Nero, an ancient Roman emperor of nearly 14 years, committed innumerable morally reprehensible deeds during his reign. Throughout his lifetime, he murdered thousands of individuals, including several members of his own family (Owen). He burned down the city of Rome in its entirety, killing thousands in the process (Owen). Even further, Nero systematically oppressed, tortured, and killed thousands of people simply because of their religious preference. He took pride in the myriad of creative methods by which he killed others: impaling, burning, boiling, stabbing, poisoning, and beheading. It wasn’t until the year 68 C.E. that his reign of terror finally ended when he took his own life (Owen). What caused Nero to act in such ways?
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Habituation (sometimes called “desensitization”) is “limited responsiveness with repeated stimulation” (Myers 264). In essence, after being repeatedly exposed to a certain one will react less to its occurrence. Ultimately, the process of desensitization makes individuals more likely to repeat a certain act, such as killing. With this in mind, Macbeth’s actions are not entirely atypical, especially considering the various external factors involved. If the principle of habituation is correct, Macbeth would not only be likely to kill, but would feel less guilty with each subsequent murder. Indeed, the psychological principle accurately predicts Macbeth’s behavior. He is initially devoured by his guilt over murdering Duncan, evidenced by his lines directly following the murder: “Methought I heard a voice cry “Sleep no more! / Macbeth does murder sleep” - the innocent sleep…” (II. ii. 47-49). Eventually, however, he begins to kill and feel less and less. As the play progresses, he is able to hire murderers to kill others he sees as threats to his reign and feel no guilt whatsoever. Since the principle of habituation has accurate predictive capabilities, Macbeth obviously becomes desensitized to violence via habituation. Clearly, Macbeth does not initially want to be a murderer - but his environment ultimately cause him to be
Habituation (sometimes called “desensitization”) is “limited responsiveness with repeated stimulation” (Myers 264). In essence, after being repeatedly exposed to a certain one will react less to its occurrence. Ultimately, the process of desensitization makes individuals more likely to repeat a certain act, such as killing. With this in mind, Macbeth’s actions are not entirely atypical, especially considering the various external factors involved. If the principle of habituation is correct, Macbeth would not only be likely to kill, but would feel less guilty with each subsequent murder. Indeed, the psychological principle accurately predicts Macbeth’s behavior. He is initially devoured by his guilt over murdering Duncan, evidenced by his lines directly following the murder: “Methought I heard a voice cry “Sleep no more! / Macbeth does murder sleep” - the innocent sleep…” (II. ii. 47-49). Eventually, however, he begins to kill and feel less and less. As the play progresses, he is able to hire murderers to kill others he sees as threats to his reign and feel no guilt whatsoever. Since the principle of habituation has accurate predictive capabilities, Macbeth obviously becomes desensitized to violence via habituation. Clearly, Macbeth does not initially want to be a murderer - but his environment ultimately cause him to be