William Shakespeare's tragedy Macbeth outlives its context as it explores human nature and man's struggle to find a moral sensibility that resonates with the audiences of the time. In Shakespeare's tragedy Macbeth (1603) he portrays a tragic hero, Macbeth, whose actions and thoughts are corrupted by his reckless ambition and innate greed. Shakespeare further examines how this tragic flaw robs him of his moral and rational self. He further explores how this flaw has robbed him of virtue and nobility and leads him to damnation. By using Macbeth Shakespeare exposes the flaws of man and in doing so explores the very essence of human nature before audiences of all times. In Macbeth, Shakespeare provides valuable insights by exploring how man's greed and inherent passions can corrupt his actions and sensible thoughts. Macbeth's mythological allusion "on this bank [of the River Styx] and on the shoal of time... the life to come" reflects his desire to satisfy his greed and at the same time a logical reluctance to kill King Duncan. Likewise in Lady Macbeth's soliloquy, scene 5 of Act 1, “what you have been promised; yet I fear thy nature, it is too full of the milk of human kindness” establishes Macbeth's kindness as the limit of his ambition. This confinement is broken by the simile "that you esteem the ornament of life... like the poor cat I say" which persuades Macbeth to follow his murderous ambition. The personification of “ambition that leaps over itself and falls upon the other” conveys the corruptibility of Macbeth's nobility. Macbeth's soliloquy “the prince of Cumberland: that is the step I must fall or step over” highlights how his ambition has no limits and that his actions will not end in the murder of the king. This development results… in the middle of the paper… the Nsinana forest is revealed by the desperate tone “I doubt the misunderstanding of the demon” and “I am tired of the sun and I wish for the estate” the world was now destroyed”. Macbeth's old honorable self descends into damnation leaving only his arrogance highlighted by the menacing tone "yet I will try the last time... I will cast my warlike shield." Shakespeare provides audiences of all times with the life lesson that man's inability to control desires will lead to their downfall and damnation. Macbeth further explores how man's uncontrolled passions and greed can corrupt his rational thoughts and actions. This ultimately develops into a loss of moral conscience and rationalism leading to their final damnation. Through Macbeth, Shakespeare exposes the flawed nature of man's values and the audience's timeless struggle to find moral ground when corrupted by their own desires..
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