste of an ultimate desire cause people to act on impulse. Similar representations of this blind ambition can be found in elements of popular culture, where the dramatic technique of catharsis is used to show relevance of Shakespearean themes within today’s society. Coldplay’s 2008 song, Viva La Vida, represents the theme of blind ambition within its lyrics: “One minute I held the key, next the walls were closed on me, and I discovered that my castles stand upon pillars of salt and pillars of sand.” These quotes and lyrics resonate to the audience and represent the play as a whole, highlighting the journey of rise to fall and the walk through the thematic similarities of 16th and 21st century