The National Teachers College

Quiapo, Manila
School of Teacher Education

Name: Evangelista, Ruby Ann G. Date: March 21, 2020

Subject: ENG 303 Literary Masterpieces of the World Time: 4:00-7:00 p.m. Saturday
Section: MAENGFS-D Professor: Dr. Imelda Epino
Critique Paper on Macbeth (Marxism)

“Out, out, brief candle!

Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.”
These were the lines uttered by Macbeth as he received the news that his wife
committed suicide after she has experienced episodes of paranoia brought about by her
own guilt after plotting different murders to make her husband the new king. These lines
reflect Macbeth’s realizations on how futile and vain one’s life can be. This only goes to
show how selfish and egoistic Macbeth is as a Scottish nobleman. Him being the King of
Scotland and a prominent military man explicitly describes him as a very wealthy man.
This could mean that he has no time to think about other problems that ordinary people
in the society deal with on a day to day basis. Ordinary people or the working class,
under the Marxist perspective, have to continuously work to secure their basic needs.
And more often than not, they have to continue giving their service towards the wealthy
who will, in turn, give them the means to satisfy their needs. Therefore, the poor remain
poor and the rich continue being rich. In the case of Macbeth and his wife, Lady
Macbeth, as prominent members of the society, they were so consumed by the idea that
for them to become successful further they have to acquire more power—no matter how
they would achieve it and whomever they would have to violently eradicate along the
way just to reach their desired status in life. They have committed grim acts of violence
out of their desire to fully realize what they thought is their ultimate destiny. Macbeth
became so obsessed with acquiring power that he only realized the other important
things in life when his wife died. He finally realized that life is precious, fleeting, and

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short. Again, this shows how selfish he is. By the time his wife died, he had already
committed a number of murders. He did not see how dangerous he was and how
abusive he had become when he was committing those murders. He only had a sudden
realization about life when his own wife died. He only likened lives as brief candles when
he felt the pain of losing his wife. He did not consider this thought before when he killed
Duncan, the servants, and the family of Macduff.
In different versions of Macbeth, he is often described as a smart and
accomplished general for he has defeated multiple other armies; hence, he was crowned
as the Thane of Glamis and Cawdor. At the beginning of the play, it was not clear if he
already wanted to become the King of Scotland or if he was only influenced by the
prophecy of the three witches and the manipulation of Lady Macbeth. In Marxism, it is
believed that our experiences in life are pre-determined by the economic structure in
which we live. Therefore, it can be deduced that although it was not clear if Macbeth
only dreamt of becoming the king after hearing the prophecies and the persuasion of his
wife he already has the inclination because his economic status in life gives him the
opportunity to do so. After all, what would a wealthy and powerful man asks other than
what he already has? Of course, it is more power and more wealth. Unlike ordinary men,
whose main goal is to satisfy their basic and immediate needs, Macbeth has all the time
to think of bigger things that he can achieve. The working class can only think and worry
about the current day’s concerns. They do not have the means to waste time on
dreaming about things that they think would never happen. They have already accepted
the fate imposed upon them by their socioeconomic status and the standards of the
society.
Aside from the supernatural witches in the play, almost all of the characters were
members of nobility. Therefore, there were no explicit class struggles shown in the play
but rather a picture of conflict between morality and politics among the rich. Although
the play was believed to be first performed in the 17th century and the setting of the
story was in the 11th century, its powerful display of tyranny, abuse of power, and
violence is still relevant up to this very day. Even in modern-day literature, mass media,
and even in the current, actual societies today, being rich and being powerful go hand in
hand.

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 It is believed that Macbeth echoes the politics of England at the time that
Shakespeare wrote the play. There are the elements of ambition, power, and violence.
Extreme plots of murder and bloodshed covers almost the entire story of Macbeth. While
it is only human to dream about power and eventually abuse power, the play also
dehumanizes Macbeth as someone who is incapable of showing emotions or showing
concern. While he delivered a soliloquy on death after his wife’s demise, he no longer
asked further details about it, instead, he readied himself for a battle against Macduff. In
the world of the peasants, they would mourn about lives that were lost for they believe
that nothing is above life itself. It may not be lived in wealth for them, but it is still
precious because human connections or familial connections are the most important and
most achievable things for them.
In the modern society, we hail the rich who humbles themselves despite having
almost everything and we despise those who impose that they are above everyone else
simply because they are rich. Truly, in literature and even in the real world, we condemn
tyrants who resort to violence just to have power. And most of all, it is still very true
that the greatness and the downfall of a man begins and ends with himself.