Lady Macbeth Comparison Essay

Macbeth Comparison Essay
Power is the ability to do something or act in a particular way and can have many different effects on people. The way people react to power shows who they are as a person. Macbeth is a play about a couple in Scotland who are faced with the opportunity of great power. In Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth alter their moral outlook while in the pursuit of power, which shows how power changes the way people think and act.
Macbeth was given an opportunity for power that changed his morals. At first, Macbeth is hesitant, he was a moral man and knew that murder was wrong, he states, “I have no spur / To prick the sides of my intent, but only / Vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself / And falls

We can tell he is hesitant because he is thinking about all the reasons not to do this. The way he is hesitant shows the readers that he knows that killing the king is wrong. When his wife hears of this, she manipulates him into thinking otherwise. He ends up killing the king and gaining the power he longed for. After his newfound power, his moral outlook shifts from relatively good to pure evil. Once he achieved power he believed he has to do whatever it took to keep it, meaning he had to eliminate all threats. In act 3, after he has been king for some time, he starts to see Banquo as a threat, he explains his thoughts by saying, “Our fears in Banquo Stick deep, and in his royalty of nature Reigns that which would be feared. ’Tis much he dares, And to that dauntless temper of his mind He hath a wisdom that doth guide his valor To act in safety”(III.I.53-55). This quote shows the readers that he starts to fear Banquo and knows he needs to do something about it. This quote also shows the readers how his outlook changed from doing the right thing in general to only doing the right thing for himself. The author uses words like fears and

When she first hears of her husband’s news, she tells him he needs to do whatever it takes to achieve this goal. When she finds out he is hesitant, she starts manipulating him into getting her way by telling him, “When you durst do it, then you were a man; And to be more than what you were, you would Be so much more the man”(I.VII.55-56). This quote shows the readers how she believes she needs to do whatever it takes to get the power no matter how bad it is by using phrases like “Be so much more than a man” and “Be more than what you are”. This reveals that her morals are bad and she will not feel remorse for doing the wrong thing. After Macbeth kills the king and becomes king himself, Lady Macbeth starts to feel guilty. The guilt only gets worse when Macbeth murders Banquo too. She feels responsible for all of this and drives her insane to the point where she can’t take it anymore. In the play , a doctor is observing Lady Macbeth after reports of sleepwalking and hears her say, “To bed, to bed. There’s knocking at the gate. Come, come, come, come. Give me your hand. What’s done cannot be undone. To bed, to bed, to bed”(V.I.69-72). The way she is speaking shows the readers how the guilt is getting to her and is driving her crazy. When she says “What's done cannot be undone”, the reader can infer that she feels regretful and wants to take back what she did. Even though she is going crazy, the readers can see