The Nightmare in Macbeth
The Beautiful Nightmare One of William Shakespeare’s most sublime works, Macbeth, displays the tragic downfall of a once trustworthy and noble man named Macbeth. Shakespeare is able to transform the nightmare portrayed in this play into art that everyone can relate to, making the play obtain such high quality and admiration. The idea of a nightmare is dissimilar to the genre of horror in a variety of ways. A nightmare is very realistic and universal, whereas horror is not; it is exaggerated, very predictable, and one may find it difficult to relate it to any present themes. In this play there is a great connection formed between the audience and Macbeth, through his journey of self-destruction. The themes that relate to the nightmare in Macbeth are universal concepts that everyone can interconnect with and be affected by them in different aspects of life. The art that is created from this nightmare differs with every person through his/her life experiences compared to the egocentric decisions made by Macbeth. To begin with, the beauty of this tragic downfall is that one is able to share the experience and learn important life lessons from watching the downfall take place from the beginning, the tragic flaw to the end, increased awareness, where Macbeth comes to realization and understands where he went wrong and why. As Macbeth continually makes careless decisions, the audience is able to see through Macbeth’s perspective as he contemplates about certain issues such as murdering the king of Scotland, Duncan. Macbeth acknowledges the pros and cons of murdering Duncan as he declares:
If it were done, when ‘tis done, then ‘twere well
It were done quickly: if the assassination
Could trammel up the consequence, and catch,
With his surcease, success; that but this blow
Might be the be-all and the end-all here,
But here, upon this bank and shoal of time,
We’d jump the life to come. But in theses cases,
We still have judgment here; that we but teach
Bloody
If it were done, when ‘tis done, then ‘twere well
It were done quickly: if the assassination
Could trammel up the consequence, and catch,
With his surcease, success; that but this blow
Might be the be-all and the end-all here,
But here, upon this bank and shoal of time,
We’d jump the life to come. But in theses cases,
We still have judgment here; that we but teach
Bloody