Macbeth and Waterfront: a study in conscience and power
(Dr Jennifer Minter, English Works Study Notes, 2017)
See below for a sample of comparative key ideas between the characters/views and values in both texts
Consider the comparisons between the main characters and their (and the director’s/playwright’s) views and values, purpose and intentions.
- Macbeth and Terry : their struggle with their conscience. What prompts their moral conflict and how do they resolve it?
- The characters of corruption: the mob and Lady Macbeth : compare their views about life, evil and greed/power.
- The principled characters: Edie and Banquo
Macbeth and his conscience = he commits ever more evil deeds as he compromises his honour and his wellbeing
Macbeth struggles with his conscience. He knows that because of the murderous deed he has “killed Sleep’. He also knows that he has compromised his honour and set himself up as a target of suspicion. To deal with his guilt, he believes that if he keeps killing he will become desensitized to the guilt and pain. He realizes that “My strange and self abuse/ Is the initiate fear, that wants hard use, We are yet but young in deed.” 125/57 He is particularly alarmed and shamed by Banquo, because he also witnessed the prophecies. He knows that Banquo takes a principled stance and refuses to compromise his nobility as he has done. He also is angry that he has committed the deed indirectly for Banquo’s sons. At the end, his life appears futile and meaningless to him because he has sacrificed his nobility and humanity. He has become so desensitized that he no longer feels any compassion and the night shrieks no longer arouse him.
Terry and his guilt and his conscience = doing good deeds to win Edie’s affection and to satisfy his own need for honour/respect. He shows courage.
Terry is uneasy about his allegiance to the mob and his involvement in Joey’s death. He lured Joey to the top of the tower and the mob “leaned” on him. He is increasingly drawn to Edie and respects her courage and her search for justice. His confession to Edie provides a turning point in his life because it is the first time that he has broken the “deaf and dumb” code to an outsider, which is to endanger his life and he is constantly threatened by Johnny Friendly. Terry tells Edie “you’re the best thing that ever happened to me”. During the confession scene, Kazan positions Edie and Terry on the hill in the distance. This literally shows Edie’s moral superiority to the longshoremen. Prior to Terry’s confession, there is a sudden burst of light around the protagonist, which symbolises Terry’s honesty.
The power of the mob = corruption and deceit
The waterfront is dominated by the power of Johnny Friendly’s mob, who seek to enrich themselves through corrupt business tactics. Kazan depicts Johnny Friendly in and his gang in pseudo-business like attire to draw attention, ironically, to his corrupt and powerful business enterprise on the wharf that dooms the longshoremen to a life of servitude. They rule the wharf through physical and psychological intimidation. They threaten anyone who breaks the perverted loyalty codes, the “deaf and dumb codes” that turn the longshoremen into victims. The competitive fight for the tokens on the wharf literally shows the “dog eat dog” environment that belittles and dehumanises the men. Kazan uses circus-like music to reinforce their animal-like behaviour as they become play-things of the bosses. Longshoremen such as Joey and Andy, who seek to reveal the truth about the corrupt tactics on the waterfront, are killed.
Responsibility and the choices we make = good and bad.
Both Shakespeare and Kazan suggest that the individual has the moral responsibility to make choices. Both suggest that individuals should follow their conscience. Shakespeare suggests that Macbeth has the responsibility to choose. He is diminished and morally ruined because of poor choices and his ruthless ambition
Lady Macbeth and responsibility. Pursuit of evil (Johnny Friendly)
Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth as a corrupt and evil “witchlike figure” who, “as a partner of greatness” is obsessed with ambition and power. Like the witches before her, she targets Macbeth’s vulnerabilities, such as his desire for power, in order to convince him that he should overcome his fear, unlike the “cat in th’adage” and cease the object of desire. She deliberately cloaks herself in “direst cruelty” in order to goad Macbeth. For example, she convinces him that he should not break a “promise”; rather he should have the courage to become “what thou art promis’d”. She implies that he is weak and cowardly if he does not ruthlessly pursue his ambitious goals: “when you durst do it then you were a man ”…
Lady Macbeth sweeps aside her principles and conscience.
She intimidates Macbeth just as the mob intimidate the longshoremen (Johnny friendly intimidates Terry). Like the corrupt waterfront officials, she overlooks her principles and believes that “water clears us of this deed”. She convinces Macbeth that it is possible to dismiss one’s conscience by becoming tough and ruthless. She believes that conscience is “child’s play” and should not separate the courageous person from their goal even if it is evil. She belittles Macbeth’s nobility of character believing that he should show mind over matter and take what he believes is rightfully his. To her, conscience is “brainsickly” and is child’s play. She convinces him that a “little water clears us of this deed” and that only the “infirm of purpose” would dare hesitate as Macbeth does.
