ipl-logo

Role Of Paganism In Macbeth

925 Words4 Pages

The inclusion of Christian and other religious themes and influence often deepen the plot, morality, and culture found in a work, especially in English literature. The dealings with God and other religious ideas and actions often show what is done publicly or in the darkness of the culture, leading to pivotal plot points in a story. Yet, even in the midst of the religious corruption, God stands as the judge and helper or enemy of those who act for or against Him. Starting with Beowulf and continuing with Macbeth, the authors use pagan and Christian elements to prove that God intervenes for those who do not turn their backs on Him.
Beowulf proves God intervenes, even when a person or a group of people do not know Him. The working idea of God …show more content…

The character of Macbeth is comparable to Eve from Genesis as He falls to temptation, his coming from the demonically influenced witches and his wife, Lady Macbeth, and becomes disconnected from his old, innocent life. Now, Macbeth has wrought shame upon himself for having committed treason and murder, yet begins to, rather than repent, excuse himself. While he experiences shame and guilt, he does not repent but follows suit with his wife into evil. Macbeth eventually becomes animal-like in his spirituality, no longer concerned with the morality of his actions, and soon exalts himself by the end of the first Scene of Act 4. Macbeth puts himself in the place of God by acting without care of morality, cementing his rivalry with God as Macbeth’s, “extreme ‘exaltation of self-will’ over their ground and source, their Creator... (makes) him... (his) perceived rival” (Gimelli Martin 173). Macbeth no longer lets the restraints of good or evil to hold him back, as he takes over as the god of his life. Yet, while Macbeth believes in his own omnipotence, God is still in control. Much like God’s control over the events of Beowulf, God has not simply given up His control over the events in Macbeth. God has given freedom to Macbeth to become His enemy, but this does not mean that God lost. On the contrary, God demonstrates His power of deliverance for those who recognize Macbeth’s evil and turn away from his tyranny by supplying Macdonwald, the English soldiers, and Malcolm to remove Macbeth from the throne. God has proved himself as kind and caring for those who have not turned away from Him (or good, in the realm of morality), while He scorns and ultimately allows the death of those who have knowingly turned away from Him and allow for evil influences to guide

Show More
Related

  • Grendel Vs Beowulf Essay

    1275 Words  | 6 Pages

    The portrayal of someone who constantly defied the will of God by the alienated character Grendel and the embodiment of the heroic character Beowulf as someone who greatly admired the Lord show the value of practicing religion in the Anglo-Saxon

    Read More

  • Importance Of Control In Macbeth

    984 Words  | 4 Pages

    Macbeth succumbs to evil and in doing so, betrays his King. You could argue that when he ‘wore the Thane of Cawdor’s robes’ he became a traitor like the Thane of Cawdor. His traitorous actions would have been met with death at that time. God's divine order is disturbed as Macbeth challenges God by killing the God appointed King and assuming the role for himself in his quest for power. Later on, in the play, Macbeth asserts his right over Lady Macbeth, flipping their dynamic, and distances himself from her, "be innocent of the knowledge dearest chuck.

    Read More

  • Isolation In Macbeth And The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

    1533 Words  | 7 Pages

    When the story begins, Macbeth truly is a “peerless kinsman” to the king (1.4.66); however, as the story progresses others refer to him in this way only because they are oblivious to his true desire” (Balwan 3). As Balwan states, Macbeth has as significant change due to the so call “power” of being king. While Macbeth transitions to a new form of character, he isolates himself from Lady Macbeth. As the power increases, Macbeth is determined to kill.

    Read More

  • Essay On Good And Evil In Beowulf

    472 Words  | 2 Pages

    In “Beowulf,” there are many concepts of good and evil portrayed in the epic poem by an unknown author. Beowulf brings good to the Geats. The people would say he was a gift from the Gods to battle and demolish the evil. The monsters, however, cause trouble to the people and bring out the evil in everything. These elements of good and evil help define this an epic poem.

    Read More

  • Beowulf Rhetorical Analysis

    533 Words  | 3 Pages

    Everyone has a perspective on good and evil; the battle line between good and even runs through the heart. “Beowulf” illuminates characters that come from dark and deep backgrounds that construct their dauntless actions. In the heroic tale “Beowulf,” the author’s tones strongly demonstrates themes of loyalty, honor, and courage. Raffel’s tones remotely displays the act of loyalty within multiple characters. “Hail to these who will rise to God, drop off their dead bodies” (101).

    Read More

  • Examples Of Lady Macbeth's Guilt

    1054 Words  | 5 Pages

    Although introduced as a thoroughly hardened, ambitious woman, Lady Macbeth’s seemingly unbreakable character shatters when she is consumed by the demon of guilt. The guilt of Lady Macbeth seems nonexistent when she persuades Macbeth to kill King Duncan, but the heinous acts she and her husband commit throughout the play strain her slowly. Eventually, the guilt Lady Macbeth harbors emerges from her subconscious and crumbles her. The downfall of Lady Macbeth reveals that even the toughest, strongest, and most powerful people can succumb to guilt. At the commencement of William Shakespeare’s

