Shakespeare macbeth choice explore presents thesis set century

Text	explore how Shakespeare presents choice in Macbeth Thesis Although set in 11th century Scotland, Shakespeare’s 1606 tragedy, ‘Macbeth’, is clearly very much engaged with the choice of Robert Catesby and his companions in the Gunpowder Plot of the previous year—the choice, that is, to attempt to break the Great Chain of Being and become a regicide. In the play, Shakespeare examines how Macbeth comes to make this same choice, initially seeming to suggest that it is the malign supernatural power of the witches that controls his fate. Yet ultimately it seems inadequate to attribute his evil to some abstract notion of fate; instead, Shakespeare seems to encourage his audiences to examine how it is the choices Macbeth makes after learning his fate that shape the man he becomes.

Text

explore how Shakespeare presents choice in Macbeth

Thesis

Although set in 11th century Scotland, Shakespeare’s 1606 tragedy, ‘Macbeth’, is clearly very much engaged with the choice of Robert Catesby and his companions in the Gunpowder Plot of the previous year—the choice, that is, to attempt to break the Great Chain of Being and become a regicide. In the play, Shakespeare examines how Macbeth comes to make this same choice, initially seeming to suggest that it is the malign supernatural power of the witches that controls his fate. Yet ultimately it seems inadequate to attribute his evil to some abstract notion of fate; instead, Shakespeare seems to encourage his audiences to examine how it is the choices Macbeth makes after learning his fate that shape the man he becomes.

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