What do your neighbors, your coworkers, your family all have in common? A powerful evil that lays deep within all humans, only to be released under the most heinous circumstances. This fact is clearly articulated in the works of world renowned authors Shakespeare and William Golding in their novels Macbeth and Lord of the Flies. Shakespeare 's Lady Macbeth and Golding 's Jack share many similar qualities in their path to success proving that if good people who begin with positive intentions become provoked by the lust for power, then ambition can get in the way of their moral compass and capability for making good decisions because of the evil which lays inside all mankind.

Shakespeare 's Lady Macbeth is thought of as a murderous character who is lured by the temptation of power into committing violent acts. However, it isn 't her fault she was put into situation where the quiet coaxing of power was too strong for her merely human psyche to resist. The witches are the one who provoked her desire for power with their prophecy telling “All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!”. Lady Macbeth chooses to overthrow the current leader and uses her manipulative ways to convince her husband to join her killing spree of anyone who stands in the way of the throne. She is a woman well versed in the art of manipulation, “Hie thee hither, That I may pour my spirits in thine ear, And chastise thee with the valour of my tongue” she says urging her husband to come home so she can