Integrity In Macbeth

1. Macbeth’s lustful pursuit of power corrupts any trace of integrity within him. Once Macbeth ambitiously latches onto to the prospect of himself as king, he dishonorably mulls over the idea of regicide in order to solidify the witches’ prophecy, even though he is utterly aware of how morally unsound his desires are. “That is a step on which I must fall down, or else o’erleap, for in my way it lies. Stars, hide your fires; let not light see my black and deep desires. The eye wink at the hand, yet let that be which the eye fears, when it is done, to see” (I. iv. 51-55). Moreover, after Lady Macbeth tempts him to satisfy his hunger for the crown by killing Duncan, Macbeth completely relinquishes his loyalties and human decency in favor of deception

The desire for personal gain trigger a tumult of heart-gripping fear and paranoia within Macbeth, disrupting his peace of mind and depriving him of the sleep and clear though necessary to conduct himself in a rational manner. “But let the frame of things disjoint, both the world suffer, ere we will eat our meal in fear, and sleep in the affliction of these terrible dreams that shake us nightly. Better be with the dead, whom we, to gain our peace, have sent to peace, than on the torture of the mind to lie in restless ecstasy….Oh, full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife (III. ii.

Macbeth resolves to make choices to safeguard his power and challenge the fate the witches’ bestow upon him with an unsightly mix of arrogance and ambition, for he believes that his title as king means nothing if he is constantly in fear of losing it. “To be thus is nothing but to be safely thus….prophet like, they hailed him father to a line of kings. Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown and put a barren scepter in my grip, thence to be wrenched with an unlineal hand, no son of mine succeeding. If ’t be so, for Banquo’s issue have I filled my mind; for them the gracious Duncan have I murdered; put rancors in the vessel of my peace only for them; and mine eternal jewel given to the common enemy of man, to make them kings, the seed of Banquo kings! Rather than so, come fate into the list, and champion me to th’ utterance” (III. i. 48-72). The sting of power also provokes Macbeth to act swiftly without giving his plans a second-thought, as he cites time as the greater thwarter of opportunity. “Time, thou anticipat’st my dread exploits. The flighty purpose never o’ertook unless the deed go with it. From this moment the very firstlings of my heart shall be to the firstlings of my hand. And even now, to crown my thoughts with acts, be it thought and done: the castle of Macduff I will surprise, seize upon Fife, give to th’ edge o’ th’ sword his wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls that trace him in his line. No boasting like a fool. This deed I’ll do before this