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Betrayal In Macbeth And Lord Of The Flies, By William Golding

614 Words3 Pages

Betrayal is an act of intentional disloyalty and unfaithfulness. In the play Macbeth, Macbeth commits extreme felony and betrayal by murdering his king, who wholeheartedly trusted him, in order to take the crown. Similarly, Lord of the Flies demonstrates the act of betrayal through Jack, the novel’s antagonist. Jack angrily abandons Ralph and forms his own violent tribe, whose ultimate goal becomes killing Ralph. As shown through Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, and Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, betrayal leads to the consequential destruction of an individual rather than his/her desired success. Macbeth and Jack both face ruination after executing their own unfaithful acts. Both texts display how humane destruction is an effect of …show more content…

In Macbeth, Macbeth follows King Duncan’s murder and betrayal with multiple dishonorable behaviours leading to his tragic ending. To illustrate, Macbeth kills his close companion, Banquo, soon after deceiving the king: “My lord, [Banquo’s] throat is cut. That I did for him” (3.4.18). The single act of betrayal causes Macbeth to believe that he can and must commit more immoral conducts in order to succeed. Macbeth becomes certain that he will face no coincidence for his actions after getting away with betraying his king. Thus, he murders his friend for his own selfish desires and his crimes verge upon him through his ultimate ruination. Additionally, Macbeth treats his people with cruelty by murdering the innocent to display his authority. Macbeth orders, “The castle of Macduff I will surprise, /seize upon Fife, give to th’edge o’th’sword/ His wife, his babies and all unfortunate souls/ That trace him in his line” (4.1.164-167). Macbeth demands the slaughter of Macduff’s family after learning that Macduff has fled to England. Macbeth’s actions demonstrate that after committing betrayal, he repeatedly executes evil doings without hesitation. He becomes dependent on betrayal and murder which leads to Macbeth’s destruction at the end of the

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Macbeth foresaw only gain for betraying his friends and king. However, the consequences betraying and murdering his friend banquo haunt him, “Ay, and a bold one, that dare look on that which might appall the devil” (III.iv.71-72). Macbeth’s conscience haunts him for he knows murdering Banquo was wrong. To highlight the consequences of betrayal and greed Shakespeare haunts Macbeth with grotesque reminders of his crimes to tell the reader that one should not take actions one cannot live with.

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Although, the most common occurrence throughout the play is how Shakespeare uses the character of Macbeth to illustrate how betrayal and deception will come back to get you in the future. Macbeth's betrayal to King Duncan ultimately led to the downfall of his evil actions, and finally his death. By Macbeth carrying out the assassination of King Duncan and his guards he betrayed not only his whole life of accomplishments but most of all, Duncans loyalty to Macbeth as a man. Earlier in the play King Duncan

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A choirboy is now chief of a war party; a military hero and husband is now a monster that everyone wants dead. While specific motivation and circumstances differ for the two of them, both become willing killers whose distrust and paranoia grow in proportion to the power they have seized. Both Macbeth and Lord of the Flies give insight to the fact that greed engulfs people into malicious tyrants with the characters that are portrayed in these two novels. Jack, from Lord of the Flies and Macbeth, from Macbeth have both shown the world a crucial lesson that power and ambition are the roots of all evil, as they carried out unethical action to achieve and maintain their respected

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In both One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey and Macbeth by Shakespeare, the protagonists are anything but static. Both Randle McMurphy and Macbeth go through trials and tribulations that reveal what their true mettles are as characters. Even though they both go through their own hardships, they also have opposite (not exactly opposing) influences that help shape their decisions and allow them to grow as characters. In spite of their similar upbringing, such influences manage to lead both characters down totally diverging paths. Chief of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Lady Macbeth of Macbeth act as character foils to quicken their protagonist’s development whether for better (McMurphy) or for worse (Macbeth).

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Acts of betrayal have very large impacts on the person committing them and the people around them. Some might try to fix their mistakes they made in the past, like in Khaled Hosseini’s, The Kite Runner, others however, might just dig themselves into a deeper hole until the betrayal consumes them, like in William Shakespeare's, Macbeth. Both main characters betrayed people that they loved and cared about. In The Kite Runner, Amir betrays his friend Hassan but then he tries to fix his lack of action from when he was a child, and in Macbeth, Macbeth betrays many people including his king his best friend but doesn’t try to fix his mistakes.

