Erlanger
English 4
Period 6
Karma's a bitch ain't it?
Karma is the law of moral causation, it is the idea that all actions have consequences. Karma is a spiritual principle of cause and effect where intent and actions of an individual (cause) influence the future of that individual (effect). Good intent and good deeds contribute to good karma and future happiness, while bad intent and bad deeds contribute to bad karma and future suffering (Olivelle). Everything and everyone is connected and what you reap is what you sow. In William Shakespeare's tragedy "Macbeth", karma can be identified as a big role throughout the play.
In events such as in Act 1 scene 7 where Macbeth says "teach Bloody instructions, which, being taught, return to plague the inventor: this even-handed justice commends the ingredients of our poison’d chalice to our own lips." Macbeth acknowledges karma in these few short lines. "even-handed justice," and "bloody instructions returning to plague the inventor," represent a higher power at play. Macbeth is above all concerned with the forces at work in himself and the effects it will have on him and his wife of the choices they make in the opening acts. He is apprehensive at first and must decide whether killing the king in order to gain the throne is worth the inevitable guilt and misfortune that soon follows.