The Theme of The Ties that Bind in Shakespeare's Plays Essay Example

In life, there are plenty of problems that come across our way, some that break the bond that people spend time trying to nurture. Sometimes, these struggles to strengthen the bond to be stronger. The theme of “The Ties that Bind” talks about the bond of a bond, where it strengthens as they “tie the bond” together. Two Shakespeare classic examples that often faced the problem of the ties being challenged are Macbeth and Antigone. Each of the stories talks about the struggle or conflict that they are taking that can potentially break a relationship. They both match up with the theme mentioned below through the conflict and risk that they are taking for their purpose in the story.

Firstly in the story of Antigone, Antigone faced the threat of going to secretly bury her brother, Polynesie after a war for the throne. Polyneices bought his troops and fought against Eteocles as they were supposed to fight together on the same team in the war. At the end of the war, Eteocles was neatly and formally buried while Polyneices bodies were left unburied to decay and eaten by the animals. Antigone was willing to secretly go to bury her brother, yet Creon, the new king, commands that whoever buries Polyneices’s body shall be given death. According to the excerpt, it stated that “ I urge no more; nay, wert thou willing still, I would not welcome such a fellowship. Go thine own way; myself will bury him. How sweet to die in such employment, to rest— Sister and brother linked in love's embrace— A sinless sinner, banned awhile on earth, But by the dead commanded; with them, I shall abide forever. As for thee,  Scorn, if thou wilt, the eternal laws of Heaven.” In order words, Antigone is willing to go break the family bond between her and her uncle, Creon to go bury his brother. She doesn't care about what punishment she has to face, she rather has his body be buried and united with him on the other side. Overall this story fits right into the theme of “A ties that Bind”, where the family ties are being challenged on whether she should bury Polyneices and face her punishment or let Polyneices die unburied and stay in the royal line.

Next, in the story of Macbeth, Macbeth faced a conflict with himself on going to kill the King to get the throne. In the story, Macbeth came across the prophecy of three witches, who said that he will become Thane of Crowder, Thane of Glamis, and become king. At the time, he was already the Thane of Glamis, but both the Thane of Cawdor and the king were still alive. Later on, Angus and Ross came to tell Macbeth and Banquo that the Thane of Cawdor was killed because he betrayed the country, making Macbeth become the Thane of Cawdor. Macbeth starts to believe in the witches’ prophecy a little bit more, but now the king is still alive. His egotistical started to grow as he was plotting to kill the king for his gain.  As it stated in the text, “If chance will have me, king, why, chance may crown me, 

Without my stir.” It’s saying that if there is a chance of him becoming king, why not let it become true. Yet at the same time, he doesn't want to kill someone just for the prophecy to be true. So he is battling himself back and forth choosing whether to risk it for a chance of the witch prophecy to become true.

In conclusion, both of these stories show some aspect of the theme of this unit, which is “The Ties that Bind”, indicating the relationship conflict between family, friend, or even to self. From Antigone, the lesson that can be learned is to go ahead and go with the decision that seems right and just, no matter what happens, following the righteous decision will end up fulfilling one’s goal. On the other hand, a lesson that can be learned from Macbeth is that not do something just for personal gain benefitted from that action, instead think more about the overall benefits. In other words, think about the consequences before doing anything. At the end of the day, every bond can be distanced out or closen up through the event that they go through together.