Violence In Macbeth And 1984

The theme of violence to rule over a society has been explored in literature throughout history. Violence can take various forms including physical and psychological violence. Two such examples depicting the use of violence to control others are examined in Macbeth by William Shakespeare and 1984 by George Orwell. Responsibility for violence depends on the context, and the influences on the inflictor. The form of despotism is a factor in this responsibility: an autocracy or oligarchy. Justification for violence by Macbeth and the Party is rooted in the need for power and control, and both sacrifice values and beliefs important to the reader to obtain this power. Violence results in sacrifices to basic human rights, illusion and reality become …show more content…
Macbeth is both the initiator and inflictor of regicide, murder and tyranny. Winston Smith rebels against the Party due to daily psychological torture: however, he is still the initiator of violence by rebelling against the Party. Lady Macbeth and Julia are influencing factors in both characters’ lives, and affect the choices Macbeth and Winston make. Lady Macbeth challenges Macbeth to kill the king, and the supernatural witches assure him that his regicide is mandated. Winston rebels not only due to his personal thoughts and hatred towards the Party, but to be with his love Julia. However, these influences are not responsible for Macbeth or Winston’s actions. While individuals should be responsible for their actions, the context needs to be examined: Macbeth inflicted violence out of desire, but Winston Smith did so to escape his life where he had no freedom of speech, creativity or love. Winston is oppressed by the Party, and retaliates against this rule to maintain his human emotions and his dignity which is being slowly stripped from him by the Party. Responsibility rests solely on the inflictor who committed the act of violence, not on the influencing factors or the rightfully …show more content…
Macbeth and Winston do not know who to trust, as they have committed regicide and rebellious thoughts against the Party respectively. This leads to paranoia in every move that both characters make. Both Macbeth and Winston are paranoid and fear they may be caught and found out. This influences every move that Macbeth and Winston make: Macbeth eliminates all threats to his throne such as Macduff or Banquo, while Winston has his relationship with Julia outside of Party monitoring. The paranoia strips both men of the ability to live life freely, but allows them to survive in environments where other authority suspects them of