Success And Prosperity Of Shakespeare s Macbeth And ...

Success and Prosperity in Macbeth and The Catcher in the Rye From the beginning of time, achieving success and greatness has been the ultimate human goal. Success can be found in many different forms, from ruling a Roman empire to receiving a high grade on a test. Society’s view of success has changed throughout generations, urging people to conform to society’s beliefs in order to fulfill their goals and dreams. The theme of success and fulfillment are evident in literature and theatre pieces that were written centuries ago, and continue into novels written in the present. The play Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, and the novel The Catcher in the Rye, written by J. D. Salinger follow the lives of two protagonists’ as they are each individually shaped by society’s idea of prosperity. The protagonists of both the novel and the play, Holden and Macbeth, exhibit similar qualities that allow them to attempt to achieve ultimate greatness and find succes s. Both the novel The Catcher in the Rye and the play Macbeth demonstrate the pressure there is on men to prosper and achieve high rankings in society. This pressure leads to the development of wrath and mental illness, resulting in the disruption of harmony. Both Holden and Macbeth possess significant amounts of wrath, causing poor decision-making. To add, Macbeth and Holden both struggle with mental illness, again causing unfavourable outcomes. While the men possess these similarities, they differ in the outcome of their