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Comparing Power In Macbeth And Othello

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The Power of Power
Abraham Lincoln once stated, “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.” Power can show a man’s true intentions and reveal someone's authentic character. In Shakespeare’s works, he uses common ideas of power and jealousy to develop the plot. In Macbeth a prophecy born out of witchcraft drives Macbeth to lust for the power of king. Hiding this evil causes macbeth to kill even more, ending the life of one of his closest friends. In Othello Iago, driven by his jealousy of Cassio’s power, uses manipulation to control each character’s actions. In both plays the theme of jealousy and manipulation for power drives the actions of the characters. Those who lust for power will do even the darkest things to gain it, for they care more about their own personal gain …show more content…

MacBeth presents a clear and evident example of this concept. In the play, Lady MacBeth’s desire for power blinds her, making her do horrible things. She manipulates her husband into murdering Duncan to gain more power. MacBeth himself is also blinded by his hunger for power that Lady MacBeth instilled in him. Power proves a similar effect on Iago in Othello. Although he puts on a friendly front, Iago ruthlessly manipulates all of the characters, including his wife Emelia. Iago was obsessed with the idea of power and jealous of Cassio’s power so he took drastic measures to acquire more. Because of his failure to see past his desire the majority of the characters faced a painful death. The desire for power can blind anyone. Power has this effect on humans because the majority of people are selfish to an extent. Due to human’s survival of the fittest nature, humans naturally want to help themselves. Because of this, one carelessly endangers the lives of others in order to better themselves by getting power. People who want power are blinded by their

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There are many types of different power that can affect a person's actions and the way they handle pressure. In Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, the power of manipulation is used in the play to influence characters to do things that they don’t think is right or would be wise. Characters such as Lady Macbeth uses her power to convince Macbeth to kill Duncan and become king so they can have more power than they already have. In act 1, scene 3 the quote “unsex me here” shows that Lady Macbeth is asking to be stripped of her feminine weakness and wants to become more masculine so that she is viewed as stronger. another quote from act 1, scene 3 "make thick my blood.

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Almost everybody wants to have a lot of power, but when a person gets told that they are going to be something they want to make that something come by even faster so that they do not have to wait. In the story Macbeth by Shakespeare it shows how two men will achieve their destinies, but one of them is told that he will be king and the other is told that his descendants will be king. It shows how one man will do anything just cause he wants him and his wife to be king and queen, plus they will not let fate make them king and queen they will make themselves do that. Early on in the play Macbeth starts off as an honest, honorable, loyal subject of the king, but towards the end of Act one he changes to greedy and dishonorable. In this quote it says, “New honors come upon him, Like our strange garments, cleave not to their mold But with the aid of use”(Act 1 Scene 3 Page 6 Lines 149-151 Banquo).

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The desire for dominance and power can result in disregarding the humanity of others that stand in the way. On the journey to ultimate power, friendship is omitted and power is put first. In Macbeth, Macbeth is given the opportunity to become king, the greatest power, and seizes it. He encounters three witches who tells him a prophecy that he and Fleance, the son of Macbeth’s life long friend: Banquo, will become king. … …… MACBETH:

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In the play Macbeth by Shakespeare, the main character Macbeth believes he will be king. The power he thinks he will have causes him to kill the people who stand in his way Of fulfilling his destiny. The Spiderman quote “With power comes great responsibility,” relates to the theme of Shakespeare's play Macbeth. Macbeth and the actor Lindsay Lohan, share the trait that people with power often abuse it, corruption is frequently the result of responsibility to great for one person.

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Throughout the tragedy, Macbeth 's character takes a big, yet gradual change for the worst as ambition starts to completely take over him. Once the three witches give Macbeth his prophecies he transitions from a brave, loyal man to a cold blooded murderer. His power hungry personality leads to a character change from who he was before he knew about the witches prophecies, after he learned of them, and right before he was murdered. In Macbeth, Shakespeare dramatises the damaging physical and mental effects of ambition on those who seek power for their own sake.

