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Essay / Weirdness in Macbeth - 915
Shakespeare frequently uses the adjective “bizarre” in his tragedy Macbeth. In addition to evoking the supernatural and the supernatural, the word also forces us to consider the nature of its antonym: what is normal? Macbeth's emotions and actions gradually become more and more disjointed as the play progresses. When he eventually loses his ability to feel emotions, Macbeth also loses his humanity; in other words, it becomes “weird.” The prophecy catalyzing Macbeth's demise comes from the "Weird Sisters" and "weirdness" is prevalent throughout the play. For example, Ross says: “Seventy I remember well: during that time I saw terrible hours and strange things; but this painful night has neglected the former knowledge” (2:4:1-4). Ghosts appear frequently in Macbeth, as do paranormal events. However, Shakespeare does not use supernatural elements simply to drive the plot; elements of strangeness help elucidate Macbeth's tragic flaw by forcing the reader to define normality. In order to fully understand the importance of the “bizarre,” we must also examine the other themes and symbols of the play. The first lines of the play are full of dialectical speeches and paradoxes. The Weird Sisters' speech is filled with statements such as "When the battle is lost and won" (1:1:4) and "Righteous is evil, and evil is righteous" (1:1:12). Macbeth repeats the paradox prophetically: “A day so dirty and so fair I have not seen” (1:3:38). So, from the beginning, the reader is inclined to question the opposite of a statement or scene. For example, Lady Macbeth asks the murdering ministers to remove her penis. What is the opposite of a sexless woman? Not a man but rather a sort of “non-woman” who cannot be defined without reference to his adversaries in the middle of a paper, and who broke his brains, if I had sworn. as you have done” (1:7:56-59). She also subtly works on Macbeth, only recognizing him as her husband after he kills Duncan: “My husband! (2:2:13), she finally cries. This emotional manipulation succeeds in stifling Macbeth's emotions and allows him to act without feeling; that is to say, without his humanity. Through Macbeth, Shakespeare argues that the human being is not merely physical; on the contrary, to be human we must also have emotions and anything less makes us “weird”. With Macbeth's tragic flaw, Shakespeare probes the gray area between biology and philosophy. Although an explicit discussion of this connection does not appear in the play, Macbeth's tragic flaw provides insight into how one can avoid leaving this world by being a "dead butcher" (5:8:70) , someone who has lost his emotions and therefore his feeling. humanity.