ipl-logo

Greed Quotes In Macbeth

934 Words4 Pages

Erich Fromm once said, “Greed is a bottomless pit which exhausts the person in an endless effort to satisfy the need without ever reaching satisfaction.” In William Shakespeare’s play titled Macbeth, a soldier’s greed, after hearing about his prophecy by witches, forces him to kill many that are close to him and fulfill his role as king. Overtime, he goes paranoid, is led to his eventual downfall, and has his head severed off. Macbeth was manipulated by various figures into a path that he tried not to take. Macbeth is the ultimate victim of the play not only due to the witches control over him, but also to his blood hungry greed.
The main conspirators that victimized Macbeth are the witches because they manipulated with his emotions and fate. …show more content…

The witches were the first people to plant the idea of killing the king into Macbeth’s mind. They cause him to question his thoughts about becoming king. Macbeth at first thought that becoming “king stands not within the prospect of belief (I.iii.76-77).” Immediately after he becomes Thane of Cawdor, he begins to think about his future on the throne and does not appreciate Duncan’s gift to him of becoming the new Thane of Cawdor. The witches said what they did to Macbeth in order to drive him to the point in which he will kill the King, who gave him nothing but kindness. The witches take advantage of Macbeth’s weakness of being power …show more content…

After he murders King Duncan, Macbeth says that he heard a voice say “Macbeth shall sleep no more (II.ii.57).” Macbeth’s biggest flaw was his inability to prevent his greed from directing his life. His greed and thirst for power not only drive him to kill a king who just gave him an honorable title, but they also cause him to hallucinate. His greed is taking its psychological and mental toll on him. Macbeth’s greed has gotten the better of him so much that he remains in the state that he is permanently. The greed clouds his judgment and does not allow him to see the people that he is terrorizing. Immediately after he assassinates Duncan, he says that he is “afraid to think what [he has] done (II.ii.66).” He realizes the mistake that he has made, but he doesn’t think about redoing everything because he has finally fulfilled his greed. Macbeth’s greed is like a mask that he cannot take off no matter how hard he tries. His greed forces him to kill many innocent people. He feels guilty about killing the king that he worked to defend. He seems as though he did not want to do it, but some force, his greed, caused him to kill Duncan at the end. The point at which Macbeth’s greed turns him for the worst was when he said “there the grown serpent lies (III.iiii.32),” in reference to Banquo after hearing about his death. They were best friends and fought together throughout the duration of the

Show More
Related

Greed Quotes In Macbeth

861 Words | 4 Pages

“There is a sufficiency in the world for man 's need but not for man 's greed.” This quote was spoken from a wise Indian activist, what he says is a correlation towards the rising greed aspect of the character Macbeth. This play Macbeth was about a soldier who became greedy with power. It is about Macbeth’s Tyrant display when he kills Duncan and orders Banquo to be killed and other violent acts.

Read More

Greed Quotes In Macbeth

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.

Read More

Examples Of Foils In Macbeth

372 Words | 2 Pages

There are multiple examples of foils in the play Macbeth, but there are some characters that shape Macbeth to who he is more than others did. The key individuals that shaped Macbeth are the witches, Hecate, and the obvious Macduff, who shapes and slays Macbeth in the end. The witches controlled the whole story in their own way, much like witches today are perceived to be these (un)holy beings that can predict, influence, and manipulate time and events. The witches first started “foiling” Macbeth in their first meeting in Act 1.

Read More

Macbeth's Awful Flaw

86 Words | 1 Pages

Macbeth’s dreadful flaw, his sightless ambition, is a massive contributing influence to his mental collapse. In the course of the play, Macbeth has a propensity to make actions out of his desire for more power. For an example of this avarice is when the witches predict that he will become Thane of Cawdor and later the King of Scotland. When the first prediction comes true, the greed of Macbeth over powers him driving him to kill King Duncan so that he can become king of

Read More

Duncan's Prophecies In Macbeth

756 Words | 4 Pages

Prophecies can often cause one to take poor and erroneous decisions. In the play Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, the three witches are morally responsible for King Duncan’s death as they prophesy to Macbeth that he will become the king of Scotland and ultimately results in protagonist to take a series of misguided actions. Macbeth would not have chosen the action of murdering King Duncan for the fulfillment of his ambition without the witches’ prophecies, and the tragedy occurs when Macbeth foolishly trusts the witches and believes in the ambiguous information that witches provide him. One of the factors that the three witches are morally responsible for King Duncan’s death is that they awakens the evil side of Macbeth’s mind by prophesying

Read More

Power And Influence In Macbeth

559 Words | 3 Pages

The power to influence is not limited to a physical being, although is, in my opinion, the factor to which holds the most influence in this instance. In Shakespeare’s drama, The Tragedy of Macbeth, many things play a role in the way and manner some characters act. Throughout the play, the Witches hold the most power to influence the actions of others because even though their lack of lines, they still change the story quite exponentially and they are feared because of their mysterious magic and sorcery. The Witches don’t have a lot of scenes or lines in the play, but with the ones they do have, it changes the course of the story completely, which shows their level of power.

