The mention of power reveals how quickly people become corrupted as their selfish greed overpowers them. It can be seen that excessive selfishness in individual goals to become superior over others negatively impacts the way a person acts. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the protagonist who was once a loyal kinsman to the king of Scotland betrays his king under the influence of greed and gradually becomes an unmerciful leader. The character Macbeth is a perfect example of how quickly people change due to greed for power. Over the course of the play, power causes Macbeth to go from faithful to malicious which leads to his corruption. In the beginning of the play, Macbeth displays indecisiveness in overthrowing King Duncan soon after he finds out about the witches’ prophecies. Macbeth can be seen having an internal conflict with himself when he states, “I am thane of Cawdor. / If …show more content…
Macbeth does not show mercy towards the king when the he cries, “I have done the deed. / Didst thou not hear a noise” (II.ii.14). He finally succeeds in his crime and murders King Duncan in this quotation. His act is unforgiving as it is immoral. Not only did he kill a country’s beloved king, he killed a father of two sons. Likewise, he begins to act upon his suspicions towards Banquo when he states, “With barefaced power sweep him from my sight / And bid will avouch it, yet I must not, / For certain friends that are both his and mine, / Whose loves may I not drop, wail his fall / Who I myself struck down” (iii.i.122-26). Macbeth shows how he betrays his own best friend and sends out assassins to have Banquo dead. The development of this trait is on account of his greed for power. Despite already murdering Duncan horridly, he becomes unmerciful as his greediness comes in the way of his morals. In conclusion, the mercy he does not show contributes to the factors that lead to his