A C Bradley Macbeth Essay

But not only has Macbeth been persuaded to kill Duncan, but his innocence gets mocked as Lady Macbeth states “A little water clears us of this deed” (Lady Macbeth, Act II, scene ii).

Macbeth is therefore unable to make use of the “better” imagination with which he was endowed and instead only appears “firm, self-controlled and practical” when he is “hateful” (136). He never forgets his crimes, and he is anything but a common man; he is complex, as conflicted as A. Shakespeare plumbs the depths of human nature, of man’s innate desires, and procures a disturbing reality.

A product of these clashing sides, Macbeth’s murder of Duncan is borne of his inability to properly acknowledge the conclusions drawn by his imagination. Macbeth is not a simple character, but the same can be said for anyone; no one is as plain as he or she may seem.

As with all great works of literature, William Shakespeare’s Macbeth has spawned countless essays concerning its interpretation.

Two such essays, “Shakespearean Tragedy” and “General Macbeth,” produced by two eminent literary critics, A. Bradley and Mary Mc Carthy, find themselves in conflict.

The waste of Macbeth’s innocence although unintentional to him, is what begins the waste concept.

The potential someone has is based on their character and their actions and how they incorporate the two into life situations.“I dare do all that may become a man; who dares do more, is none.” (Macbeth, Act I, scene vii) The evidence shows that his innocence has allowed his wife to make him question his manliness and therefore his morals.As such, the fate of Macbeth is, in the end, the fate of any man.Waste in Macbeth Throughout the play Macbeth, characters change and so do their relationships with other characters.Macbeth is portrayed as a tragic hero, someone who has it all at first but decides to give it all up. Bradley, the central feeling of a tragedy is one of waste.Throughout the story the waste of potential, the waste of life and finally the waste of innocence are just some of the types of wastes that can be found, but they are enough to prove the theory. It can be argued that Macbeth’s waste of his own innocence was not intentional, but forced upon by his wife, yet he ends up going through with the deed of killing Duncan.Yet both Macbeth’s actions and character seem to be weak and immoral.The waste of potential becomes evident as Macbeth turns from a hero into a tragic hero, and starts to take lives as if they are worthless.Curry does not say where he thinks Shakespeare may have come across the idea, but both Theobald's editorial commentary and Curry's explanation suggest that the playwright became aware of "germens" in about 1604, and that the idea captivated him enough for him to allude to it in three plays over the course of two or three years.(2) Curry's point is just one of many that suggest the persuasiveness of taking religion seriously as religion in Macbeth, on the argument that the play was shaped by prevailing assumptions of one sort or another.