2. Literature Review

Shakespearean scholars in the 20th century usually had a religious or moral tendency when they interpreted the drama Macbeth. They thought that the drama focused on the struggle between goodness and evil. Authoritative specialist Muir also called it “the greatest morality play”. So-called “morality play”, in the history of English literature, namely “Christian sermon series” refers to the meaning “theme then writing” that presupposes the ideological barriers. Although great, from the tragedy to morality play, is undoubtedly the degradation (Heilman, 1974: 27). Irving Ribner agreed with Muir’ s judgment and thought that “Macbeth, like the protagonist in the traditional morality play, fluctuated between angel and devil” (Ribner, 1992: 248). More critics equated protagonist Macbeth directly to the embodiment of evil, a people who betrayed his soul. They thought that he betrayed his humanity to the common enemy of mankind like Faust, covenanting with the demon. “He is hostile to all people. He is no longer a member of the human community, and eventually reduced to a evil beast everyone wants to beat” (Bradbrook, 1974: 20). Carrie wrote in one of his articles: “in my opinion, Shakespeare endowed the concept of the objective existence of evil in the metaphysical world to Macbeth in this way” (Curry, 1937: 53). In the academic circles of the 20th century, similar interpretations could be found everywhere.文献综述

Besides, some other critics have their own research focus. Psychoanalytic criticisms pay attention to Shakespeare’ s psyche, the research of his creative process, the effects of the work upon its readers, or the study of psychological types and principles introduced in the work. “Shakespeare didn’t create this drama unconsciously. The period when he created it, the Renaissance was developing rapidly in Europe. The main idea of this movement is that the emphasis of artistic creation should be human being” (Zheng Chuanyin, 2002: 32). Feminist criticisms concentrate on sexual difference and politics inspired from the work. With the development of the society and the progress of humanity, many critics think that the relationship between men and women is always unequal. Generally speaking, men are in the dominated position and women are usually suppressed. “The viewpoint that Lady Macbeth contributes to her husband’ s tragedy is prejudiced. She is nothing but a catalyst and the real person who plays a leading role is Macbeth himself. More than Lady Macbeth, nearly all women are victims of that period” (Yang Aitang, 1996: 4). In addition, archetypal criticisms consider that the style and inpidual plot arrangement of the work are recurrences of certain archetypes and formulas. The author has a serious thinking about the specific relationship between Macbeth and its historical background from the perspective of New Historicism because few of the critics focus on this aspect.