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As humans, the desire to want control or influence is natural. However, some people may go to greater extremes than others to obtain this power. For instance, in the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Macbeth was characterized as a good man, well renowned for winning a battle. His wife, on the contrary, Lady Macbeth, has a strong urge to obtain power and she is willing to do anything to acquire it. She implemented the thought of destroying everyone who stood in the way along the path to reach royalty in Macbeth’s mind by making him feel like he as though he is less of a man if he decided not to.

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In the book Othello, Iago is a very manipulating man, throughout the book he manages to manipulate three main people, Roderigo, Cassio, and Othello. He uses all their weaknesses to bring them down. Iago wants revenge on Othello, because Othello overlooks Iago and his abilities, so Iago manipulates these three characters to get back at Othello in the long run. He comes up with a very good plan to get each other to turn against one another. So in the end he ends up getting what he wanted, revenge.

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In the play Othello, William Shakespeare creates an elaborate tragedy with various in depth characters, enhancing the story with powerful characterization. Iago, the main antagonist of Othello, exemplifies Shakespeare’s use of characterization to create in depth and complex characters. Using his manipulative nature, intellectual mind, egotistical attitude, and dishonesty, Iago controls the other characters in order to achieve his goal, leading Othello to succumb to an overwhelming jealousy causing his downfall. In order for Iago to gain control of the characters in the play, he manipulates Othello, Roderigo, Cassio, and more to believe false information and turn on one another.

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It is human nature to want power, to be at the top of the pyramid, to be king/queen, but that comes at a price as shown in Macbeth. In the play, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth will do anything to have absolute power and nothing stands in their way. From killing to going completely mad, they will become the next king and queen at all costs. The ambition and the want for power is so high that they kill many, they do whatever they can to be one step closer, and they go completely insane, all because they want that absolute power.

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This idea is clearly seen throughout the play in Iago’s most cunning of actions; his attempt to murder Cassio, and his malicious lies which tear Othello and Desdemona apart. Not only does Iago’s jealousy lead to delusion, but also to deception. Iago is in search for something to sooth his envy, and this leads him to vast lies which will please

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What drives apparently good men to become ruthless, ambitious, jealous and greedy? We see an example of this in the play “Macbeth” performed at Pop Up Globe, directed by Tom Mallaburn, was written originally by the well-known author, William Shakespeare. Macbeth is based upon a big tragedy, where the two main characters, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, inevitably were forced to do evil things due to their ambition; taste the sweetness of victory and then downfall again. Although the play was written by an English author, Shakespeare smartly sets his story based upon the idea of ambition, a concept that relates to all of us, no matter where we are from. We have to admit that in our minds, the concept of power and ambition is linked to men.

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Iago’s is able to use his knowledge of Othello’s perspective during situations to his advantage as he is able to lead Othello into believing that Desdemona is not trustworthy to him due to taking innocent events and warping them into targeting Othello specifically. Iago also manipulates Othello by misleading him with wrong information to make him believe that Desdemona is not honest and trustworthy to Othello. Iago is able to destroy Othello because he has an understanding of Othello’s flaw and how he can target Othello specifically to cause him to lose trust in his wife and Cassio as well as lead him to his demise. The understanding of someone’s life allows a perpetrator to take advantage of their’s victim's life and destroy them mentally by the use of manipulation and their point of

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Iago is a unique and complicated character. He is intelligent in that he is able to manipulate people and events in his favour, which he thrives on throughout the play, classifying him as the antagonist of the play. Driven by jealousy and hatred, Iago plots against Othello to destroy his character and reputation. Knowing that if he foolishly attacked such a respected man directly, he would be sentenced to death. As a result, he devises to use other people to obtain what he desires by influencing the characters in the play to suit his plan.

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Power can not only bring ambitious people honors, but also make them lose everything. In the play, Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, it demonstrates that the immoral power influences the life of Macbeth dramatically. Macbeth’s abuse of power destroys his relationship with his cousin, friend, and wife, which shows that Macbeth’s wild ambition causes him to be isolated. Macbeth’s abuse of power destroys his relationship with his cousin, Duncan.

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