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Examples Of Greed In Macbeth

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In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, greed and suffering reveal the devastating results of acquiring power. The greed of Macbeth and his wife earned them what they desired; however the more they gained, the more they’d suffer. And although they are both to blame, Lady Macbeth is truly the one who started their bloody journey to royalty. Upon hearing the witches’ prophecy of his fate, saying “All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter!”,Macbeth sends a letter to his wife. Reading the prophecy, she commits herself to see that prophecy come true.Lady Macbeth would do anything to become Queen -- even sacrifice her womanhood: “...unsex me here and fill me from the crown to the toe top-full of direst cruelty! make thick my blood. Stop up the access and
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Greed and guilt are two characteristics that can wreak havoc on the human mind and soul, and give someone what they deserve over time. Therefore, nothing seems more satisfying than when the villain or protagonist gets what they deserve for their bad deeds. In The Tragedy of Macbeth, William Shakespeare shows these traits, along with their affects, through the tragic hero of the play, Macbeth, and his wife, Lady Macbeth, also leaving the reader with the question: “Could this happen today?” After gaining the corrupt title Macbeth craves, being king is not as significant as he implies. Macbeth admits to his reign being spoiled saying, “To be thus is nothing, but to be safely thus”(Act III, Scene I, lines 50-51).

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Is greed in everyone? When we become extremely greedy it never ends up being positive, Shakespeare's Macbeth does a good job demonstrating how greed leads to someone's corruption or downfall. It starts when Macbeth goes to see the three witches. The witches tell him one day he will be king of Scotland by saying, “All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter!” (1.3.53) Here the witches are telling Macbeth his prophecy that’ll come in the future.

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Macbeth provides a great example that too much ambition is not always a good thing. He does so when he killed King Duncan, Banquo and so many others in order to be King. Macbeth lets the idea of wanting to be king get to him so bad that he doesn’t think twice about committing such evil deeds, including Banquo and the Kings murder. The idea of becoming king first crossed Macbeths mind when three witches approached Macbeth and Banquo, “All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of Cawdor.

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To be overambitious is a mistake made too often. One can step beyond the boundaries they are given, violating the universe’s unwritten rules. The greed that stems from this is shown in the play, Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare. Set in 11th century Scotland, Macbeth follows the story of a courageous soldier named Macbeth and his wife, Lady Macbeth, who are blinded by their ambitions to gain as much power as possible. By wanting too much, they are subject to the consequences of their machiavellian ways.

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Shakespeare presents Macbeth as being blinded by ambition and fear that people will stand in his way, both seemingly caused by the witches. Throughout the play the witches seem to enjoy sowing seeds of fear into Macbeth’s mind, even from their first interaction in act 1 scene 3 when they reveal Macbeth will be “king hereafter” it sparks the fire of Macbeth that will fuel him throughout the play and grow stronger as the play progresses. Shown in the extract, as even though the crown is upon his head, he cannot stop thinking about the witches' prophecies, especially Banquo’s. Exhibiting fear and even jealousy illustrated when describing his “barren sceptre” and “fruitless crown”. The ‘less’ suffix in the adjective “fruitless” shows Macbeth’s lack of children, and how he realises he has no meaning to being king, as he will become unimportant in the future.

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And lady Macbeth plays an important role helping her husband, Macbeth, reach his goal in becoming king. In which, she also becomes overcome by greed. Greedy is an intense and selfish desire for something especially for wealth or power as I said before. Greed can turn the best people into the worst Macbeth was a noble scotsman who fought to protect his country. Then Macbeth finds the idea of assuming the throne questionable.

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Lady Macbeth found out what the witches said to Macbeth in the letter he wrote to her. They said that he would first become Thane of Cawdor, and then become king. She wants them to come true immediately, so she pushes Macbeth to her full extent just to get what she wants, to become queen. She wants him to kill the king, Duncan. “What beast was’t then, that made you break this enterprise to me?

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Once Macbeth is king, the audience is able to recognize through monologues and supernatural influences how Macbeth's ambitions and greed cause him to feel anxious about his position as king. As the play goes forward, Macbeth becomes more and more paranoid of someone taking the throne away from him. His greed to keep the throne as long as he lives causes him to believe some are against him and his leadership. In the witches prophecy, Banquo, a nobleman of Scotland, is told that his sons will eventually become king. Macbeth knowing that it is likely this prophecy will also come true sets his sights on making Banquo and his son Fleance his next victims.

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Macbeth The intense and selfish desire for something from power to wealth is what we call “greed”. Throughout hundreds of thousands of years of history, humans had always had their battles with greed with either a victory or get overwhelmed by it. Macbeth, a play written by Shakespeare himself demonstrates a vital lesson of greed to all its readers on both a small and large scale. In the space, Macbeth, Macbeth’s life gets turned upside down from a life many sought after just from some bad advice he received, the people he was around, and his mindset.

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