How Does Shakespeare Create Sympathy In Macbeth

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Sympathy is a generous feeling, sometimes granted in the most surprising situations. Most commonly, sympathy is displayed towards those similar to us, either in one way or another. In The Tragedy of Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, Macbeth displays immoral and hideous behavior, yet still manages to evoke some feelings of sympathy and perhaps even congeniality rather than animosity from the readers. Perhaps it is because we travel along with him through his journey of rise and fall, perhaps it is because of our first impressions about him, and perhaps it is because we blame other characters for the decisions he makes. Although there is great evidence of horror and evil in his deeds, Macbeth isn’t always seen as the villain of his story. In the first act of the play, we observe a captain, wounded in battle and fighting for his last few breaths. Before dying, the captain wishes to speak to the king. His last words are about Macbeth. “For brave Macbeth—well he deserves that name” (1.2.18). In our first impression of Macbeth, he is seen as a brave and noble hero, fighting for the good of his country. Immediately, his character gains respect, and trust. First impressions matter most to the perception of an individual, and once someone has passed initial judgement about the nature of a person, it is very difficult to change their mind.…show more content…
Although obviously dramatized, Macbeth’s desires are applicable to our daily lives. His strive for power is natural. All people wish to be respected and honored, and all people wish to feel control. Although horrifying and selfishly evil, Macbeth’s actions may be justifiable at their root. Every human experiences anger, greed, egotism and craving at some point, and because of this, we don’t perceive Macbeth as evil as he really is. We sympathize because we see our own struggles acted out in the tragic hero of this

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