The Seven Basic Plots - Christopher Booker [240]
At the beginning of the play we see Macbeth as a victorious general, apparently a strong man at one with the world. Behind this manly facade, however, all is not as it seems. Even before Macbeth appears, we have already seen, lying in wait for him in the darkness, the three `black and midnight hags, with their occult powers and knowledge, personifications of the inner `dark feminine' which is to be his downfall. From their dark, inferior realm `beyond the light, they catch Macbeth on his hidden weak spot, arousing his ambitions and his ego. At this stage the upper world kingdom, under the rule of Duncan and his loyal general Macbeth, is still light. The darkness is all in the inferior realm. Indeed at first Macbeth is disposed to dismiss the witches' prophecy that he might one day be king himself. It is as though a tempting thought had floated up from his unconscious, only to be pushed away by his conscious mind as too improbable to be taken seriously. But then, almost casually, in a letter to his wife, Macbeth passes the infection on: and through her the poison of the dark feminine returns to tempt him much more strongly, sapping his manly will and sense of propriety. Gradually he succumbs to the temptation, although not without a struggle. Even on the verge of the fatal act, the killing of the `good King' Duncan, Macbeth is still wrestling with his soul. But once the awful deed is done, he is immediately drawn, like many another tragic hero, into further crimes in an attempt to cover up the first - beginning with the murder of the sleeping grooms. As an outwardly strong man now inwardly in the grip of the dark feminine, Macbeth is already turning into a 'dark King' or Tyrant.
At this point the dark power has passed into dominance on the upper level, taking the kingdom into its grip; and the potential light forces - Duncan's sons Malcolm and Donalbain fleeing into exile into England - are beginning to be polarised into the inferior or shadow realm. Gradually Banquo emerges from the growing darkness as Macbeth's `light Rival': his fellow general whose descendants, the witches promised, would one day occupy the throne instead of Macbeth. As Banquo's suspicion grows, Macbeth lashes out and kills his `light Alter-Ego. The result is that the most powerful figure still remaining in the kingdom, Macduff, abandons Macbeth and flees to join Malcolm in England, as Macbeth's new, much more menacing `light Rival' or `light Opposite. The hero's only response is to lash out in even greater desperation by ordering the killing of Lady Macduff and her children.
Macbeth has now committed three major crimes. First, as Predator, he has killed the `good King. Second, as Holdfast, to secure his position, he has killed the `light Rival'. Thirdly, as Avenger, he has killed the `light feminine' and the Child. We now see how, as the trigger to final transformation, the Rule of Three can work downwards as well as upwards. Having killed off all the chief light components of his kingdom on the upper level - or driven them into the inferior realm as exiles - Macbeth's third dark act precipitates him into the Nightmare Stage. Firstly he has to watch powerless as his `other half', Lady Macbeth, disintegrates through madness to `dusty death. Secondly, now irretrievably cut off from the Self, he himself moves into a twilight where he sees the universe and life as utterly meaningless, `signifying nothing. Lastly the forces of light - led by the nowtowering figure of Macduff, and the son-king Malcolm who is destined to succeed - re-emerge into the upper realm, by invading Scotland and closing in to extinguish Macbeth's life forever.
Dr Faustus: The weak man unmanned
The story of Faustus is that of the most brilliant man of his age who gained a great reputation for learning until the moment when:
The super-intellectual Faustus is not physically powerful or a leader of men, like Macbeth. In manly terms he is essentially weak. Such strength as he has is all in the mind.