Examples Of Machiavellianism In Macbeth

Hergie Alexis, Seguedeme And Towa-sello Kossi Joiny. "Machiavellism In William Shakespeare's Macbeth: A Critical Study." Ira International Journal Of Education And Multidisciplinary Studies, No. 2, 2017, P. 170. EBSCOhost, doi:10.21013/jems.v6.n2.p4

This article focuses on the ways Machiavellism is portrayed in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth through the ambition to power Macbeth shows throughout the show. This article goes deep into the history of Scotland during the time Macbeth is written in and explores what caused the characters to use Machiavellian tactics to build their ambition to power. On one hand, these tactics gain the dream that both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth want for themselves but end tragically for the two characters as they see

It talks about the moral arguments Macbeth contemplates for and against the act of killing the king. The desires of Macbeth create the ambition over which the moral arguments stem from. Macbeth wants to push his ambitions away as they are causing him to think evil deeds. Like source A, this article explains the consequences of Macbeth’s actions as self destructive and the cause of future evil deeds to come. Article A and this article agree on Lady Macbeth’s influence on Macbeth’s choice to kill the king as just. She sees that Macbeth should appeal to his pride and ambition to power as it helps both of them in the long term. Ambition, in this article, is shown as a cursor of further evil deeds and is the mentality and motive that pushes Macbeth to wash away any earlier reasoning from his mind to not kill Duncan. Lady Macbeth is at fault for playing to her husband’s ambition and allowing him to neglect his original honorable way of thinking and decide to kill the king for the sake of power. She uses ambition to thrive with her own pride and confidence while Macbeth initially has a way of ethical thinking that is contrasting to his ambition. Both articles A and B touch on the psychology of Macbeth, but this article goes deeper in the philosophy of why Macbeth is tempted towards these evil actions. Unlike Article A, this article shows that Macbeth is in a constant battle with his own conscience as to whether or not he believes that what the witches prophesied is deserved of him or if he has what it takes to achieve the throne and power. His ethical thinking is observed more in this article and pinpoints that his ethics of what is right and wrong ends in a debate of judgement within himself. Yes, he knows the full knowledge of his choices but in this article we see the research that instead Macbeth is battling his ambition to kill the king up until the moment he finally surrenders to