Light and Darkness in Macbeth :: Macbeth essays

Light and Darkness in Macbeth William Shakespeare's "Macbeth" is an ominous tale that illustrates the danger in violating the Great Chain of Being, the hierarchy of things in God's ordered universe. The Chain ranked all of creation and human society as well. It ranked kings above nobles and nobles above the poor. When Macbeth murdered King Duncan and assumed the throne, the Chain was violated... chaos resulted. The atmosphere of the play symbolized this resulting turmoil. Specifically, light and shadow were used to exemplify the unnatural chaos and ominous tone of the work. This essay will explore the role of light and the role of darkness as it relates to the chaos resulting from the violation of the Great Chain of Being. Light is a common symbol for good tidings and order, so it is with Shakespeare's "Macbeth". At the announcement of his successor, his son, King Duncan said, "Which honor must not unaccompanied invest him [The Prince of Cumberland, King Duncan's son and successor to the throne] only, but signs of nobleness, like stars, shall shine / on all deservers" (Shakespeare 189). King Duncan pledged his throne to his son as would be compatible with the Great Chain of Being. The light that was mentioned suggests that all was right with the world; the Great Chain of Being was in proper order. The idea that light signifies the natural order of things is enforced when the nobleman Ross says, "And yet dark night strangles the traveling lamp [the sun]" (Shakespeare 206). The sun is the symbol of the Great Chain of Being and God's order in harmony because it is the source of all natural light. Macbeth's act of regicide disturbed the natural order of things and so subdued the sun. In "Macbeth", light is a symbol of harmony and order, but darkness is just the opposite. Darkness is the chaos and evil that results from a broken Great Chain of Being. Macbeth sent Scotland into turmoil and dark night when he murdered King Duncan. In response to the announcement of the Prince of Cumberland as the successor to the throne of Scotland, Macbeth said, "... Stars, hide your fires, let not light see my black and deep desires [to murder both King Duncan and the Prince of Cumberland]" (Shakespeare 189).

Women’s Struggle for Identity through Appearance

How does the writer explore their thoughts and feelings through identity? Germaine Greer talks about ‘demands' that are made upon women to change their bodies in order to look pleasing to the eyes of others. This idea that women should look a certain way and that there is only one right way. She explores the women of both the working class and the middle class and the way they struggle for identity through appearance. Greer explores her thoughts and feelings though identity by the use of language. She uses words such as ‘grossness' and ‘curvaceous' to describe women's thoughts about their bodies.It almost seems like Greer is Just talking about the pressure for women to conform. She doesn't describe in a way that shows she disagrees with women's thoughts about their bodies and the pressure to counter their bodies in order to fit in to the two categories curvy or thin. She talks about how the curvy girl who ought to be thin and the thin girl who ought to be curvy. Gre er is trying to get across the message that women's struggling with appearance in order to have the perfect body is a never ending cycle. You can be ‘curvy or thin' but the pressure to change your body never fades.She mentions how ‘a woman is tailoring herself to appeal to buyers' market. Greer suggests that women are all going through this in order to catch the attention of males. She uses the terms tailoring and ‘buyers'. This idea that women are pressured to change their bodies in order to look pleasing to men. She goes on to say that this ‘buyer' is likely to be the husband, whose accepts her for her image. She describes women as passive objects of males. I think Greer is trying show the sad reality of women; women are the ones who keep succumbing to this pressure to change their image.They are insecure and are constantly trying to change themselves. She states that women's bodies are treated as ‘aesthetic objects without function'; this causes dama ge to their bodies and the owners. Greer talks about this idea of the body meeting the soul and a ‘stereotype being born'. I think she's trying to get a cross this idea that women have this fantasy about beauty, she continues on to mention to her belongs all that is beautiful even the word beauty itself. She writes about how nature exists only to make a women appear more beautiful.For example she says â€Å"flowers die gladly so that her skin may uxuriate in their essence†. I think she's trying to get across the idea that this fantasy that women have is also what is making them succumb to the pressure. This idea of a woman's weakness being her beauty is also explored in the play Street car named desire' by William Tennessee. He introduces the character of Blanche who's similar to the women mentioned by Greer. Blanche doesn't want to accept the fact that her beauty is fading. At one point her sister Stella asks her husband to compliment her on her appearance. She mention s ‘it's her weaknesses.In the same way as these omen described by Greer, Blanche is using her beauty and sexuality to capture male attention. She understands and seems to accept that she has to keep her beautiful image in order to find a male suitor. reer's idea ot nature existing to make women beautitul links well wit n the novel ‘Beloved' by Toni Morrison. In the book the character of beloved is described with having skin as smooth's as babies. Beloved is naturally beautiful in the same way that Greer described nature making women beautiful. The fantasy of beauty the Greer described beloved seems to possess.

Racism And Social Darwinism And Its Impact On The World

As the reader goes through the discourse, we can notice his personal battle with colonialism and it changed the very foundation of his world. Cesaire was a product of French colonialism and saw the impact that it had on the planet after the Second World War. He saw the full impact of racism and Social Darwinism, so his response is understandable because he experienced the issues that took place. He was born on June 26, 1913, when France controlled Martinique, so he experienced colonial issues. More importantly, the author saw how Europeans used colonialism against themselves when the Nazi’s exterminated the Jews. On a theoretical level, Cesaire demonstrated how white colonized themselves after the 19th century, but this already occurred before the 15th century. For example, the British colonized the Isles throughout the Middle Ages and brutalized the people, which illustrates that internal colonization needs to occur before a nation can colonize an outside area. Thus, his work reflects his experiences, which makes the piece even stronger because the reader can connect with it. 1. How would you evaluate his claim that section 2 that material gain is no justification for imperialism? During the 19th century, colonialism operated in a theoretical and economic sense because the colonizer need resources for financial gain. For example, in Burmese Days, Orwell uses a conversation between Flory and the Doctor to demonstrate how the British imperialist went to Burma to make aShow MoreRelatedCharles Darwin, The Most Influential Nineteenth Century Evolutionary Thinker1176 Words   |  5 PagesIn the 19th century, scientific research progressed rapidly outside the world of industry and technology (McKay 744). British scientist, Charles Darwin, was the most influential nineteenth-century evolutionary thinker. Darwin spent his early career, amassing enormous amounts of biological and geological data from his voyage to South America (Fiero 3). 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