Die folgende Arbeit befasst sich mit der Frage des Guten und des Bösen in den Tragödien König Lear und Macbeth von William Shakespeare. Das Ziel dieser Arbeit ist es die Probleme der beiden Konzepte und die Rollen der Charaktere als Gut und Böse in Bezug auf die Tragödien zu untersuchen. Von Anfang an wird der Fokus dieser Arbeit auf die Handlungen von Charakteren und ihre moralischen Werte gestellt. Es wird gezeigt, dass während der Renaissance sich die Wahrnehmung des Guten und des Bösen verändert hat. In der späten Renaissance, als die intellektuelle Entwicklung des Menschen stattgefunden hat, begannen diese Konzepte gut, schlecht und böse zu unterscheiden. Durch die Untersuchung von Kräften des Guten wie Cordelia und Banquo, Kräften des Bösen wie Edmund und Lady Macbeth und problematischen Kräften wie Lear und Macbeth verdeutlicht diese Arbeit, dass unter allen diskutierten Charakteren Cordelia die reinste Güte vertritt. Andere Charaktere scheinen schlecht zu sein, weil sie innerhalb des „normalen“ Fehlverhaltens handeln. Zum Beispiel, täuscht Banquo König Duncan, Machiavel Edmund betrügt seine Familie, Lady Macbeth manipuliert ihren Mann und Lear wehrt seine Tochter ab. Nur Macbeth kann als böse Person genannt werden, weil er außerhalb des „normalen“ Fehlverhaltens handelt, nämlich er mordet. Allerdings ist Macbeth nicht eine böse Person in seiner Natur, da seine Antriebskraft für amoralisches Verhalten nicht sein rationaler Verstand sondern Emotionen sind. Außerdem offenbaren die beiden Tragödien, dass das Gute böse werden kann, wie auch das Böse gut werden kann. Dies bedeutet auch, dass die Natur des Guten und des Bösen wegen der Mehrdeutigkeit jedes Konzeptes problematisch ist. In Bezug auf Ethik und moralische Werte verdrehen die Charaktere die klassischen moralischen Werte, weil sie ihre unmoralischen Handlungen als eine Quelle für eigene Vorteile sehen. Jedoch, sind ihre amoralischen Handlungen diese wirkliche Quelle des Bösen, weil die unleugbar zu Zerstörung beziehungsweise zu Selbstzerstörung der Charaktere führen. Shakespeare dramatisiert individuelles amoralisches Verhalten der Menschen, das letztendlich zu ihren eigenen Tragödien führt. Das Fazit dieser Arbeit ist, dass die Probleme des Guten und des Bösen nicht behoben werden können, weil der Mensch ein Potenzial für die Entwicklung des Bösen und die Zerstörung der unschuldigen Güte besitzt.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. The Concepts of Good and Evil in Renaissance
3. Good and Evil in King Lear and Macbeth
3.1. Forces of Goodness: Cordelia and Banquo
3.2. Forces of Evil: Edmund and Lady Macbeth
3.3. Challenging Concepts of Good and Evil: Lear and Macbeth
4. Resolving Evil? The Final Scenes
5. Conclusion
Research Objectives and Themes
This thesis explores the complex and multifaceted concepts of good and evil within Shakespeare's tragedies King Lear and Macbeth, specifically examining the moral characterizations of the protagonists in relation to evolving Renaissance ethical frameworks.
- The evolution of good and evil perceptions from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance.
- The moral classification of characters as forces of goodness, evil, or complex/ambivalent figures.
- The impact of individual ambition, passion, and free will on moral judgment.
- The inherent conflict between traditional family/social bonds and individualistic pursuits.
- The ambiguity of victory between good and evil forces in the final scenes of both tragedies.
Extract from the Book
3.1 Forces of Goodness: Cordelia and Banquo
Cordelia represents a symbol of idealized goodness because of her manifestation of the absolute and pure love for her father, Lear. She reveals her true feelings in the love test, in which Lear trials the emotions of his three daughters in order to divide his Kingdom among them. It is sufficiently to note that Cordelia, Lear’s youngest daughter, did not deceive her father, whereas her sisters did. Needless to say, she felt that her father should know of her obvious affections without the need for frivolous words. Cordelia acts against the test, because she tries to aware her father in the falseness of her sisters’ love to him, as she knows that their love is not as pure as they profess. Her meek sentences reveal her act against Goneril’s flattering: “What shall Cordelia speak? Love, and be silent” (1.1.62). She continues her speech against Regan’s fraud: “Then poor Cordelia, /And yet not so, since I am sure my love’s/ More ponderous than my tongue” (1.1.76-78). Cordelia tries to warn her father that he is being deceived by the flattering of her wicked sisters. In addition, Cordelia´s way of speaking demonstrates her true and chaste love for Lear. She does not even make an attempt to convey her feelings by words when she speaks: “Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave [m]y heart into my mouth (1.1.91). Cordelia is not able to flatter the way her wicked sisters do and her virtuous love apparently makes her mute. She is so truthful and charitable, that she cannot express her love through words, because seemingly the words cannot describe her feeling. Hence, her faithful love appears to be more than words and cannot be expressed through an eloquent speech.
