Greed And Power In Macbeth

Greed and Power Leads to Violence

Macbeth, a tragic play by the author William Shakespeare, tells a story of a man who becomes greedy, hungry for power, and desires to take control of Scotland’s throne. Shakespeare employs many themes into his work such as greed, power, control, fate, and loyalty; however, one theme that is prevalent to Shakespeare's audience is violence. Bloodshed is rampant and acts of violence dominate the play’s storyline. Illustrating how greed for power leads to violence. Macbeth is officially a violent and it exemplifies this through out the play. Primarily, after Macbeth and the Scottish army defeated the rebel Macdonwald’s army, a bleeding sergeant enters the scene and describes the gallantry of Macbeth and Banquo in the battle when he states, “For brave Macbeth- well he deserves that name- Disdaining Fortune, with his brandished steel, which smoked with bloody execution” (1.2) By

Blood is important when it comes to violence because without violence there’s no bloodshed. After the night Macbeth killed Duncan and the chamberlains, he was terrified of what he did and said to himself “Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood Clean from my hand” (2.3)? Macbeth has so much blood and guilt on his hands from the crime he has committed that essentially all the water in the world could not wash him clean of his guilt. His greed for power caused him to murder Duncan and the guards. Macbeth’s violence caused him to feel guilty for what he’s done. Throughout the play, Macbeth himself became more vicious and once he knew that Banquo was suspicious of him murdering Duncan, he hired murderers to kill Banquo and Fleance in the woods. Before Macbeth hired the murders, he made sure that the murders knew that Banquo was their enemy by saying “So is he mine, and in such bloody distance That every minute of his being thrusts Against my near'st of life”