The Tragedy of Macbeth and the Second Creation Story
The tragedy of Macbeth can be easily related to the second creation story through the choices the protagonists make to achieve their wishes and the failures which result from their decisions. For instance, the creation story can in the Bible be easily compared to Macbeth through three main parts. The role of Lady Macbeth and Eve of tempting their husbands, the central characters not realizing their privileges and taking them for granted, and the guilt they suffer due to the poor choices they make (Burnett"Mark 241). While reading the first couple chapters of the tragedy of Macbeth, the reader can quickly realize Williams's inspiration from the book Of Genesis since there are similarities and some slight differences in the behaviors of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth and those of Adam's and eve. In the play, William creates an enormous metaphor for the original sin of Adam and Eve through writing about the murders which Macbeth and his wife committed. This article seeks to compare and contrast the human conditions in Macbeth and Lady Macbeth and those of Adam and Eve.
The Role of Temptresses
The central likeness in the story is the role the two female protagonists play as temptresses. When Lady Macbeth gets word that Macbeth would be crowned king, she does everything to make sure that those words indeed become a reality. She even coaxes Macbeth to murder Duncan who happens to be the king at the time. When Lady Macbeth realizes that his husband is not committed to killing Duncan she tells him "When you durst do it, then you were a man; and to be more than what you were, you would be so much the man" (Shakespeare 56-58). Although Macbeth is a bit hesitant at the beginning, he ends falling for the persuasion and kills him. Lady Macbeth and Macbeth both die at the end of the story as a punishment for the crimes they commit. Similarly, Eve cunningly plays the role of a temptress in the creation story. After placing Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, God presents them with a rule that they should not eat fruits from the tree of knowledge. However, the serpent persuades Eve to eat the fruit with an assurance that she will not get punished by God. Eve convinces Adam to eat the fruit and just like Macbeth, he is hesitant at the beginning, but he ends up eating it. Adam blames Eve for the sin for he says to God "The woman whom you put me here with –she gave me the fruit of the tree, so I ate it" (Genesis 3:12). As a punishment, God banishes Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden.
Greed and Disregard for Privileges
Father, the two stories relate is through the characters being greedy and not realizing what they have at their disposal. In the story of Macbeth, Macbeth and his wife have high ranks in the kingdom. However, when they receive the news that there was a probability that Macbeth would be crowned king, their thoughts are preoccupied, and they only think of ways of attaining the next top position. They even go to the extent of killing an innocent man. In the same way, Adam and Eve were bounded by great things in the Garden of Eden handed to them by God. God only gave them one condition that is not to consume fruits from the tree in the middle of the garden and enjoy the bountiful foods from the rest of the plants. God warns them by telling them "You shall not eat it or even touch it, lest you die" (Genesis 3:3) However, they both disregarded the command and ate from the tree. If Macbeth would not have fallen into the trap of Lady Macbeth, he would great thoroughly enjoy the privilege of being The Thane of Cawdor. Also, if Adam and Eve had followed the Gods rule, they would continue enjoying the fruits of the Garden.
The Influence of Dark Powers
In the tragedy of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is influenced by the witches and the dark powers to achieve her desires of attaining more knowledge. Similarly, Eve is controlled by dark forces in the form of the serpent to eat the fruit of knowledge. The offers made by the dark powers are fulfilled but sadly not in an expected way. Eve is persuaded that if she eats the fruit, she will gain the knowledge. Correspondingly, Lady Macbeth is also allured by the understanding of the future promised by the witches, and she ends up believing that she has power which she uses courageously and decisively. When eve finds herself naked and possessed by a spirit she does not comprehend, she tempts and entices her husband to repeat her mistake. Likewise, when confronted with her husband's moment of righteousness, Lady Macbeth uses her charms to ensure her husband's participation in the deed. As a result, both suffer due to their overweening ambition to assume a power they had no idea how to wield.
Leadership and Manipulation
Further, Macbeth who is the protagonist of the tragedy of Macbeth shares some similarities with Adam. God placed him to be in charge of all the creations since he was the first man created. Similarly, Macbeth is the Thane of Glamis and Cawdor therefore he is a ruler of many people. The similarity is very evident for they are both leaders and are pushed to sin by their wives. Both of the women, entice their husbands to commit the dirty sin. Also, the weird sisters featured in the tragic story of Macbeth have some similarities which are a biblical figure in the story of creation. The sisters are the ones who plant the idea of kingship in the mind of Macbeth just as the serpent convinces eve she will gain knowledge if she ate from the tree of knowledge. The serpent's imprecise language resembles that of the weird sisters, it is true, but it does not tell the whole truth.
The Consequences of Sin
The significant difference between the two stories is that Adam and Eve do not die as a result of their sins and they did not kill innocent people unlike Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Lady Macbeth and Macbeth die at the end of the story as punishment for the crimes they had committed (Burnett" Mark 190). However, although Adam and Eve do not die physically, they are spiritually dead since they ruin their relationship with God.
Conclusion
It is apparent that the story of creation and that of Macbeth are allied in some way. William manifestly highlights the themes in the creation story with the aim of conveying life lessons to people. Further, William skillfully shows the parallels he creates between his story and that of creation. However, some comparisons such as the sin is exaggerated, like eating the fruit of knowledge is not the same as committing murder. Also, some things are even under exaggerated for the sake of logic. At a religious perspective, disobeying God direct orders through eating the fruit of knowledge is a more serious offence than murder. Since majority of the addressees would be possibly Christians, they would subconsciously realize the parallels and recall better. Indeed, William succeeded in crafting an allegory in Macbeth which is dominant in the whole drama.
Works Cited
Burnett, Mark Gimelli. "The" Reason" of Radical Evil: Shakespeare, Milton, and the Ethical Philosophers." Studies in Philology 113.1 (2016): 163-197.
Burnett, Mark Thornton. "SHAKESPEAREAN CINEMA AND THE REST OF THE WORLD." The Shakespearean World (2017): 241.
Shakespeare, William. Macbeth (Second International Student Edition)(Norton Critical Editions). WW Norton " Company, 2016
