Examples Of Greed In Macbeth

“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s needs, but not every man’s greed” (Mahatma Gandhi). Although wanting and having greed for power may be a motivation, it can fill one’s heart with dissatisfaction and unappreciation. Similarly, in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Macbeth wants to gain and sustain power, as he thinks that it was a necessary need. In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, attaining and holding power is the ultimate reason for Macbeth’s downfall. The witches' prophecies spur Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s greed for power, Macbeth’s jealousy and his wife’s persuasion convince Macbeth to commit evil to gain power, and finally, the threat to his power secures his ultimate downfall.

Firstly, the witches’ prophecies prompted Macbeth

Macbeth is hopeless by Duncan’s plan of making Malcolm the Prince of Cumberland and later ascends the throne instead of him and Macbeth soliloquizes: “[aside] The prince of Cumberland! That is a step / On which I must fall down, or else o’erleap, / For in my way it lies. Stars, hide your fires; / Let not light see my black and deep desires. / The eye wink at the hand, yet let that be / Which the eye fears, when it is done, to see” (1.4. 57-62). Macbeth is devastated on the inside as Malcolm takes the potential throne. This proves that Macbeth is jealous of Duncan's power against Malcolm. Macbeth realizes that he has to do some sinning for him to ascend his position. Also, Macbeth is expressing that stars should hide their brightness as Macbeth will do immense evil doings. He seems like if he is going after Malcolm’s position, but in hindsight, he is going after Duncan’s. After Duncan visits Macbeth’s, Lady Macbeth tempts Macbeth to kill Duncan while he is sleeping: “When you durst do it, then you were a man; / And to be more than what you were, you would / Be so much more the man. Nor time nor place / Did then adhere, and yet you would make both. / They have made themselves, and that their fitness now / Does unmake you” (1.7. 54-59). Lady Macbeth is so enthused about gaining power that she had to question if her husband is a man to get him to respect her and her

After Macbeth kills Duncan and becomes the king, he feels insecure about Banquo, his closest friend to secure power: “To be thus is nothing, / But to be safely thus. Our fears in Banquo / Stick deep, and in his royalty of nature / Reigns that which would be feared” ( 3.1. 52-55). It indicates that Macbeth is insecure about his throne because Banquo is the only witness to overhear the witches’ prophecies. Furthermore, Macbeth is truly forgetting that Banquo is his closest friend and he plans to get rid of any threats to sustain his power. Macbeth gets addressed that Macduff has fled to England after the witches prophesied about Macduff and Macbeth proclaims: “The castle of Macduff I will surprise, / 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. 167-170). Macbeth is trying to kill Macduff’s family to deter Macduff from fighting Macbeth. Macbeth plans to end Macduff’s bloodline as he feels threatened by the witches’ prophecies. (Conclusion