Flaws throughout this play and novella have many similarities as well as differences. The writers of both have used many language techniques to present the flaws and successes in the protagonist, as well as presenting change through persuasion, manipulation, fright and sympathy. In both stories the protagonists are on completely different ends of the flaw boundaries, Macbeth’s character towards the beginning of the play is a very successful, admired warrior who has just won a battle and is now being praised by many and has a character with completely no flaws, this is presented in act 1, scene 2 where king Duncan states “What he hath lost, noble Macbeth hath won.” showing that Macbeth is a great warrior as well as being given the image of and unstoppable character, on the other hand towards the beginning of the “Christmas Carol” Scrooge if presented as a cold hearted,selfish and self-centred businessman who only cares about his money and well-being, Dickens gives us this impression in chapter 1, page 8 when he states “No beggars implored him to bestow a trifle, no children asked him what it was o’clock ” this give the impression of Scrooge being a man to be scared of, or a man to have words as cold as his heart. Both protagonists have completely opposite personalities and on completely different levels when it comes to being flawed.
Moving on in both stories, there is an impact on both protagonists which are very effective and also a turning point to both stories. At this stage of the play Macbeth has just met the three witches, who have now told him his future of becoming king and having riches and have had a major effect on the change of his mindset, this is a turning point to Macbeth’s success, he is now becoming flawed when he is presented with the image of power. On the other hand Scrooge has just seen the apparition of the ghost of Marley, the build up to the apparition of Marley uses sound and describes Scrooge having hallucinations while thinking of Marley’s death, this is shown when Dickens says “If each smooth tile had been a blank at first, with power to shape some picture on its surface from the disjointed fragments of his thoughts, there would have been a copy of old Marley’s head on every one.” this quote shows that his memory is playing with his imagination, this is shown where it states ‘ the disjointed fragments of his thoughts’. Both characters are being persuaded but in very distinct ways, Macbeth is being presented with the image of power, he is a great warrior and is used to being praised, but after being presented with a greater kind of praise and power he is engulfed in a different mindset, on the other hand Scrooge is made to feel fear Dickens does the this by having the apparition of Marley’s ghost, these two circumstances are both major turning points to the characters being flawed.
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