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Greed In Macbeth

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While most characters in Shakespeare’s Macbeth tend to stay static and have the same values as they did at the beginning of the play, Macbeth deteriorates because of his greedy and selfish nature into an abyss of gluttony. The reason behind this can be attributed to the witches, who predicted for both Macbeth and Banquo’s son to take the throne in Scotland. This put the greedy thought of power into Macbeth’s malignant mind. Macbeth begins the play as a well-off guy who is loyal and well-liked, but as greed and the urge to obtain power get pounded into his head by his wife, he slowly dwindles and he eventually becomes a savage that will do anything to maintain his power. Macbeth starts the play as an honorable, respected man that is recognized …show more content…

Macbeth’s wife originally puts the thought of killing King Duncan for power into his head because she is hungry for the power, but Macbeth was very hesitant. However, these thoughts began to change when “[his] thought, whose murder is yet fantastical, / Shakes so [his] single state of man / That function is smothered in surmise, \ And nothing is, but what is not” (I.iii.142-145). This is the first time in the book where he is acknowledges the fact that his morality is dwindling because he has started pondering with the thought of killing Duncan. Throughout Act I, Macbeth keeps on falling deeper and deeper into the pit of his desires. With this, he knows he is falling into this hole, and he cannot figure out why because he has “no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition which o’erleaps itself and falls on th’other” (I.vii.25-28). This shows that he cannot pinpoint an exact reason for his desire to kill Duncan other than ambition, and he does not want to jump into a place of no return with just ambition to back it up. The end of Act I is the point that Macbeth has his downfall from a good guy that the audience likes into a bad guy that the audience begins to

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William Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a testimony to the difference between greed and ambition, good and evil, and right and wrong. The story shows that when one becomes obsessed with power, they will often resort to methods of manipulation and retaliation to achieve their desired outcome. In the case of Macbeth, he is approached by the Three Witches who inform him that he will one day become Thane of Cawdor and the King of Scotland. Additionally, they inform Macbeth’s comrade Banquo that his sons will one day be kings.

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One of the first account of Macbeth's ambition for power is when he says “my thought, whose murder

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He acted because his first prophecy came true about being thane of cawdor. Macbeth is convinced after a talk with his wife he finally decided to kill Duncan. In this part it shows how greedy Macbeth and lady Macbeth are in the beginning. “Cannot be ill, cannot be good: if ill, why hath it given me earnest of success, commencing”. (Macbeth Act 1 scene 2 lines 139-40)

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Macbeth is invoked, remembered, and feared.” At the beginning of the play, Macbeth is introduced as a warrior hero. The outcome of his great battles wins him great honor from the king. He is a fierce and noble soldier for King Duncan and the people of Scotland.

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In the play Macbeth, Macbeth’s fate is what drives him to his decisions for both power and greed. This is portrayed when Macbeth when he kills Banquo and his son because his greed sees them as a threat to his throne, killing the king for power above all mortals, and his fate ultimately leading to his death and freeing time. Macbeth has done countless sins in order to keep his rightful position as king, though his greed for power has led to him killing his best friend Banquo because the witches have predicted that Banquo’s descendants will be king. “Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none.”

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1313 Words | 6 Pages

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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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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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.

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Throughout time greed, guilt, and salvation has help to revise the mind of a person to determine if something is right or wrong. Macbeth is the tragedy written by William Shakespeare that embodies how greed, guilt, and salvation can change a person from having morals to killing someone because of a prophecy. Shakespeare writes about the rise and fall of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, and the salvation of Macduff. The witches’ prophecy sets the plot of Macbeth. Macbeths’ greed leaves him dead in the end.

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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 goes through a series of events related to his flaw that leads to his downfall and death. The very first event that Macbeth experiences which ultimately began showing the negative impacts of his ambition was his encounter with the witches who told him his destiny: “All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor!/ All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!” (MB1.3.49-50). If it was not for Macbeth being made aware of his fate and what was in store for his future, it’s very likely that these thoughts would never have occurred to Macbeth in the first place about killing King Duncan.

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1113 Words | 5 Pages

(Shakespeare 1.3.52-55). Macbeth is influenced by his greed for power to use ruthless actions, in this case to kill Duncan to receive the crown he thinks he needs to earn that power. Overwhelmed by his greed, he is already thinking about the “murder” as he

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931 Words | 4 Pages

William Shakespeare, playwright of Macbeth, shows the importance that power and corruption can hold on a person’s humanity. In order to prove the true effect of personal gains, he uses the main character, Macbeth, to show how evil people are willing to become. Personal power has the ability to be essential to greatness, but at the same time is able to destroy a person’s true nature. Believe it or not, Macbeth once was a man of honor. At the beginning of the play, Macbeth was loyal to King Duncan, a strong military leader, and a respected husband.

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963 Words | 4 Pages

Literal nobility is shown at the beginning of the play when the audience is shown macbeth is a general, and a good one at that. This is demonstrated in (I.II.2) “For brave Macbeth well he deserves that name disdaining fortune, with his brandish’d steel, which smok’d with bloody excecution, like valor’s minion carv’d out his passage, till he face’d the slave”. This shows that as a noble general, Macbeth deserves more. However, his nobility falls short in act 2 scene 7 after he kills King Duncan to take the throne. Which brings us to Macbeth 's downfall and figurative nobility.

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1241 Words | 5 Pages

“If good, why do I yield to that suggestion[killing Duncan]/Whose horrid image doth unify my hair” (I, III, 144-145). This quote indicates that the force of ambition is so strong within Macbeth that even he himself cannot understand why it is making him think of killing Duncan. Likewise, Macbeth’s ambition to become king is further emphasized after Duncan names his son Malcolm as his successor. Here, Macbeth says that he will have to “oerleap,/For in my way it [Malcolm] it lies” (I, III, 55-57).

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