{"id":830,"date":"2010-02-21T13:39:20","date_gmt":"2010-02-21T17:39:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.vassar.edu\/engl177\/?p=830"},"modified":"2010-02-21T13:39:20","modified_gmt":"2010-02-21T17:39:20","slug":"starbuck-and-lady-macbeth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/engl177\/?p=830","title":{"rendered":"Starbuck and Lady Macbeth"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In the chapter <em>The Musket<\/em>, Starbuck\u2019s soliloquy as he ponders his fate on the Pequod, reminds me of Lady Macbeth\u2019s similar monologue when she resolves to do anything in her power to help Macbeth ascend to the throne.\u00a0 Both characters contemplate committing murderous deeds to meet their desires.\u00a0 Lady Macbeth summons her resolve and courage, declaring, \u201cStop up the access and passage to remorse, That no compunctious visitings of nature\/ \u00a0Shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between\/ The effect and it!\u201d (Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act 1, scene 5).\u00a0 She is unconcerned about the consequences of her actions, instead seeking to push away any thoughts of guilt. Starbuck, while holding a loaded musket, expresses the inner turmoil he feels towards his actions of obeying Ahab and the misgivings he has knowing that Ahab\u2019s mission of killing Moby Dick may take the lives of the entire crew. \u00a0He says,<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cBut shall this crazed old man be tamely suffered to drag a whole ships company down to doom with him?\u2014Yes, it would make him the willful murderer of thirty men and more if this ship come to any deadly harm; and come to deadly harm, my soul swears this ship will, if Ahab have his way.\u00a0 If, then, he were this instant\u2014put aside, that crime would not be his.\u201d (493)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Ultimately, Starbuck is unable to use the weapon in his hands to commit a murder. In contrast, Lady Macbeth is determined to act within her power and resources to achieve her goals.\u00a0 Aware of the fact that this may require immoral actions, she seeks to keep those thoughts from her mind and not concern herself with the consequences.\u00a0 Unlike Lady Macbeth, Starbuck\u2019s conscience is too strong to be overcome, even as he thinks of his wife and child. \u00a0Although Starbuck is tempted to use the musket in his hands, he is unable to complete the murderous act and kill Ahab.\u00a0 This monologue reveals the debate in his mind over whether killing one man to save the lives of thirty men would absolve the act of murder.\u00a0 Starbuck\u2019s decision to spare Ahab shows the strength of his inner character and belief in acting in a morally conscious way, even while realizing that he may die by following his stubborn captain\u2019s mission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the chapter The Musket, Starbuck\u2019s soliloquy as he ponders his fate on the Pequod, reminds me of Lady Macbeth\u2019s similar monologue when she resolves to do anything in her power to help Macbeth ascend to the throne.\u00a0 Both characters contemplate committing murderous deeds to meet their desires.\u00a0 Lady Macbeth summons her resolve and courage, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[87],"tags":[181,189,273],"class_list":["post-830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sources-or-literary-allusions","tag-literary-allusions","tag-shakespeare","tag-starbuck"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/engl177\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/engl177\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/engl177\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/engl177\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/engl177\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=830"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/engl177\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/830\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":831,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/engl177\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/830\/revisions\/831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/engl177\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/engl177\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/engl177\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}