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: This chapter outlines the thesis goals, providing a historical overview of changing perceptions of good and evil from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance as a foundation for analyzing Shakespeare's works.
2. The Concepts of Good and Evil in Renaissance: The section examines the shift from a medieval hierarchical world order, where morality was divinely dictated, to a Renaissance perspective emphasizing human individuality and moral ambiguity.
3. Good and Evil in King Lear and Macbeth: This chapter analyzes character behavior, categorizing them into forces of goodness, forces of evil, and complex figures, highlighting the difficulty in assigning clear moral labels.
3.1. Forces of Goodness: Cordelia and Banquo: The author evaluates the idealized goodness of Cordelia and the initial moral purity of Banquo, subsequently contrasting their responses to temptation and moral crisis.
3.2. Forces of Evil: Edmund and Lady Macbeth: This section investigates the "villainous" traits of Edmund and Lady Macbeth, arguing that their actions are driven by individualistic desires rather than pure evil intent.
3.3. Challenging Concepts of Good and Evil: Lear and Macbeth: The chapter explores the transformation of Lear and Macbeth from noble figures to tragic victims of their own pride, ambition, and inability to reconcile with external moral expectations.
4. Resolving Evil? The Final Scenes: This section interprets the endings of both tragedies, concluding that they offer only ambiguous or partial victories for goodness, reflecting the complexity of the human condition.
5. Conclusion: The conclusion synthesizes the findings, asserting that good and evil in Shakespeare are inextricably linked to human choice and that their problems remain fundamentally unresolved.
Keywords
Shakespeare, King Lear, Macbeth, Renaissance, Ethics, Good and Evil, Moral Values, Ambiguity, Individuality, Tragic Heroes, Cordelia, Banquo, Edmund, Lady Macbeth, Human Nature.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the fundamental objective of this academic paper?
The paper aims to investigate the problems surrounding the concepts of good and evil in Shakespeare's King Lear and Macbeth, analyzing to what extent the characters can be classified as strictly good or evil.
Which historical periods are contrasted to set the context of the analysis?
The work contrasts the moral perceptions of the Middle Ages, characterized by a divine hierarchical order, with those of the Renaissance, which began to emphasize individual consciousness and human agency.
What is the central research question regarding the characters?
The primary focus is to determine whether Shakespeare's characters are truly "evil" or merely "bad" and "wicked" due to moral failure, and how they navigate their free will within the social and familial structures of their respective plays.
Which scientific or analytical method does the author employ?
The author utilizes a textual and literary analysis, incorporating perspectives from various critics to explore how characters like Cordelia, Banquo, Edmund, Lady Macbeth, Lear, and Macbeth function within the thematic framework of good and evil.
What topics are covered in the main body of the thesis?
The main body systematically analyzes the "Forces of Goodness" and "Forces of Evil," followed by an examination of how these concepts are challenged by the tragic trajectories of the protagonists, Lear and Macbeth.
Which keywords best characterize this work?
Key terms include Shakespeare, moral ambiguity, individual consciousness, Renaissance ethics, tragic heroes, and the nature of evil versus bad behavior.
How does the author define the "evil" nature of the characters?
The author argues that labeling these characters as strictly "evil" is often inaccurate; instead, they are characterized by their ambition and failure to adhere to traditional societal bonds, leading to tragic outcomes for themselves and others.
What conclusion does the author draw about the final scenes of the tragedies?
The author concludes that neither play offers a definitive triumph of good over evil; rather, the endings present an ambiguous and partial resolution, reflecting the persistent presence of evil as an inherent part of human existence.
- Arbeit zitieren
- Alina Müller (Autor:in), 2012, Good and Evil In Shakespeare´s King Lear and Macbeth, München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.hausarbeiten.de/document/200565
