In both ‘Macbeth’ and ‘A Christmas Carol’ the protagonists both show extreme emotions throughout both, the play and the novel. Throughout both stories the protagonists show a variation of extreme emotions as they are going through positive and/or negative changes due to manipulation or being presented their futures (eg. Macbeth being referred to as the Thane of Cawdor by the witches and Scrooge being presented with the sight of his funeral where nobody turns up)
Act 1, Scene 3, Macbeth shows he is confused because the witches have given him the title of ‘Thane of Cawdor’ but he is only the ‘Thane of Glamis’. He shows interest through the way he asked to know more about what the witches were saying, he states “Stay, you imperfect speakers”, this shows interest and also suggest he wants to know more about what the witches are telling him, he also shows excitement which is portrayed by his interest, almost as if he is giving himself in to their manipulation even though he is yet seen as ‘hero’ as well as an honourable man by others in the play . This section was taken from, Chapter 1 (Marley)Page 8, Scrooge starts off by saying “I wish to be left alone” this shows that he is an anti-social person. He shows extreme hate when he says, “If they would rather die,” said Scrooge, “they had better do it, to decrease the surplus population.” this shows he is cold hearted and cares nothing about others which shows he only cares about his money and his health, he says he would rather poor people die so there are less people in need of jobs, food, money and care which means more for him. Both protagonists are on completely different mindsets at this point of both the novel and the play, one being a cold hearted and evil man (Scrooge) and the other being an honourable and respectful man (Macbeth). Macbeth gives us the impression as if he were going to change due to his reaction towards what the witches tell him. Shakespeare has done this to create a sense that something is going to go wrong, to show us that power can cause greed and selflessness, this relates to how Dickens describes the Scrooge, as he already has power as well money, because of this he cares nothing about others and does not even aim to help anyone in need, Scrooge’s character hugely relates to the era in which he live in, where the poor were seen better if they were dead.
Macbeth feels pressure as he imagines a dagger in front of him before he kills Duncan, he states “Come, let me clutch thee.” this shows that he gives himself over to the pressure and manipulation created by his wife and his ambitions to be king, this gives us the impression as if he is forced to grab the dagger and kill King Duncan when really it is just a picture that has been painted in his head by other people. Scrooge shows a sense of weakness and fright as he shouts “But don’t be hard upon me! Don’t be flowery, Jacob! Pray!” at the ghost, this shows that as well as selfless and cold hearted he can be broken down and made to beg for his well being showing an enormous amount of sorrow when he is put in the situation of the people he said should die if they needed to. Both protagonists are being presented with ghost like imaginated figures, things that only they can see, this is essential to the emotions they present towards their character, this sparks a sense of change in the protagonists for the good and one taking a turn for the worse, this shows that pressure and/or fright can affect a persons attitude towards human beings. Shakespeare has used Macbeths imagination to show what emotions Macbeth feels and how they are affecting him mentally, on the other hand Dickens presents Scrooge with a ghost to break his sour and evil character to show his true emotions and fears, these relate to eachother as both the protagonists are presented with figures that defy the laws of science.
“Thou know’st that Banquo, and his Fleance, lives.” says Macbeth, at this stage of play Macbeth has turned heartless and weak when presented with power because of his ambition to be king, he shows that he is capable of killing anyone even his own best friend to achieve this as well as going that step further to kill the son of Banquo (his best friend), who was the only witness at the scene. He also explains it as “Oh, full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife!” this gives me the image that all the pressure from his wife, his urge for power and his goal to be what the witches said, is like having scorpions attacking his brain from all different directions causing confusion and breakdowns. Scrooge is ‘shuddering from head to foot.’ this implies that Scrooge is being affected physically as well as mentally by the apparitions of the ghosts now, he then leads on to say “The case of this unhappy man might be my own.” he here finally admits and realises that he is a self-centred and evil and gives indications that he is going to change for the better. At this point in both the play and the story both protagonists come into realisation of what is going on in their minds and what is going on around them. Macbeth shows that he has realised what he has done to be where he is, but is still oblivious to the fact that he is doing it because of greed and manipulation. On the other hand Scrooge comes to realise that he is greedy and self-centred this is a major turning point in his character and emotions towards people in need.
“Life is nothing more than an illusion” says Macbeth, this shows us that he has given up and that he has seen life fly by as if it were an ‘illusion’, he then states “It’s like a poor actor who struts and worries for his hour on the stage has come to an end and then is never heard from again.” this shows that he sees what awaits him, he sees that his time has come to die after everything he has done, he shows sorrow as well as arrogance as he then makes the decision to fight against the mob the seeks to kill him for what he has done. On the other hand, Scrooge has completely changed his mindset as he has come to realise that he must enjoy what and who he has in the short time he has before his time ends, this shows that his encounters with what is presently going on around him and with what awaits him has emotionally changed him for the better as his attitude towards christmas and everyone around him changes. Scrooge shows that he has changed the way he treats people as he says “A merrier Christmas, Bob, my good fellow,” this shows that he has learnt from the his encounters and shows extreme love and consideration for what he has. Shakespreare portrays Macbeth as an oblivious character that does not realise that he has been manipulated throughout the play and does still not comprehend that what he is doing is not what he really wants, it’s what his mind desires and what his wife has made him believe, on the other hand towards the end of the novel Dickens portrays Scrooge as a man who may have a hard shell, but once cracked he is a soft caring and loving man who sees the world for what it is and not for what he wants it to be. These link as both characters have come in to realisation of what power, money and greed can/has done to them and how they have change because of what they have been present with throughout both the novel and the play.
Throughout both the play and the novel characters show extremely strong emotions towards the things they are presented with, which vary between hatred, greed and fright, as well as their personal beliefs which change towards the end of both the stories. Towards the beginning of both, the protagonists show strong emotions and characteristics towards their beliefs, as both progress, they are presented with situations that change their opinions of their beliefs which cause there to be a drastic change of emotions towards everything they have. In the end of both, the protagonists show completely mindsets compared to where they started, where our image of them was completely different to the one we have now.
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