The Cosmos of Macbeth - Assignment Example

Macbeth Reversals The cosmos of Macbeth, as has been presented by Shakespeare, is replete with ambiguity, turmoil and reversal of the general trend of nature. The playwright has used nature as an effective instrument or a platform to reflect the reversals that keep occurring within the domain of microcosmic human existence. The world of Macbeth emerges as such an arena where general meanings or scopes of interpretation towards life or people are ever changing. It is the world where people are ready to be deceived by submitting themselves before temptation, where people do not hesitate to severe the bonds of tender relations: here sons are ready to kill their fathers, bothers do not hesitate to spill blood in order to receive a smooth access towards receiving hierarchy in power, mother is ready to smother her own son and appreciation, retaining or respect for moral values is sardonically criticized. The world of Macbeth shows reflects a world so diametrically opposite than that of general values of nature that meaning of gender receives a drastic transformation. Women have gone far ahead from just being traditional temptresses and they are ready to satisfy their lust for power even at the cost of adopting the most heinous steps, which are conventionally considered to be performed by men only. Lady Macbeth emerges as a perfect embodiment or human manifestation in support of such observation. In order to attain monarchy and satisfy his ambition, Macbeth also has committed several wrongs that even have amounted to violating the regulations of nature but in each case Lady Macbeth has played a major role in helping or inciting Macbeth to transcend the conventional boundaries of morality. Despite his biological identity as a MAN, Macbeth, due to appeal of his consent, has hesitated to commit the guilt. Such tenderness of his character, on each occasion, has harshly been criticized by Lady Macbeth and in that process she has gone to the extent of challenging his masculinity, arguing that being a woman also has more traits of manly strength in her nature. Thesis Statement: The reversing cosmos of Macbeth, within its scope, represents a situation of complete anarchy and ambiguity, to which the explicit and symbolic elements of gender reversal have played a crucial part in enhancing the eternal theme of human activism, aimed at violating the tender bonds of natural existence and human fellowship. Paragraph I: Topic Sentence: The theme of gender reversal, which has played one of the most important roles in establishing the murky and ambiguous cosmos in Macbeth. Since very initial stage of the drama Shakespeare has provided symbolically explicit hint to the fact that the natural norms will be violated: “Fair is foul, and foul is fair” (Shakespeare 5). In the Scene III, when Macbeth and Banquo encounter the three witches, both of them faced the problem of interpreting their actual gender. Though they seem to have all physical features of women but some of the masculine traits in them have made Macbeth and Banquo from categorizing them under a specific gender identity: “You should be women, / And yet your beards forbid me to interpret / That you are so (Shakespeare 11). Topic Sentence: The theme of gender reversal, which in the initial scenes of Macbeth received such a great deal of importance, has expanded further scope in the later acts, where both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth opt for the path, violating norms of nature and Lady Macbeth even goes to the extent of breaching the limits of her feminine tenderness to incur in her masculine brutality so that she can inspire and excite her husband to execute his criminal deeds without hesitation: “Come, come, you spirits / That ‘tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here; / And fill me, from the crown to the toe, top- full/ Of Direst Cruelty!” (Shakespeare 20). Paragraph II: Topic Sentence: Lady Macbeth was always quite sure about the fact that no matter how much Macbeth is ambitious but never has the courage or to go to the extent of spilling royal blood and claim the throne. Thus, in order to complement his lack of courage she has to play the role of a brutal and ruthless inciter. Thus, while Macbeth suggests that they would “proceed no further in this business” (Shakespeare 25), Lady Macbeth attempts to evoke in him the cruelty and ruthless brutality by challenging his valor and masculinity: “Art thou afeard / To be the same in thine own act and valour / As thou art in desire? Wouldst thou have that / Which thou esteemst the ornament of life, / And live a coward in thine own esteem, / Letting I dare not wait upon I would, / Like the poor cat i the adage?” (Shakespeare 25- 26). Topic Sentence: While Macbeth is “too full o’ the milk of human kindness” (Shakespeare 19), which is essentially considered as basic feature of womanly tenderness, Lady Macbeth is searching for the means of invoking in her highest magnitude of cruelty and in this quest she also taken help of external intoxication so that under trace she can smother her typical womanly sentiments (Shakespeare 31). In her search for brutal masculinity she goes on to the extent of emphasizing on the theme of gender reversal to such an extent that even she expresses the heinousness to kill innocent breast sucking children and their soothing smiles are also incapable of quenching the crudeness of her heart: “ How tender tis to love the babe that milks me:/ I would, while it was smiling in my face, / Have pluckd my nipple from his boneless gums, / And dashd the brains out,” (Shakespeare 26) Conclusion: Starting from the very initial stage of Macbeth, the theme of gender reversal has remained one of the most important themes and it also helped to extend the ambiance of confusion or paradox in the drama. Lady Macbeth’s desperate urge for invoking masculine traits in her nature clearly indicates to the theme of gender reversal and spontaneous human choice under temptation of ambition to violate the regulations of nature. However, in the end such violations do not contribute in any way to both Lady Macbeth and Macbeth to reach the aspirations that they intended; rather out of their desperate attempts the kind of onslaughts they caused over natural spontaneity, ultimately took an opposite and self-destructive impetus, resulting in their catharsis. Work Cited Shakespeare, William. Macbeth: a tragedy, in five acts, as performed at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden. London: T. Barrois. 1822. Read More