ELIT 458:SHAKESPEARE

da ANDA, 200711005

PSYCHOANALYSIS OF THE CHARACTERS IN MACBETH I) SHAKESPEAREN TRAGEDY

The term tragedy originally put forward by Aristotle in ancient Greece. According to his definition of tragedy in his work Poetics, it is an imitation of an act that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude; in language embellished with each kind of artistic ornament, the several kinds being found in separate parts of the play; in the form of action, not of narrative; with incidents arousing pity and fear, wherewith to accomplish its catharsis of such emotions. Even though he was the founder of this genre throughout ages it has been exposed to changes and each dramatist interpret tragedy in his own way. Shakespeare is one of them. He has used Aristotles tragedy as his base but then he puts his own bricks on this base and he has created something unique which is called Shakespearean Tragedy. What differentiates his tragedy from Aristotles is that he combines the two genres like tragicomedy. He also objects to the three unities in classical tragedy. He adds subplots to his play and uses various long distanced places to his tragedy go simultaneously with the main plot. Another thing about his difference is that his thinking of fate is different from the classics and his characters are far more humane. Since he represents the characters are like real human beings his characters become more vivid and credible. Sir Philip Sidney supports Shakespeare in his essay A Defence of Poesie by saying that Shakespeares Roman characters are not like classical Romans but real characters coming from the real life. In his plays kings and queens are represented as humans not as royal people. They love, swear, hurt and even cry on the scene. Thanks to all these differences now literature has a concept as Shakespearean Tragedy.

ELIT 458:SHAKESPEARE

da ANDA, 200711005

II)

PSYCHOANALYSIS OF THE CHARACTERS IN MACBETH

Macbeth is Shakespeares most known and adored played. Gerard Cheshire calls the play as a simple since it has a straightforward plot, clearly presented characters and its ability to reflect good and evil, in his introduction to Macbeth which is printed from Harpers Collins. Even though he is right in some ways I do not think that it is so simple and it easily draws an exact line between the good and evil. In the play everything is ambiguous about Macbeths set of mind. It is an apparent truth that he commits bloody series of crime but his motive is still not apparent as the crime is. At this point we start to think about many elements and symbols in the play, first of all the three weird sisters as they are the ones who mess up his mind. Then the other factor is Lady Macbeth. As soon as she learns about the predictions of the witches she plans the murder and gathers the strength that she needs. However, I still have doubts that these are enough to blame Macbeths fall. Do we really consider everything? I mean what is the function of Macbeths free will and his psychology? What about the role of his subconscious and psyche? Maybe he really does not need Lady Macbeth to commit this crime and she is just a character who is put there deliberately in order to make us think that she is the guilty one. Apart from Lady Macbeth what is the role of fate in this tragedy? I have all these questions in my mind when I read the play and see its performances over and over again. Thus in this paper I will try to answer these questions by interrogating each factor in Macbeths fall, so my first step will be Lady Macbeth. A) LADY MACBETH Lady Macbeth is the most dominant character in the play, even before Macbeth himself. First of all we see Macbeth in the play as a brave and trustworthy warrior who comes across three weird sisters on his way back to his country. He is told that he will be Thane of Cawdor and eventually the king.

ELIT 458:SHAKESPEARE

da ANDA, 200711005

Lady Macbeth comes to the paly at this point when Macbeths mind is possessed by the thoughts of being the king.