In both stories there are examples of extreme emotions. In Macbeth there is jealousy, ambition and fear. In the other hand in Scrooge we see misery, hope and redemption.

At the start of the play Shakespeare uses extreme emotions to build up his protagonist. The sergeant describes Macbeth at the battle “As sparrow’s eagles, or the hare the lion” In the battle he is described as a warrior with no fear and with unbelievable strength.  As he fights he gets stronger and stronger. In the simile Shakespeare shows us that Macbeth is face with over whelming odds but can conquer the lion and never gives up. Shakespeare introduces Macbeth with extreme emotions like this because he wants to give us an idea of the main protagonist and what he is capable of in the future. He could also introduce Macbeth like this to foreshadow the future of the play. During the time the play is set, being a soldier is a high statutes and it was an honour, therefore the audience will know he is a very respected character.

In the other hand Scrooge is shown with extreme emotions but quite different to Macbeth. At the start of the story he is shown to be cold hearted and selfish this is shown when he is visited by charity workers and he says “if they would rather die,’ said Scrooge, ‘they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.” In the quote it shows that Scrooge has no empathy towards poor or any other people including his own family. Unlike Macbeth, Scrooge is worried only about himself and only serving himself. Although Macbeth is cold hearted at the beginning he is fighting for King Duncan and his Country. Dickens is make Scrooge over exaggerated to show how awful Scrooge is and how far he could go in the future.

Moving on from the start of the play, Shakespeare shows extreme emotion within Macbeth. In Macbeth’s soliloquy, he is debating what to next, “Is this a dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee. I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.”  From this quote, Shakespeare shows Macbeth as conflicted and confused. Shakespeare presents Macbeth with extreme emotions like this because he wants to show the audience that Macbeth is not what he appeared to be in the opening of the play. He also wants to show the audience that Macbeth can be easily manipulated and not the warrior he was presumed to be at the beginning.

Moving on from the start of the novella, Scrooge is shown with extreme emotions but quite different from the start of the novella. In this part of the play, the ghost is showing Scrooge the past and extreme emotions were shown by Scrooge, ‘The school is not quite deserted,’ said the Ghost. ‘A solitary child, neglected by his friends, is left there still.’ Scrooge said he knew it. And he sobbed.” This quote shows the reader that Scrooge is not the cold hearted man from the beginning and that he can feel sorrow for other individuals and not just himself. I believe Dickens presents Scrooge to the reader like this to show the audience that even the evilest of men can feel deflated.  

Nearing the denouement of Macbeth, Shakespeare is showing extreme motions with Macbeth that we wouldn’t have considered at the start of the play. In this part of the play Macbeth ordered two assassins to kill Banquo and his family, which they did apart from Banquos son. After the murders Macbeth says this to his wife, “O, full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife! Thou know’st that Banquo, and his Fleance, lives… What must be done?  From this quote, Macbeth is regretting and feeling guilty about what he has done. The metaphor “full of scorpions is my mind” tells the reader that Macbeth is started to breakdown over what he has done .This links back from the beginning of the play as the beginning foreshadows a dark future for Macbeth.

Nearing the denouement of the novella, Dickens presents Scrooge as someone recognising his wrongs. This is shown when the ghost is showing what he has become. “Spirit,” said Scrooge, shuddering from head to foot. “I see, I see. The case of this unhappy man might be my own. My life tends that way, now. Merciful Heaven, what is this.” This quote tells the reader that Scrooge has recognised what he has become and he knows that he has to change. A similarity between both Macbeth and Scrooge is that both of them have recognised what they have done but Scrooge is changing for the good and Macbeth is too late to change.

At the denouement of Macbeth, Shakespeare shows Macbeth in a completely broken state. In this part of the play, Macbeth has just found out that his wife has died and that his end was coming. “Out, out, brief candle! Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more: it is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing.” From this quote we can identify that Macbeth has completed given up and that he has one more battle to fight.  I think that Shakespeare wanted Macbeth to be presented as someone who is hopeless because in the play he is always the one who is in control and at this point of the play he knows he has no chance of staying king or even being alive, and he is now feeling the consequences of his savage actions earlier in the play.  Macbeth has come from a character with no fear to someone who is broken and dismantled. All showing extreme emotions. 

At the denouement of the novella, both Scrooge and Macbeth have shown extreme emotions. Both characters have gone on paths which have affected their emotions. In Macbeth, the protagonist has gone from positive emotions to distraught. However in A Christmas Carol, Scrooge has come from a rotten old man to a generous and kind one, this can be shown when Scrooge says this to Bob “Bob such a dig in the waistcoat that he staggered back into the Tank again;’ and therefore I am about to raise your salary.’ This confirms the transportation that scrooge has gone through as he wouldn’t even consider this before all the ghosts. I believe that Dickens shows Scrooge this way to show people anyone can change with motivation. Both Scrooge and Macbeth have both completely changed their characters and extreme emotions from the beginning of the story, in Scrooge’s case he has changed positively but for Macbeth he changed in such a manner that he got killed for his actions.