Milan Wong Ms. Guerrero English I 31 March 2023 Greed Everyone has desires for power, but when it comes to achieving power, sacrifices have to be made. How much one is willing to put at risk depends on how greedy one is for power. In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, three witches tell Macbeth that he will be King of Scotland which prompts Macbeth to devise a plan to kill the reigning King Duncan and claim the throne for himself. In act 1 scene 7, Macbeth hesitates with continuing the planned murder of Duncan, but Lady Macbeth successfully persuades him to carry it out. Shakespeare argues that ambition causes people to become greedy which leads them to commit evil acts. Lady Macbeth's determination to continue with the murder of King Duncan …show more content…
As a mother, Lady Macbeth would pluck her “nipple from his boneless gums / And dashed the brains out” of her baby revealing how she will do anything to get power because, although she loves her child, her greed allows her to be able to kill them if it benefited her. She chooses to ignore the devastation and grief she would have if she murdered her child because of how much she wants Duncan to die so that she gains power. While Lady Macbeth tries to convince Macbeth to continue with the murder of Duncan, Macbeth asks what if the plan fails and Lady Macbeth responds with “We fail? / But screw your courage to the sticking-place, / And we’ll not fail” (1.7.59-61). Lady Macbeth’s specific usage of “And we’ll not fail” demonstrates how she has become delusional since she ignores the fact that it will not be simple to carry out murder against Duncan, an important individual who is guarded, and she convinces herself it will. Despite Lady Macbeth knowing the consequences if the plan goes wrong, she dismisses this and continues pushing Macbeth to commit murder. At this point, she does not care about the consequences of her actions because once Duncan dies, the power given to her will be worth it. She chooses to look the other way and focus on the prize instead of the risks which demonstrates how her ambition led her to