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Macbeth and Revenge of the Sith In William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth and the George Lucas’s film Revenge of the Sith there is much demonstration of betrayal that shows how fear and motivation can make anyone betray anyone. There are many similar comparisons of betrayal seen between the two creations such as betrayal between oneself and friends, oneself and good people, and finally, oneself and family. Demonstrated in both the creations, betrayal is seen in many different forms of a person and their relationships with other people.

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He states, “The castle of Macduff I will surprise Seize upon Fife; give to the edge o' the sword His wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls” (4.1.150-152). At this point Macbeth is out of control and is killing anybody he suspects, showing that he is clearly paranoid and delusional. Once Macduff finds out his family is killed he decides to finally kill

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Betrayal is a cannon event a lot of people go through, the closest people could be the best liars. The Tragedy Of Mcbeth tells of how a little power can change someones colors and hurt the people around them. You never know who can change, it’s the least expected. Example: In The Tragedy Of Mcbeth the main character Mcbeth fell for these witches proficeys but didn’t listen closely and betrayed his king and his best friends.

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Macbeth’s very first soliloquy characterizes him as a person who is both loyal and honorable to his king; he knows that he must honor his king by fighting every battle like it would be his last, but his mind gradually begins to alter and generates a chain of betrayal. Macbeth was a great man in the commencement of the play, “Till he faced the slave; which ne’er shook hand, nor bade his farewell to him, till he unseamed him from the nave to th’chops, and fix 'd his head upon our battlements” (L. 9). After the three witches antagonize Macbeth, he changes even more from being the righteous soldier that he was, by saying to himself; “Let not the light see my black and deep desires: the eye wink at the hand yet lets tis should be which the eye fears, when it is done to see” (LL. 51-53). Nevertheless, many of the happenings in the play occur because of betrayal, whether it is betrayal regarding the main character or even betrayal of leaving people dear to you behind.

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The moment on’t for’t must be done to-night” (3.1.128-130). Macbeth’s tyranny does not end with his murder of Duncan, but continues on to include his best friend and fellow thane, Banquo, merely because he shows suspicion towards Macbeth. Furthermore, his tyranny does not end here, either. Macbeth goes on to kill Macduff’s family and children as well, and says “Seize upon Fife, give to th’edge o’th’sword / His wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls / that trace him in his line” (4.1.151-153). Not only does he murder his best friend, but he murders innocent citizens of Scotland as well.

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Betrayal must and should never happen to anyone for if it does happen there shall be consequences. Macbeth learns throughout the play that there are consequences to everything you do. Macbeth is a play that features a man who is supposedly a very manly figure and is loyal, but soon his loyalty and manly pride is about to be put to the test. Will he be able to remain a loyal man or will he betray his peers and face the consequences? William Shakespeare says that betraying another person may result into a high consequence that you may have to suffer for all the things you have done to others.

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Analyse how a relationship was used to explore the idea of loyalty, and conversely, betrayal. Loyalty is a fundamental virtue as it holds the structure of society through establishing trust between individuals. To be loyal to someone is to show them the utmost devotion, and the cost of breaking this trust, betrayal, irrevocably damages both parties involved. William Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth, explores the themes of loyalty and betrayal by showing the decline of a man so consumed by ambition that he goes to extreme lengths to achieve his goal, betraying himself and those close to him, only to lose sight of himself and his values before the end. A relationship that is used to explore these themes explicitly is between Banquo, a Scottish nobleman

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In act two the flaw of betrayal continues when Macbeth decides to kill duncan and take his spots as king of Scotland. Macbeth and lady Macbeth make this plan up to kill the king were she would signal Macbeth by ringing s bell when the king has fell asleep Macbeth hears the bell and says “Duncan; for it is a knell That summons thee to heaven or to hell.” This means he is on the way to kill Duncan to fulfill his prophecy. After Macbeth does the deed he doesn 't feel like he is

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But yet I’ll make assurance double sure and take a bond of fate. Thou shalt not live, That I may tell pale-hearted fear it lies, and sleep in spite of thunder” (Shakespeare, 125). With all the power, Macbeth has been receiving lately he feel that he is invisible and can actually be King. As he takes the apparitions literally, his proposition is to murder Macduff’s family because he feels like it's just one more step closer to his title now that Macduff will grieve for his loss instead of fighting with Macbeth. Macbeth is not the only one who changed from humbleness to greedy,

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Power is always coveted in any society and the world of Shakespeare’s Macbeth is no different. In the play, Macbeth, a noble lord, shows his hunger for power with thoughts to remove an heir to the throne from power. Macbeth’s impatience to be king leads him to stain his honor by using murder. Macbeth travels further down the path of evil by arranging the assassination of a friend.

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