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Macbeth kills Banquo out of fear and initially hardly agonises over the murder of either Banquo or his son Fleance the way he does over the killing of Duncan. He believes by killing them he annihilates the possibility of Banquo's seeds mastering the kingdom. However in the banquet Macbeth's fear does turn guilt as sees or imagines Banquo's ghost. This is of immense significance since this is first time that his inner conflict is made public, that too in front of the other thanes. This is the time from when the tides turn against Macbeth and things start to fall apart. Macbeth becomes increasingly paranoid about everything which is reflected both internally and externally. Noticing Macduff absence he begins to attribute it to a probable conspiracy to hatch his own downfall.     The Banquet Scene (scene iv, Act III) opens at the royal hall of Scotland with the banquet ready celebrating Macbeth’s coronation. The audience find the couple now at the height of double-deal...

Few scenes in Shakespeare can provoke more laughter in the theatre than the ‘Porter Scene’ in Macbeth (II, iii). At the centre of this paradox lies the character of the Porter, and in particular the obscenities which punctuate his remarks. Some critics like Pope, Coleridge, Clark and Wright consider this scene to be an interpolation yet the dramatic importance of this scene cannot be denied.                                   The Porter Scene provides the much-needed dramatic relief in Macbeth. It follows the breath-taking and awe-inspiring murder scene of Duncan’s murder which marks the crisis of the play. Though the murder takes play off stage the horror of the deed is effectively brought to the audience by a succession of tension bound scenes the appearance of the witches, the report of Macdonald’s executi...

Throughout Shakespeare's  Macbeth  the central characters struggle to accept the concepts of fate and free will, leading to Macbeth's ultimate downfall as the play's five acts conclude The Renaissance in England witnessed a raging battle between the sanctity, will and the power of the individual man and the divine will. In the case of Macbeth , the notion of divine will got transformed into that of fate, as is the case with many classical tragedies. The roles of fate and free will in  Macbeth  ultimately led to Macbeth's downfall. Though fate guides Macbeth's thinking, there is no doubt that he freely chooses to commit the atrocities that he did. His reliance and trust in fate made him overly confident in his standing; however, following this path drove away his constituents, finally causing them to rebel. Even throughout the final battle against the combined army of Macduff, Macdownald and the King of England, Macbeth continues to rely on fate to prese...

Rural Burdwan, especially during that time of the year when the harvesting is done, has a charm of its own. The otherwise green fields turn into vast stretches of empty land punctuated by yellow mustard fields. It gives one an ethereal sublimity driving through these areas with the chilling breeze and soft winter sun for the company.    Dainhat, the present-day incarnation of the historical city of Indrani on the western banks of Bhagirathi near Katwa, can truly be considered a temple town. It stands witness to the history that Baghtikara Temple dates back to the Bargi attack on Bengal and even back. Sadly, much of the olden terracotta temples lie in utter ruin in different parts of the town which is also the house to one of the earliest municipal bodies of the country dating back to the 1860s. But, unplanned civic growth has definitely taken its toll over its ancient monuments that lie littered across the narrow and dingy lanes of the town. One of the oldest among th...

At a Glance  Twelfth Night Type of work: play Genre: comedy (sub-genre: Romantic/ festive/ pastoral comedy) Time of composition: between 1600-1602 Tone: Light, cheerful, comic; occasionally frantic and melodramatic, especially in the speeches of Orsino and Olivia. Tense: Present (the entire story is told through dialogue) Setting (place): The mythical land of Illyria Twelfth Night, one of the festive comedies of Shakespeare, is a play known for its brilliant witticism, charming pastoral setting where the dramatist magnificently brings forward his philosophy of life:in idyllic pastoral settings.  Comedy, in its Elizabethan usage, had a very different meaning from modern comedy. A Shakespearean comedy is one that has a happy ending, usually involving marriages between the unmarried characters, and a tone and style that is more light-hearted than Shakespeare's other plays. Pastoral comedies employ a movement to a "green world", where both inter...

Introduction Hard Times by Charles Dickens brings into the forefront a host of social, political and economic issues confronted by the urban, continuously industrialized England in the mid nineteenth century. The imaginary Coketown -- an industrial township -- provides the perfect backdrop of the novel which critically examines the condition of the working class and tries to present a critic to the same in its own clandestine way. One needs to remember, like Chaucer, Dickens too was a keen observer throughout his life and in his detailed description of the life and times that he was part of, lies the subtle satire meant to nudge the powers that be to his own quite romantic vision of life where he could neither reject nor accept in its completeness the changing reality of his day -- an utilitarian completely materialistic society bent paradoxically upon serving the the self and self alone in stead of bringing about the greatest good for the greatest numbers. Utilitaria...