Date of Award

11-28-1968

Degree Type

Master's Essay - Restricted

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Literatures, Languages, and Cultures

First Advisor

Michael McCanles

Second Advisor

Joseph W. Schwartz

Abstract

Macbeth has been seen by many critics as Shakespeare's most mature vision of evil. Reflecting the classic Christian position which sees evil as a principle of disorder, Shakespeare in Macbeth presents a hero who falls through his violation of personal and social order, and is, in turn, destroyed by the disorder that he creates. In accordance with common Elizabethan attitudes, Shakespeare in Macbeth views the universe as a hierarchy in which man has a particular position to fill. To exceed the limitations of this position was to invite disaster. Macbeth is, in part, a dramatization of this concept of hierarchy. An essential part of this dramatization is the presentation of two conflicting ideals of manhood.

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