How the 5 Elements of Drama Reveal Evil in Macbeth

According to the dictionary, the definition of evil is, "morally reprehensible, sinful, or wicked" (Merriam-Webster, 401). A child's definition of evil is doing wrong when you know it is wrong. A psychologist's definition of evil is selfishness taken to a great extreme. A religious definition of evil is a demon or Satan inspired act. Evil is all over the world today. There will be evil in the world until the day we die. In The Tragedy of Macbeth William Shakespeare uses the five elements of drama to explore the nature of evil.

William Shakespeare uses setting to establish an atmosphere of evil. The time of Macbeth was before Christianity came to Scotland, when Scottish pagans believed in ghost, witches, signs and portents. The place of Macbeth was Scotland, in the north of England. The terrain was rocky coastlines with little scrubby plants, rocks, and quicksand. In these times the characters lived in castles that had no windows or doors. The only entrance they had was through a gate or drawbridge. The castles were heated with large fires, but it was still very cold and drafty.

The weather was horrible. The temperatures were freezing. It was foggy, extremely cold, wet, rainy and very dark. They also had small earthquakes that were very scary and there was little sun. The atmosphere was gloomy, depressing and dark. Scotland was a hard place to live.

There are three types of conflict in Shakespeare's Macbeth. Between countries there are two wars. At the beginning the war was between Norway and Scotland. Macbeth and Banquo were generals of Scotland. And at the ending it was Macbeth with Scotland and Macduff and Malcolm with England. Between the two individuals, Macbeth and lady Macbeth, there was ambition and murder. Macduff and Macbeth have a sword fight and Macduff kills Macbeth, but not before Macbeth kills Macduff's family. There is conflict between the individuals and their consciences. Macbeth loses everything - his peace, health, sleep, respect, and old age. Lady Macbeth sleepwalks and she re-enacts (www.sparknotes.com) "Lady Macbeth also eventually gives way to visions, as she sleepwalks" Duncan's murder. She always has a candle burning. Because she is afraid of the dark and she commits suicide.

William Shakespeare uses the key plot points in Macbeth to explore the element of evil. The three withches predict Macbeth will be king and Banquo will father nine generations of kings. "The spirits know that no man born of woman shall e'er have power on thee"(Macbeth, 169). But Macbeth cannot decide to kill King Duncan. Lady Macbeth argues with him to do it. Finally Macbeth kills King Duncan, blaming the guards, Malcolm and Donalbain. When Macbeth lies to the murderers, he persuades them to kill Banquo, but Fleance escapes. Macbeth orders the death of Macduff's wife, his children orders the deaths of anyone who does not support him.

Macbeth and Lady Macbeth were the main characters of the story. Lady Macbeth acted mostly evil. She had a very evil- tongued. "I may pour my spirits in thine ear and choatige with my toungue."(Shakespeare, 31). She was also always fussing at Macbeth, calling him names like a liar, a coward and a sissy. She was a pusher. If it had not been for her pushing Macbeth, he would not have murdered anyone. She even tried to betray her woman-hood because she was so evil. She ended up commiting suicide.

Macbeth as a soldier and a general was incredibly brave, bold, loyal, courageous and strong. "He is powerful but has no stegnth".(coleridge, 64) Macbeth was not evil at the beginning of the story. The witches and his wife started him down the road to evil ambition. He ended up turning into a traitor and a murderer. "a turmoil of Macbeth's mind"(Introducing Shakespeare, 185) Then he went further and became a tyrant, an executioner and a massacrer. He gave up everything for ambition. He left his respect, his peace and his friend's go for ambition. "The murders have been hired to kill a man and they will do the job they are paid to do. The banquet is ruined for Macbeth by the appearance of Banquo's ghost" He had turned so bad. He talked the murders in to killing Banquo, but the murders were stupid and commonly evil. "Banquo is content to let destiny carve its own path"(www.absoluteshakespeare.com) Banquo was so good of a friend and he even knew that Macbeth had murdered Duncan and he did nothing.

Macbeth provides both a major and several minor themes. The major theme is, "No matter how arrogant and powerful you are, you will be accountable for your actions." The suicide of Lady Macbeth illustrates the minor theme, "No matter who you are it will reveal itself eventually." Throughout the play the reader hears the minor theme, "Even though evil is bad it will be conquered eventually." "The common gifts of life-love, marriage, health, peace, respect and friendship are more valuable than riches or power". As a soldier, Macduff learned, "In many countries you may be asked to sacrifice all everything you have or love like life and family for your country."

Settings, plot, conflict, characterization, and theme are all important elements of the play, The Tragedy of Macbeth. The nature of evil is revealed through the five elements of drama in William Shakespeare's Tragedy of Macbeth. There are three kinds of evil in the play. Supernatural evil is the witches, ghosts, visions and the prophecies. Abuse of power as evil is the wars and violence, hangings, sword fights, severed heads, the bloodied child and soldiers, and many executions. There was also personal evil. Personal evil was the lies, the betrayal of friendship and marriage, and acts of treason, slander and deception. The Tragedy of Macbeth had some really hard words and was kind of hard to understand, but it makes you listen. Overall, I enjoyed the play.

Works Cited

Coleridge, Samuel Taylor. Shakespearean Criticism. London: Everyman's Library,

1960, 64.

Gill, Roma. Ed. Macbeth. NewYork, NY: Oxford University Press, 2002, 23.

Harrison, G.B. Introducing Shakespeare. England: Penguin Books, 1968, 185.

"Macbeth Characters" Absolute Shakespeare 13 July, 2006

http://absoluteshakespeare.com/guides/macbeth/characters/characters.htm

"Macbeth" Sparknotes 7 Nov. 2006

http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/macbeth/themes.html

Merriam-Webster. Incorporated. Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary.

Springfield, MA: Miriam Webster Incorporated, 2001. 401.

Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Macbeth. New York, NY: The Folger

Shakespeare Library, 1992, 169 & 31.