Macbeth and choices and responsibility – because of his ambition, he makes the wrong choice
To the extent that Macbeth is aware of his fatal flaw, his ambition, Shakespeare suggests that Macbeth has a choice, and that, sadly, he makes the wrong choices. He wields the dagger and does not heed his conscience. Macbeth knows that his uncontrollable ambition is fuelling his evil desires. Because of his “overleaping” ambition he places too much trust in the witches (he states that they have “earnest of success” and refers to the prophecies as “ perfectest report”) Sensing his ambition, the witches are able to play their “hurly burly” and create moral confusion. Also, before he greets Lady Macbeth, Macbeth reveals his capacity for deception owing to the fact that King Duncan did not appoint him as successor. He states, “let not light see my deep and dark desires.” As a result, the prophecies set in train the nightmarish sequence of events. Unfortunately, Macbeth does not have the strength of mind like Banquo to follow his conscience. He is swayed by Lady Macbeth’s notion of “manly” strength and a promise.
Terry and choices: loyalty to Charley and loyalty to the “mob”
Terry wants to make his own decisions, and follow his conscience. This involves testifying at the Commission which sets him up in direct conflict with the mob and with Charlie. Terry’s dilemma is that he knows there will be serious consequences if Charlie does not convince him to change his decision. Terry believes that early in life Charlie set him up for failure when he gave in to the demands of the mob and made Terry lose a key fight. Terry states, “you should have looked after me a little.” Terry expresses his regrets. He states, “I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody, instead of a bum. Which is what I am”.
Encouraged by Father Barry, he pursues his principles. When Terry said that if he “spilled”, his “life ain’t worth a nickel”, Father Barry immediately replied, “And how much is your soul if you don’t”. Father Barry encourages him to rid himself of the “monkey on his back”, Terry makes the important decision to “rat”. Charlie pays a high price. Charlie states, “I will tell him (Johnny Friendly) that I couldn’t find you… ten to one he won’t believe me.”
Edie and Banquo
Edie challenges Terry to examine his conscience. Her moral simplicity and courageous pursuit of the truth shame Terry into action. She is pervaded by a sense of injustice and constantly tells Terry that “things are so wrong”. She forces him to think about the ethical consequences of his actions and the interconnectedness of human nature. When asked whose side Terry was with, he naively replied “Me? I’m with me – Terry”, which she dismisses as an impossible narcissistic and selfish position. She impresses upon him that “everyone is a part of everybody else”. Her angelic soul helps Terry reclaim his conscience, as her modesty and truthfulness open up new horizons, but he is troubled by her demands. He tells her to return to the seminary because she is “driving me and you nuts”.
Shakespeare constructs parallel characters such as Banquo and Macbeth who are linked through the witches’ prophecies. Significantly the witches greet both the kinsmen on the heath. Macbeth appears to become overly engrossed in the witches and interprets their prophecies as a sign of destiny. Contrastingly, Banquo questions the witches; he recognises their tendency towards deception and thereby impugns (call into question/criticise) Macbeth’s response. (Include quotes). He implies that he is too quick to place his trust in unworthy sources. Shakespeare therefore opens up a space of free will, but also highlights the debilitating impact of Macbeth’s ambition.
The costs; death; Charley’s death : sacrifices for power
Kazan depicts Charley in a heroic and symbolic way by sacrificing himself for his brother. The director uses Charley’s shady past and upbringing to show that Charley is immoral and took advantage of his brother’s talent as a boxer to ingratiate himself with the mob. Charley realises that his duty to the mob caused him to neglect his responsibility to his brother and he makes the ultimate sacrifice. The butcher’s hook becomes a symbol of the price he has to pay to save Terry. Depicted as a Christ like figure, Kazan shows that redemption, even for the antagonist is possible. Kazan’s use of the critical car scene depicted the passing on of Charley’s remaining life to Terry and his ethical anguish through the passing of the gun. Charley’s brave stance was planned by Kazan to illustrate the moral conflict and how it was overcome by Charley ‘the Gent” Malloy.
Compare Charley’s demise with Macbeth’s death: complete futility
After the death of Lady Macbeth, Macbeth reflects upon the futility of life and upon the fact that time will always triumph. Life is metaphorically referred to as a “brief candle” and as a “walking shadow”. He states that she “should have died hereafter” referring to the fact that death is inevitable. Macbeth acknowledges the pain and suffering of life that is just a brief interlude in an endless stretch of eternity. The person is compared to an actor who “struts and frets his hour upon the stage”. The repetition of “tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow” highlights the relentlessness of life and the “dusty death” that reduces the individual to insignificance. Macbeth does not refer to the full consequences of his evil deed, but concentrates on the mockery of life that becomes like a tale “told by an idiot”. He thinks that it signifies “nothing”, which is to annul one’s deeds – extinguished by a mere breath: “out, out brief candle”.
- Return to Macbeth: Study Page
- Return to On the Waterfront
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