    Read More

  • Sanity And Insanity In Macbeth

    1145 Words  | 5 Pages

    Shakespeare engineered a most impressionable character in Macbeth who easily succumbs to the extensive magnitude of opposing constraints. This character is Macbeth, who is the protagonist in the play and husband to a conniving wife, who in the end is the sole cause for Macbeth 's undoing. Conflicting forces in the play compel internal conflicts within Macbeth to thrive on his contentment and sanity as he his torn asunder between devotion, aspiration, morality and his very own being. He has developed a great sense of loyalty from being a brave soldier; however, his ambition soon challenges this allegiance. As his sincerity begins to deteriorate, his own sanity starts to disintegrate until the point where he cannot differentiate between reality

    Read More

  • Hunger For Power In Macbeth

    760 Words  | 4 Pages

    Macbeth’s impatience for power leads to drastic actions. He murders the king in the belief that “this blow might be the be-all and end-all” (1.7.5). This assassination could never “trammel up the consequence” (1.7.2-3), as Macbeth believes, but only leads to more trouble. Although Macbeth seizes the throne, Macbeth had to betray his loyalty to the king whose “virtues will plead like angels” (1.7.18-19), and his morality has paid the price. Macbeth has now lost all sense of what honor is by using such dishonest ways to become king.

    Read More

  • Faith In Beowulf Essay

    735 Words  | 3 Pages

    It is through God that Beowulf had such a successful and blessed life. It is through ungodly things that Beowulf ended up dying a tragic death as the epic

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Macbeth's Soliloquy In Act 5 Scene 5

    1036 Words  | 5 Pages

    He realizes he has “fallen from grace”, the world would be against him since he had destroyed the Elizabethan order. He does not see any meaning in life and therefore detaching himself from his emotions to turn himself into a vicious murderer. Macbeth’s despair over the loss of meaning in his life is reinforced in his Act 5 Scene 5 soliloquy, where he says life “is a tale/ Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury/ Signifying nothing” (Act 5 Scene 5 lines 25-27). Macbeth comes to a point of realization that all his efforts to gain the throne are like the “sound and fury” of the tale, just acts crafted for the sake of the show without any actual outcome in the end. In exchange for kingship, he loses his “milk of human kindness” and his wife.

    Read More

  • Humanism In Macbeth

    746 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Tragedy of Macbeth demonstrates the change of heart most people had during the time period of the English Renaissance; likewise, this time period also is known as the time of expansion. Specific values and beliefs shifted from just strictly religious to humanistic values. The time of expansion created new curriculum and a broader array of topics that people could study through universities while gaining an education. Humanism is “a system of thought that focuses on humans and their values, capacities, and worth” (American Heritage Dictionary of English Language). It can also be known as “(Philosophy) a philosophical position that stresses the autonomy of human reason in contradiction to the authority of the Church” (Collins English Dictionary).

    Read More

  • Role Of Fate In Beowulf

    257 Words  | 2 Pages

    He knew what they had tholed, the long times and troubles they'd come through without a leader; so the Lord of Life, the glorious Almighty, made this man renowned." This quote describes how God played a large role in the success of Beowulf. Assuming that all acts of heroism proven successful are really acts of God. Thus, leaving you thinking success must be a form of divine assistance, in the hands of God. The poem takes on both beliefs of Paganism and Christianity.

    Read More

  • Macbeth's Strengths And Weaknesses

    824 Words  | 4 Pages

    At the beginning of William Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’ the protagonist Macbeth is described as ‘brave’, ‘noble’ and ‘honourable’, however Lady Macbeth’s and Macbeths desire for power consumes them. Macbeth’s ambition overrides his conscience and transformed his greatest strength into his greatest weakness. Macbeth’s inability to resist temptations that led him to be greedy for power, Macbeth’s easily manipulative nature which allowed his mind to be swayed, Macbeth having no self control and his excessive pride was what allowed him to renew his previously honourable and celebrated title into one of an evil ‘tyrant’. Macbeth is led by the prophecies of the witches after they foretell he will become the Thane of Cawdor. Not only the witches, but also his wife easily manipulate Macbeth as she attacks his manhood in order to provoke him to act on his desires.

    Read More

  • Essay On Character Change In Macbeth

    1631 Words  | 7 Pages

    This good side of Macbeth eventually deteriorates, however, as he fights for power and kingship by killing not only King Duncan, but many others. He ends up as a much hated king who is eventually killed. The character of Macbeth shifts from a favourable, loyal person to one that is destructive and consumed by power. This idea is analysed by Shakespeare by the way of his power in his marriage, how he involved himself with the witches, and how willing he was to do things. The first way that Macbeth’s change was shown in the play is how strong he was inside of his relationship with Lady Macbeth.

    Read More

  • Anglo Saxon Values In Beowulf

    451 Words  | 2 Pages

    Beowulf is an archetypal character within a legendary piece of text. He embodies the conglomerate of many Anglo Saxon values expressed throughout his heroic journey. Contrived by the mighty Northern Anglo Saxons, Beowulf is the manifestation of the Anglo Saxon ideals. This work of art helps us identify and analyze Beowulf’s ideals in a way that lets us deduce the values of the Anglo Saxon society. Examination of this poem lets us familiarize ourselves about a society obsessed with religion, vengeance and war-lust beings.

    Read More

More about Role Of Paganism In Macbeth

Open Document