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Macbeth Tyrant Quotes

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The Fall: A Hero to Tyrant
Imagine, a hero arrives back from dominating in a battle for the sake of his country. He is praised by the whole nation for what he does, but then temptation comes upon him. The hero then gradually changes into a tyrant because of the temptation three witches put upon him. This is the case for Macbeth as he transitions from a hero to a tyrant. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Macbeth goes on the archetypal journey of a fall because of the themes of power and ambition. The first cause of Macbeth’s fall is based on the theme of power. Macbeth hears of his “destiny” to be king from witches and doesn’t really care about it. Lady Macbeth is the one who really convinces Macbeth to kill Duncan, and it is all history after that. Macbeth is then in love with his throne, and he does not want anyone or anything to take it away from him. In addition, this makes Macbeth’s reign is different than Duncan’s because, unlike Duncan, Macbeth is willing to go to the highest lengths to keep his throne. “Besides, this Duncan hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been so clear his great office, that his virtues will plead like angels, trumpet-tongued, against the deep damnation of his taking-off.” (Shakespeare 1.7 16-20). In this quote, Macbeth is stating that …show more content…

Once he starts his reign after killing Macbeth, he becomes determined to keep that throne. The fear of anyone overtaking his power gives him the ambition to kill anyone who comes or has the potential to come into his path. For example, Banquo is Macbeth’s best friend, but he still has Banquo and attempts to have his son killed because he is so scared of losing his power. In addition, the witches are the root of the ambition. If the witches wouldn’t have told Macbeth that his fate was to be king, he most likely never would have killed so many people out of ambition for power. These themes of power and ambition lead to Macbeth’s

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