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Examples Of Hunger For Power In Macbeth

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The central idea of “Hunger for power is not always a good thing” is presented in Shakespeare’s Macbeth, conveyed through characterization. Of all characters, this idea is displayed in Lady Macbeth. In Act 1, Scene 5, Lady Macbeth says “Glamis thou art, and Cawdor; and shalt be… And yet wouldst wrongly win. Thou'dst have, great Glamis” (1.5, 1-11) after reading the letter. In the letter, Macbeth described how he plans to become king, and she talks to herself as acknowledges that Macbeth does not possess the guts to do anything to become king. Instead, she has to convince him and play part for the prophecy to become fulfilled, thus indicating she is aching for power. Another example of thrive for power is shown in Macbeth in the last scene
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In act 1 scenes lines 15-16 it says “Glamis the art, and cawdor and shalt be what thon art promised”. This quote explains how everyone wants power. In the story this quotes shows how lady macbeth wants macbeth to be king. She want him to become king because they will have money and land. This shows her greedy towards power.

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Both greed and power, if not controlled, can lead to destruction. Throughout William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, Shakespeare uses both characters Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to demonstrate how ambition can change one’s personal relationships. As in the beginning of Act 1, Scene 7 Macbeth and Lady Macbeth do not share the same ambition, and it is because of this that their relationship lacks love and affection however through the use of persuasion and other means, Lady Macbeth is able to get Macbeth to pursue her ambition. This not only changes their relationship drastically but it also changes Macbeth’s attitude towards ambition. Throughout the play, Shakespeare shows us through Macbeth, the possibility for ambition to eventually turn into greed and how the lust for power may corrupt us.

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Everyone wants power. Even the most humble among us can be caught cutting in the line at Starbucks, cheating on a test, or using a tiny white lie on a resume to set ourselves apart. We all want to stand out and feel superior to the average Joe. Shakespeare’s Macbeth shows how fast a person can change as a result of the desire for power.

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While some people can be right-minded and powerful, power is a corrupting force because power causes greed and selfishness. Power can easily be abused, and power amplifies any personality traits you may have, good or bad. In the play Macbeth written by William Shakespeare, this is a key point. Power can be abused in many different ways. Whether it’s an autocracy with one person having absolute power, or even a democracy where the person in power is limited by their own branches of government, people have always wanted power.

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Greed for power has always been evil and even made a saint turn into a demon. As the quote goes “All power tends to corrupt and an absolute power corrupts absolutely” (unquote), which is true not only in the fictitious stories but also in real life and Shakespeare, th9e greatest writer ever known, has always been in habit of making fictitious character come alive and Macbeth is no exception to the rule. The character of Macbeth has two sides, one which is wholesome while other been dubious. He symbolized great ambition but went overboard and in the process not only became corrupt but also became a killer. Macbeth reflects great strength but within he has his own weakness and thus good over took evil resulting in its downfall and finally his own death.

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Macbeth may not be the hero Scotland thought he was, because he could have genuinely been a good person and cared about Duncan or only considered not killing him because he was his cousin being the only thing stopping him from doing it. But the power could be to blame since some naturally want the power to control others, though not everybody with power is bad. Duncan is a good example of power not causing people to be corrupt, since he treated Macbeth well by giving him land, making him cawdor, etc. Maybe it was the fact that Macbeth was his cousin, but he wasn’t killing everybody he didn’t trust like macbeth did. As a matter of fact Duncan even stayed over in Macbeth’s castle without any suspicion towards him at all.

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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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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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Power is always coveted in any society and the world of Shakespeare’s Macbeth is no different. In the play, Macbeth, a noble lord, shows his hunger for power with thoughts to remove an heir to the throne from power. Macbeth’s impatience to be king leads him to stain his honor by using murder. Macbeth travels further down the path of evil by arranging the assassination of a friend.

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1878 Words | 8 Pages

Lady Macbeth easily convinces Macbeth to proceed and King Duncan is killed. While waiting for Macbeth to return from the king’s chamber, Lady Macbeth shows some of her own ambition, “That which hath made them drunk hath made me bold” (2.2.1). By successfully pressing drink upon the guards, Lady Macbeth is emboldened. Success turns many people overly ambitious, by seeing what the human race is capable of changes many people into power hungry ants. Lady Macbeth is one clear example of this fault.

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Man craves power, the witches said what Macbeth wanted to hear. These were hopes and dreams of a man driven by blind ambition to rule. In act one, scene three, the witches inspire Macbeth by saying “All hail Macbeth, Hail to thee, that shall be king hereafter” (Shakespeare Macbeth’s Act I,

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