Alyssa+and+Julia-+Moral+Issues

What moral issues does Shakespeare address in the play, and how prevalent are those moral issues in today’s society? Use the text to corroborate your thinking.

In the play Macbeth, the moral issue of not tempting [|fate] was presented multiple times. It was prophesied that Macbeth would become king and instead of letting fate just take place, he took matters into his own hands, resulting in his own death and lot of other characters in the novel. He believed in the prophecy but not in the strength of fate to make it happen. In today's society, many people tempt their fate of love. Instead of allowing fate do all the work to find a person's soul mate, people take it into their own hands by going on dating shows and dating websites. People will find their true love in whatever journey they take and they do not need programs or websites to help them.
 * TEMPTING FATE**

**GUILT** Another key moral issue in the play is having a guilty conscience. In the beginning, Macbeth was unable to kill the king because he knew he would feel extremely guilty afterward. Lady Macbeth told him that he's not even a man if he is not able to kill someone to make himself king. He did have a guilty conscience for a little while but eventually that went away. In the end, karma comes back to haunt Lady Macbeth because she is the one feeling the most guilt out of anyone. Her hands were bloody and she couldn't seem to wash it off and so she shouted, [|"Out, damn spot! Out I say (5.1.35)."]Physical cleanliness affects moral cleanliness. She had the blood on her hands after the murder and she starts obsessively washing her hands to free herself of guilt just like Macbeth did. [|Guilt] is a very common issue in today's society. There are thousands of prisoners today that are guilty for the actions they've done whether it's murder, abuse or even stealing. People in our everyday lives have felt guilty for something they have done even if it wasn't something as drastic as murder. It is usually considered to be a good quality when someone goes after what they want and don't give up. That was the situation that Macbeth was in when he wanted to be king. Although it's admirable that he wanted it so badly, the moral issue is that his [|ambition] became destructive. Macbeth is led into thoughts and actions that are fundamentally against his nature and in the end lead him to the death of himself and others. Ambition definitely has a role in today's society. If Americans want a decent job, they must really work hard to go after what they want. Sometimes there can be a lot of backstabbing for people to get the job that they want which is when ambition has gone too far like it did in Macbeth.
 * AMBITION**

One of the most important moral issues in the play is to not let others influence you. Macbeth was easily influenced by Lady Macbeth when she said that he is not a real man if he doesn't kill the king. If he would have went with his actual gut feeling and not let Lady Macbeth put ideas into his head, then none of these killings would have happened in the first place. Also, the murderers are influenced by Macbeth to kill other people for him just because he's in higher power and they will do whatever he tells them to. In today's society, influence has a significant role in high school. Teenagers deal with [|peer pressure] everyday from their friends and classmates to participate in acitivies they should not be doing such as alcohol and drugs.
 * INFLUENCE **