Shakespeare's Macbeth: Lady Macbeth

"Was Lady Macbeth correct? 'What's done is done.'"


In the Shakespearean play, Macbeth, Lady Macbeth says the phrase, "What's done is done.". Is this true? Honestly, I don't think that this is the slightest bit correct. Perhaps a deed is already done, but the outcome/sanctions will still remain. In effect, what's done is not done. You still have to deal with the guilt of a crime if you are a murderer, even after the murdered party is dead. Likewise, this can be done with positive sanctions. My point is that sanctions will always remain a vital point. They can be positive or negative, but they will always remain.

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Horace's Ethical View

"What was Horace's concept of personal ethical cause and effect?" 


     Horace's concept of ethical cause and effect was not half bad.  Using his Stoic view of the world he said to be much like the ant.  The ant stores food for the winter and eats it during the colder months in order to stay alive.  The little creature does not hoard the crumbs until she dies having not even touched them.  He said that people should also not hoard money or food.  When you die, an heir of yours may come into possession of it and use it anyways.

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Ovid's View of the God's Ethical Performance

" What was Ovid's view of the god's ethical performance?"



     He never states his view formally in Metamorphoses, but we can get a pretty clear idea from the stories that he chooses for his poem.  The stories that he chooses are extremely lacking in ethical performance.

     Let's take the story of Jupiter and Io as an example.  The god Jupiter rapes Io and tries to hide the evil deed from his wife.

     For the lack of ethics in these stories I assume that he didn't think highly of the god's ethical performance.

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Ethics and the Development of History

"What is the view of the biblical materials on the role of ethics in the development of history?"


     In the development of history, biblical materials have influenced ethics by a very large degree.  We see this when we give money to the poor and needy, help build homes for those who don't have any, etc.  
     
     There are lots of people out there who don't believe in God and yet, they do their best to help those in need.  Why? The answer is simple.  In every society, people have believed in some form of morality that was handed down from one generation to the next.  For many, what was handed down to them was biblical ethics.  For instance, it is illegal to commit murder.  Where else do we find this law?  We find it in Exodus chapter 20, verse 13.  "Thou shalt not kill."  What is another law that we have in the world today?  Let's look at Exodus chapter 20, verse 15.   "Thou shalt not steale."   These are two very well known laws in today's world, as well as the world of the past.     
     
     Although some might not agree with everything in the Bible, you have to admit that biblical materials did play a huge part in ethics, and the history of the world in general.

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"How important is the concept of historical sanctions in the Psalms?" Here is my answer.

 

  I believe that the importance of sanctions in Psalms was very significant.  I believe this because of the reasons that I will list in this essay.  

   

  God uses sanctions to protect the just from the wicked.  Without these sanctions, the world would continue to become horrid and corrupt.  The world needed these sanctions just as you would need to punish a child for doing wrong.  God uses these sanctions not because he wants to harm people, but rather, so that they can learn from their mistakes and do good in the future.  

  

  These sanctions would not be important if they were not a part of the Bible, but they are.  Anything and everything in the Bible is important, otherwise, the Bible would have never been written.  

  

  The historical value was not only important then, but it is also important now.  It is important now, because those sanctions can help us to not take a path of wickedness, but rather, a path of peace, goodness, love, and kindness.  This is the historical significance that the sanctions in Psalms hold.  This is the message that we are supposed to receive from not only Psalms, but in fact, the entire Bible.  The sanctions in Psalms are not to frighten and discourage the readers of Psalms (Of course, I'm sure that it frightened those living at that time.), they were to teach us.  

   

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Ethics in the Story of Noah and the Flood

    In the story of Noah and the Flood we see that man had become wicked.  God was sad that he had created man, and made an ethical decision based on man's wickedness, to destroy mankind.  There was one man who was good in the eyes of the Lord.  His name was Noah.  God spared him and his family, as well as some animals.
   
    We see that God sent the flood because of man's wickedness.  This was an ethical decision.  Without ethics, there would be no point in sending the flood.  If he had no basis for destroying the earth, it would make no sense to do so.
   
    After the flood, God sent a rainbow as a sign that he would never again destroy the earth in a flood.  This was also an ethical decision.  He had a reason for making this covenant and thus, makes this an ethical decision.
   
    Later we come to Noah and Ham.  Noah had become drunk and lay in his tent.  Ham goes into the tent and sees that his father is naked.  He goes and tells his brothers and they go in and cover their father.  When Noah awakens from being drunk, he punishes Ham.  This was a case of family ethics.  Ham had disrespected his father and so, Noah made an ethical decision to punish his son.
   
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