Asian Journal of Research in Social Sciences and Humanities
Year : 2012, Volume : 2, Issue : 10
First page : ( 125) Last page : ( 130)
Print ISSN : 0000-0000. Online ISSN : 2249-7315.

Tragedy of macbeth: Overambition to fiasco

Ms. Sarkar PIU

Research Scholar, University of Burdwan & Part-time Lecturer in English, Guskara Mahavidyalaya, Burdwan, W.B. India.

Online published on 6 October, 2012.

Abstract

Shakespeare’s Macbeth hinges on the theme of how insatiable and indomitable thirst for power inevitably culminates in the destruction of the eponymous hero who despite his villainous action and treacherous deed captures the readers’ admiration for his mental anguish due to constant wavering between spurs of ambition and the stings of compunction. Forced to commit a series of heinous crimes under the spell of equivocal prediction and vaulting ambition, Macbeth all throughout his life has been haunted by a terrible sense of guilt and has failed to taste the glory of kingship. Inspite of his perfidy to King Duncan and treason to Banquo, Macbeth can neither be ascribed as a cold-blooded murderer nor does his suffering produce the effect of poetic justice. Instead, his spiritual torment, feelings of stark disillusionment, apathetic attitude towards life and profound sorrow at the loss of moral values contribute to his tragic grandeur and transform him from an ostensible villain to a pathetic figure. In this article an endeavour has been taken to analyze Macbeth’s character, his vacillating mind and to trace the factors responsible for his fiasco.

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Keywords

Overambition, Prophecy, Compunction, Accomplice, Eponymous, Soliloquy.

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