David+G.

David Gerz Jack Matthews In the tragedy of //Macbeth// there are many moral issues [|Shakespeare] discuses throughout the entire play. The major and most prominent moral issue discussed in //Macbeth// is the theme of good eventually conquering evil. In //Macbeth// Lady Macbeth and Macbeth are the two characters in the tragedy that are viewed as evil and unnatural. The witches in the tragedy are evil; however, they are not important enough to be considered in this theme. The important idea behind the witches in this theme of moral issues is that the witches consider Macbeth to be evil. By the pricking of my thumbs, Something wicked this way comes: Open, locks Whoever knocks! (4.1.44-47). This quote is said by the Second Witch and is said right before Macbeth comes to get more information out of the witches about the future. It shows that even now the witches believe that Macbeth is truly an evil source of power. Along with this theme, we see that throughout the play Shakespeare uses the concept of sleep in order to punish evil. The main characters that are evil lose the daily ability to sleep, which is a necessity to life. The first example of this is when Macbeth kills King Duncan. As soon as Macbeth kills King Duncan**** Macbeth tells Lady Macbeth that, “Me thought I heard a voice cry ‘Sleep no more!’”(2.2.34). The second example of the loss of sleep is when Lady Macbeth becomes an [|insomniac]. “This disease is beyond my practice. Yet I have/ known those which have walked in their sleep who/ have died holily in their beds” (5.1.60-63). **(incorporate this quote by the doctor more smoothly)** Both of these points in the play show that Shakespeare is punishing the evil characters in the play by not letting them sleep anymore. Since sleep is a necessity of life, the act of not being able to sleep anymore more **(delete more)** signifies a huge consequence to acting in an evil manner.
 * Morals…Signifying Something** **(love this!!!!)**

The second and final **(final is not a good word choice here - A second and equally important...)** moral issue discussed in //Macbeth// is the necessity and drive for power. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth both have struggles for the power of the crown over King Duncan, Banquo, and Macduff. Throughout the tragedy we can see that the struggle for power ultimately brings evil to all who fight for it. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are the two main characters that fight for the power and become evil. First;**(change to a comma)** together, they plot and kill King Duncan. Secondly, Macbeth orders for **(delete for)** the death of Banquo and the Macduff family. Finally, Macbeth has a struggle for the power and crown of Scotland at the end of the tragedy with Macduff. This moral issue coincides with that of the first moral issue of good eventually overcoming evil. Macduff, who represents the good, defeats Macbeth at **(in)** the end. This not only signifies the first theme or moral but shows how power struggles eventually lead to death. The moral issue shows that Shakespeare is addressing the power struggles that occur during life and how silly and unnecessary they are.

Another important concept that must be focused on is if these moral issues are prevalent in today’s society. For the first issue that good will eventually over come **(make one word)** evil, this has not happened yet; however, people are still fighting against evil. An example of this is the situation happening in Darfur. Everyone knows that the government is supporting the [|Janjaweed], yet the government will publicly deny it. The Janjaweed are killing all the native Darfurians and starving them. This goes along with the moral issue of good eventually conquering evil because even though the evil is winning, like Macbeth was, there are still good people, like Macduff, fighting against the Janjaweed and the Sudanese government in order to try to put a stop to the war in Darfur. This shows how the good is still fighting against evil but there is also an example of some good prevailing. The example of this would be the apartheid in South Africa. During the apartheid in South Africa **** many of the good figures fought against the government in order to try to end the apartheid. This shows that good is prevailing in some aspects since the apartheid was ended in 1994. So these two examples show that good is in the process of prevailing over evil and also has successfully prevailed over evil, just as in the tragedy of //Macbeth//. **(good analysis)**

Finally, in regards **(drop the s)** to the final moral issue, a power struggle, we see that many power struggles are prevalent in today’s society. An example of this would be the power struggle that exists in Iraq. The conflict is between the [|Shiites] and the [|Sunnis]. These two groups have been constantly fighting for the power over Iraq since two groups started to have different ideas of who the true successor of Muhammad was. Since these groups have been fighting, many outbreaks of violence have occurred on a daily basis. The Sunnis and the Shiites and their power struggle relate to the power struggle like **(delete like)** in //Macbeth// because they are both fighting for the control of the state and country. This is just one example of how power struggles are still evident in today’s society; but, this relates the most to the struggle in //Macbeth// because in both Iraq and the tragedy two groups fought for the commanding power of the country.


 * Well done!**