Read More

The Destruction Of Greed In Shakespeare's 'Macbeth'

172 Words | 1 Pages

“Greed is so destructive. It destroys everything.” Eartha Kitt. Macbeth was a true Shakespearean tragic hero. He had many noble qualities as well as several tragic flaws.

Read More

Tragedy Of Greed In Macbeth

1932 Words | 8 Pages

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.

Read More

The Witches Are More Evil In Shakespeare's Macbeth

1686 Words | 7 Pages

Huda Hashash 9th Grade Honors 1/4/16 Ms. Kelsey Final Draft The Witches Are More Evil By examining both Lady Macbeth’s and the witches actions, it was noticeable that both Lady Macbeth and the three witches have a great impact on Macbeth’s reactions. In the play and the book Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, the hero, Macbeth, gets influenced by the humans surrounding him actions. However there are two main characters that affects Macbeth to develop from a loyal citizen into a corruptive human, those two characters are his wife, Lady Macbeth, and the three witches.

Read More

Who Is The True Villain In Macbeth

501 Words | 3 Pages

This is why the witches are the true villains, because they had planted murderous thoughts in Macbeth’s mind and then tricked him with illogical prophecies. With all this said, the witches’ absolute supernatural powers corrupted them

Read More

Prophecies In Macbeth Essay

430 Words | 2 Pages

Ambitions , prophecies or maybe evil is what you could say drives Macbeth during the play, but Macbeth fate was already determined from the start .Macbeth stumbles upon three witches who give him 3 prophecies that predicts several of his actions before they even happen. In the play The Tragedy of Macbeth, Macbeth’s fate is predetermined by the witches. The witches manipulate Macbeth into acting dishonorable.

Read More

The Witches In Macbeth

1531 Words | 7 Pages

In the play Macbeth, the Witches play a bigger role than one might expect. The Witches are temptations of evil and with the Witches’ mischief prey upon Macbeth’s ambition like puppeteers. The Witches give Macbeth numerous prophecies that are told to provoke Macbeth towards his doom. The prophecies give Macbeth thoughts of treason against the King, tells Macbeth to secure the kingdom from Banquo’s descendants, and give Macbeth the false courage that leads him to think he was invincible. If the Witches’ prophecies did not guide Macbeth, his life would not have led to tragedy.

Read More

Causes Of Macbeth's Downfall

876 Words | 4 Pages

The witches played a colossal role in Macbeth’s downfall and ultimately, his death. Since the first part of the prophecy stated Macbeth as being the new Thane of Cawdor, he believed he could continue to become king as well. In knowing his prediction, Macbeth also realized that since the king was in good health, so he would have to kill the king himself. For the rest of his prophecy to come true he would have to kill the king for himself. “All hail, Macbeth that shalt be king hereafter!”

Read More

The Peripeteia In Macbeth

1056 Words | 5 Pages

Throughout William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, Macbeth and his wife, Lady Macbeth, experience peripeteia. Macbeth, a war hero, and his friend, Banquo, meets the witches on their way back from war. This meeting marks the start of their peripeteia. Eventually, Macbeth goes from being a respected hero of war and the Thane of Glamis to becoming the king of Scotland and a traitor who wrongfully entered the throne. Throughout the play, many scenes portray Macbeth’s peripeteia and downfall.

Read More

Central Character In Macbeth

1640 Words | 7 Pages

This is demonstrated in how he kills his close friend Banquo to protect his ambition. Even after he secures his place on the throne, his paranoia is prevalent and his “fears in Banquo stick deep”. Macbeth has killed Duncan to make himself King of Scotland, but he fears that it will all be for nothing in the long run if Banquo 's descendants rather than his own are destined to wear the crown. Unlike the killing of Duncan, Macbeth has no qualms about killing Banquo. He made a conscience decision to not think and act simply on impulse, like an animal.

Read More

More about Greed Quotes In Macbeth

Related Topics

Open Document