Macbeth and The Useless Machine

For hundreds of years, Shakespeare has been known as one of the most brilliant writers in the world, perhaps even the greatest. English classes and teachers all around the world teach and learn Shakespeare’s works of art. One of his most famous pieces is his play titled, Macbeth. Macbeth is regarded as one of the greatest plays of all time; however, what is its actual worth and value? The whole play concentrates on a man named Macbeth who throws his life away, kills his best friend, kills the King of Scotland, and indirectly kills his wife by creating extreme turmoil and finally ends up dead, all for nothing. To some people, the entire play seems to be pointless. If the average play were to have so many deaths, many would be led to believe that the main character would at least achieve his final goal. This “pointlessness” relates extremely similarly to the “Useless Machine” invented in 1952 by a professor from MIT. To operate this machine, one must flip a switch which lifts the top of the machine and allows a mechanical hand to come out and flip the switch back off, which in turn turns the entire machine off. In both this machine and the plot of Macbeth, the beginning and ending is fairly similar, with no one specifically achieving what they want. To some, this leads to thinking why either the play or the machine was invented. Both the machine and the play question the idea of free will. In the beginning of Macbeth, Macbeth believes he is killing King Duncan by his own will; however, this quickly transformed into his wife’s, Lady Macbeth. Similarly, this machine creates a need to always re-flip the switch by flipping it off itself because for some reason, some people think they can trick it and “beat” the machine. Both the play Macbeth and the “Useless Machine” demonstrate something extremely pointless, yet also complex. See how truly useless this machine is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z86V_ICUCD4