Damnation

In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the supernatural are a vital part of the play and they play a big part in the motivation of characters. Macbeth is filled with elements such as, the three witches, the floating dagger, and the ghost of Macduff. These elements are what cause action and chaos during the play and are major causes of Macbeth’s ambition, murder, insanity, his downfall and, ultimately, his death. Through temptation, they motivate characters to think selfishly and for their own…

a divine being. It is his final ascent, just like the apotheosis of Oedipus in Kolonos is his final ascent to the realm of the gods. This pagan ending of Faust might be seen as a rejection of the Christian tradition, namely the inversion of the damnation of Faust as it can be found in Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus. In this respect, the fact that Faust’s soul is saved by angels indirectly…

Free will can be seen as a curse because it put pressure on humanity to voluntarily reject good intensions. Ivan argues that most people are too weak to make choices to good, and that people are doomed to live unhappy lives that end in eternal damnation. That humans can’t handle the responsibility that comes with choice, and that humans would prefer to have someone tell them what to do and not give them a choice. For example if somebody were to tell you to steal, it is not your fault, you were…

captures the dread of the “hollow men” who anticipate the omniscient judgmental eyes of either God or those of the people they killed once they reach the afterlife since the veterans feel unable to atone for their sins. As a result of this fear of damnation, the veteran prays, in an ironically similar fashion to the Lord’s prayer, to “be no nearer” to “death’s dream kingdom” and to wear the disguise of a “Rat’s coat, crow skin, [and] crossed staves”(31-35). Here, Eliot implies that the veteran’s…

worshiped a divine and heavenly father; they strived to please Him and become His servants. However, God’s mighty power struck fear in the hearts of others. They believed that one wrongful, yet measly action could sentence them to an eternal life of damnation. Thusly, many Puritans began ridding the world of sin by executing or condemning any person who served the will of the Devil. Hester Prynne, a member of the Puritan community during this time, faces her sinful actions by being publicly…

Christianity expanded throughout the western world at the end of the Roman empire appealing to slaves, the poor, and women. A man born around 4 B.C.E from Jerusalem, Israel, preached about the word of God gaining followers which threatened the Roman Empire. After his death Paul, an apostle, set the foundation of the Church which would influence the western world greatly throughout history. Another prophet named Muhammad also gained followers through his visions of God in the East. This lead…

Mourning a loved one is a public face of grief we all have encountered in our life. The loss can be severe, and the sorrow is an indescribable pain no one will understand, not even yourself. Although the subject of death is frequently connected by either compassion or fear, Edgar Poe prospered in depicting a sensation trapped between the two. This emotional state replicates a grief so profound that it transforms into a mental insanity, a sensation of agony that has derelict one eternally. After…

absolute decree, has elected to salvation a very small number of men, without any regard to their faith and obedience whatsoever, and has secluded from saving grace all the rest of mankind, and has appointed them, by the same decree, to eternal damnation without any regard to their infidelity or impenitency.” (Baring-Gould,…

Trying to exact revenge often has dire consequences. Despite the limited self-satisfaction that it can provide it can often leave those that you care about hurt, but can also come back and hurt you. The theme of revenge plays a major role and is exemplified through the two characters Hamlet and Laertes in the play Hamlet by Shakespeare. Both characters are spending majority of their time trying to exact revenge. Hamlet and Laertes are similar in their desire for revenge, but differ in the…

He shows in this play how Dr. Faustus steps out of his place, and fails in his attempt to repent for his actions, ultimately letting his pride be the reason for his damnation. Through a pact with the devil, Faustus gains the power necessary to perform dark magic and engage in other deeds that are more god-like than human-like. Although, Faustus is repeatedly warned by Mephostophelis, his servant from Lucifer, he continues…