Antithesis As Cause And Effect Of The Tragedy In Macbeth

Hamlet, Othello, King Lear and Macbeth are acknowledged as Shakespeare's four greatest tragedies, and Shakespeare's reputation most securely rests upon them. Macbeth has a lot of distinctive idiosyncrasies which set it apart from the other great tragedies, but the most significant peculiarity stems from its protagonist, who makes critical interpretation become complex and difficult, for the tragic hero of Macbeth is a murderer and tyrant. Can the fall of such a villain be tragic? Why do we feel sympathy towards a character who in fact should be condemned? Taking these inevasible questions as a starting point, this thesis attempts to explore the tragic significance of Macbeth from three interrelated aspects: Macbeth's character, the cause of his tragedy, and the peculiar tragic effect of Macbeth together with audience's experience of this play as a tragedy. A. C. Bradley's character-centered criticism and some critical theories and practice advanced in the past lay the foundation for the analysis in this thesis.The thesis firstly tries to clear the muddle between our moral judgment and our aesthetic experience arising in the process of interpreting Macbeth, between our moral sympathy and aesthetic sympathy, between moral and aesthetic goodness, and then to justify that a villain can be a tragic hero. The antithesis in Macbeth as a tragic hero is then examined in order to explore how the play transcends its moral structure and elicits from audience sympathy, which consequently brings us antithetic tragic responses. Finally an attempt is made to find the roots of Macbeth's tragedy. The antitheses between ethical imperatives and instinctive impulse, between reason and desire constantly tortures Macbeth. Shakespeare's precision and exactitude compels us to look beneath this particular problem of usurpation to include a general anxiety about the human condition, about the ethical and existential dilemmas all human beings are subject to. Shakespeare reveals his dramatic power in the balance or reconciliation of opposite or discordant qualities.