Tragedy Of Greed In Macbeth

William Shakespeare in The Tragedy of Macbeth written in the 17th century dramatizes the tragic hero and Macbeth’s tragic flaw of greed, which ultimately results in his gradual desensitization to murder and death. Even though he begins in the story thinking through his actions, he ends up killing on multiple accounts without second thought. Shakespeare wrote this play to show how avarice can have adverse consequences on the human condition. This tragedy follows the true story of a historical Macbeth, an eleventh century king of Scotland who usurped the throne after killing his predecessor. In The Tragedy of Macbeth, greed is Macbeth’s tragic flaw that permeates through the dramatic structure. This greed leads him to take something that is not

After Duncan's death, Macbeth hears voices cry out "Macbeth does murder sleep" (2.2.36). This innocent sleep that he murders represents the innocence of Duncan who was wrongfully killed while sleeping. These voices cause Macbeth to fear expose of his actions, which would be a quick and devastating end to his plan for his kingship. In a similar manner as before, the voices are crying "to all the house. / ‘Glamis hath murdered sleep’" (2.2.42-42). This has caused Macbeth to become paranoid that the whole house is now aware that he is a murderer. If his actions are exposed, then everything he had done would be for naught and he would suffer great consequences. Even though he knows that the voices could not be real, it arouses much fear for what he has done. This "disorder and moral darkness into which Macbeth [has] plung[ed] himself" (Knights 41) into is still a little unsettling to him. With obvious distress from his own actions, Macbeth isn't able to finish the plan of the murder properly or go back and fix it. However, this uneasiness does not appear to be regret for his action, but uncertainty of what might happen to him now. Distraught from the murder, Macbeth is only just beginning to get used to the idea of murder, which will become a more common thought to him as he becomes more consumed by his

Greed in this play is able to take an upright man and drag him to the lowest point and destroy everything that he has dedicated all his time to achieving. It shows that the most destructive force to a person’s goals can be themselves and not knowing when enough is enough. Unknown to this, the tragic hero Macbeth, like many people today, becomes enticed by the trap of wealth, power, and selfish ambition. His first problem is that he craves to have something that is not rightfully his from the person who actually deserves it. Greed first may cause someone to commit one sin, but it soon creates a snowball effect of many changes to a person's actions and character. Macbeth is never completely satisfied with his achievements. Instead, he continues to kill and kill in order to try to secure something that will inevitably fall through his grasp. The vision of success that seems very appealing can cause great harm if a person let's greed motivate their actions. When a person's desire for personal success makes a person lose the importance of life, death, friends, and family, then they have gone from a healthy ambition to a deadly