Macbeth ThemeOne Thing Leads To Another In

Relation To Life And Literary Work Essay, Research Paper

In the general, a person will unexpectedly encounter a very important event. This event could be decision-maker or chanced one. In a decision-making event, the decision becomes the determinant of a set of sequence of events. In a chanced event, it is pure chance. This generalization applies not only to real life situations but also to literary pieces of work. A decision-making event is implemented in Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth. In life, it would be more likely a chanced one. When one event is put in action, a chain of events will follow about thus implementing the theme “One thing leads to another.”

In Macbeth, a certain situation occurred that puts into motion a set of chained events. This situation is when Macbeth first met the three weird sisters in the beginning part of the play. The three weird sisters introduced two prophecies to Macbeth. The first prophecy is “All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor. (Act 1, Scene 3).” The second prophecy is “All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be King hereafter! (Act 1, Scene 3)” The prophecies of the three witches spark up a flare in Macbeth’s mind. After the first of the two prophecies came true, he was faced with the decision to assassin King Duncan or to sit down calmly and do nothing about it. Macbeth’s final decision was to kill the king and thus fulfilling the second prophecy of the three weird sisters. Macbeth’s decision of treason is the consequential beginning of the chain of events.

As a result of becoming King of Scotland, Macbeth became very cautious and suspicious in order to secure his well being. Macbeth’s friend and fellow comrade, Banquo, is a righteous and honorable man. In this quote “He hath wisdom that doth guide his valor to act in safety. There is none but he whose being I do fear (Act 3, Scene 1)”, Macbeth is afraid of Banquo’s being because he might disrupt his rein as king. As a result, Macbeth had to kill Banquo in order to feel that his throne was secure for the moment being. In this quote “O, treachery! Fly, good Fleance, fly, fly, fly! (Act 3, Scene 3), Banquo is slain by the men of Macbeth. The slaying of Banquo is an event in a chain of events resulting from King Duncan’s Death. After the slaying of Banquo, Macbeth is safe for the while being but yet another concern has risen amidst Macbeth’s noblemen.

Following the slaying of Banquo, Macbeth has to make sure that he is secured of his throne and life. He went to ask the three weird sisters of his future as the King of Scotland. The three sisters showed Macbeth three visions. The first vision is an armed head apparition saying “Beware Macduff! Beware Thane of Fife! (Act 4, Scene 1).” The second vision is a bloody child saying, “The pow’r of man, for none of woman born shall harm Macbeth (Act 4, Scene 1).” The third vision is a crowned child with a tree in his hand saying, “Macbeth shall never vanquished be until Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill shall come against him (Act 4, Scene 1).” After hearing these visions, Macbeth was quite confident of his well being. But to eliminate anymore threats, he was determined to destroy the enemy before the enemy had a chance to strike at him. He ordered the deaths of Macduff and his family (Act 4, Scene 2). Fortunately, Macduff escaped to England where he combined forces with King Duncan’s son, Malcolm, and proposed retaking the throne of Scotland. The slayings of Macduff’s family is a subsequent event that followed the death of Banquo and is a distant but close consequential result of Macbeth killing King Duncan. This sets in motion the finale of Macbeth’s throne and his life.

After Malcolm and Macduff rallied up enough troops, they attacked Macbeth’s castle. Malcolm’s army camouflaged themselves in branches and leaves thus fulfilling the prophecy of “Great Birnam woods moving to Dunsinane.” When Macbeth and Macduff engaged in a mono to mono duel, Macduff said, “Tell thee, Macduff was from his mother’s womb untimely ripped (Act 5, Scene 8).” Macduff’s words fulfilled the third and final prophecies and thus time is at its endpoint for Macbeth. Macbeth is slain and his throne taken by Malcolm. Macbeth’s death is the final event of a set of chain of events that Macbeth himself set into action when he decided to assassinate the King of Scotland. Through Macbeth’s one decision, “One thing leads to another.”

The theme, “One thing leads to another”, not only occurs in Shakespeare’s Macbeth but it could also be applied to real life situations. In real life, it is more likely that a chain of events is set off by a chanced situation. Once I was strolling through the park with my friend. As we were walking past a homeless person, my friend saw that he was bleeding profusely with a knife stuck in his side. My friend told me and he took out his cellular phone and called up an ambulance.

The ambulance came in about five minutes and the medical personnel carefully moved the bleeding guy onto the stroller. They immediately administer medical care for the person. My friend and me got into his car and we drove to the hospital with the police at our side. In a matter of minutes, we arrived at the hospital. The police asked my friend and me some questions and we told him whatever we knew. We waited to see if the person in emergency rescue was okay. After an hour, the surgeons came out and said, “The person was okay. Luckily, he was found early enough. If we had been a minute later, he would have not made it through.” We were quite happy and then we went to meet up with our friends that we waiting. Then we all went to have a nice evening dinner at some Chinese restaurant. By chance, my friend and me saw an injured person and suddenly “One thing lead to another”.

Whether it is in real life or in a literary piece, “One thing leads to another” is applied because this is how a chain of events is made possible. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Macbeth’s decision to assassinate the King of Scotland leads to a series of events. In Macbeth’s case, if he hadn’t made his decision then there would not be a series of consequential events. So in Macbeth, there is the theme “One thing leads to another.” As in real life if my friend and me did not see the injured person, then we would not be able to save the man’s life. So in this particular event, it was chance that applied the theme “One thing leads to another.” When one event is put into action, a sequence of events follows thus implementing the theme “One thing leads to another.”

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