Comparing_the_Way_That_War_and_Conflict_Are_Presented_in_Macbeth_and_a_Selection_of_World_War_One_Poetry

BEWARE:This essay was draft and achieved a low band 4. Compare the way that War and Conflict are presented in Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’ and a selection of World War One poetry War and conflict are two topics that have been key matters in many countries around the world. William Shakespeare is a writer who expresses his views in poems and plays about these two significant issues. Shakespeare was born in the mid-1500s and based his work on the battles between England and Scotland. ‘Macbeth’ is a play that was written in 1606 and as Shakespeare wrote for a living his purpose was to entertain the audience. In this essay I will be analysing and comparing a selection of World War One poetry by Wilfred Owen to ‘Macbeth’. Wilfred Owen was a WW1 soldier and unfortunately died due to the war. As he was receiving treatment in hospital he wrote his poems and in contrast to Shakespeare he wrote to inform people about the brutalities of war and the truth about war. I will be analysing and comparing how both these writers present war and conflict in: Macbeth, Dulce et Decorum Est and Anthem for Doomed Youth. Owen contradicts the way soldiers are presented by the British government as he describes the soldiers as “Bent double, like old beggars under sacks”. This line depicts the fatigue in the soldiers and how despicable the conditions were. ‘Bent double’ implies that the soldiers were so tired and spent that they were like elderly people in the way that they ben over as they get older. ‘Old’ also suggests that although they were young and participated in the war their experience has seemed like a lifetime and that their youth had been stolen. The quote is also a simile and displays the soldiers like they have lost everything. ‘Like old beggars under sacks’. ‘Beggars’ portrays the soldiers as being worthless and as if they have lost everything. Also they are made to look as if they have to start from the bottom and work their way to the top, just like beggars. ‘Under sacks’ illustrates the soldiers as being not only physically but psychologically affected by the war and the devastating experience has taken them down. Whereas Shakespeare always likes to supports the soldiers and conveys them as being heroic. “For brave Macbeth-well he deserves that name. Disdaining fortune, with his brandish'd steel, which smoked with bloody execution.” Here he has created a sense of heroism. This states that using violence is shown as being worthy and valiant. Shakespeare also uses vivid imagery here and states that Macbeth is strong and powerful as Shakespeare uses the words ‘brandish’d steel’ and ‘smoked with bloody execution’. This implies that his use of brute force and punishing power has made him see like a supreme and defiant man as well as a valiant soldier. Macbeth eventually becomes found out and gets murdered because of the selfish cruel deeds he carried out. We can relate to this today as Gaddafi was killed. He was on the run because of the way he treated everyone. Most of Libya despised him and eventually was found and killed. Owen also uses vivid description in ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’ as he uses many techniques to capture the imagination of a rifle. “Only the monstrous anger of the guns. Only the stuttering rifles' rapid rattle.” These two sentences express the guns as being violent and very powerful. The use of personification in the first sentence gives the reader the impression that the gun is very powerful and is ready to unleash a lot of violence. In the second line the use of personification, alliteration and onomatopoeia is brilliant. The personification gives the rifles a nervous feeling whilst the alliteration gives the rifles authority and supremacy. The onomatopoeia in ‘stuttering’ and ‘rattle’ gives the reader a shiver down the spine as it is depicted as being a weapon that will instantly kill the opposition without giving them a chance to attack. In conclusion I actually believe the writers’ purposes were very similar in that they both conveyed the true meaning of war, that you can go to great efforts to try and win but no matter what you will always lose more.