These evil acts are caused by their ambition and thirst for power. These stories prove that when people gain power they aren’t satisfied and feel the need to acquire more. Consequently, their personalities drastically change along the way. Jack remains sane, however he becomes a bloodthirsty, savage tyrant while Macbeth becomes an insane, delusional tyrant. Both of these characters become drastically more evil throughout their stories.
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.
Throughout the play he grows wicked because perseverance and ambition have blindsided Macbeth’s way of thought. Honestly Macbeth just wanted to be some kind of authority or higher in power. He was so driven and determined he thought he was basically forced to kill his own friend to get his spot in life, Thane of Cawdor. You could tell when Macbeth was talking to his wife, he became hesitant. This shows Macbeth does have a heart, feelings, and a conscience, but his wife egged him on to “be a man” and those devious traits took over once
Macbeth tries to defend his decision by saying: “I dare do all that become a man” (1.5.46) in one last attempt to try and sway his wife to see things his way. But she continues to disparage him in her reply. She also reminds him of their child. She tells him that even if it had been their own child she still would have killed it if she had promised him that she would. Which further ensues his guilt causing him to reluctantly agree to their original plot.
Macbeth was a very power-hungry individual, which ultimately led to him becoming selfish. The incident that led to the change in character would be when he had a chance in becoming king. “All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter” (Act 1 scene 3, line 53). This quote from
Greed for power has always been evil and even made a saint turn into a demon. As the quote goes “All power tends to corrupt and an absolute power corrupts absolutely” (unquote), which is true not only in the fictitious stories but also in real life and Shakespeare, th9e greatest writer ever known, has always been in habit of making fictitious character come alive and Macbeth is no exception to the rule. The character of Macbeth has two sides, one which is wholesome while other been dubious. He symbolized great ambition but went overboard and in the process not only became corrupt but also became a killer. Macbeth reflects great strength but within he has his own weakness and thus good over took evil resulting in its downfall and finally his own death.
Shakespeare, like any other man in the 16th and 17th century, saw ambitious and dominant women as evil and even disturbing or disturbed. From Macbeth, we can see Shakespeare feels women should be challenged and punished because they are trying to change society. Nowadays these ambitious and dominant women are regarded as brave and respected because of their ambition, such as Lady Macbeth’s ambition to become Queen. Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth as mentally disturbed.
The witches, Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, and other characters seem to act one way, whether it be good or evil, but their intentions are usually impure and meant to harm others in order to benefit themselves. Macbeth’s guilt is caused by the foul play the witches involve themselves in. If not for their prophecy, Macbeth would have never known of his fate and would have gained the kingship without involving murder, leading to his guilty conscious. The use of Supernatural elements is added to the plot of the play in order to show readers what led to Macbeth’s downfall, and what contributed to his guilt. His guilt arose from the
Macbeth is hesitant to murder but Lady Macbeth questions his manhood and tells him how much more of a man he will be if he would kill
This direct quote said by Macbeth, shows his selfish ambition and proves that he does not care about anybody other than himself. Macbeth is also stating within this quote that he has walked so far into a river of blood that even if he tried stopping now, it would be easier for him to keep killing people than to become a good person again. Based on his actions, Macbeth has shown that he has quickly transitioned from good to evil and that he does not have any remorse for all the killing that he has done.
He goes from being a loyal soldier to a cruel tyrant killing all of his enemies. In the beginning of the play he is presented as a loyal soldier to King Duncan and he is widely respected and admired by people. It can seem questionable as to why Macbeth is an antagonist when he has the trope of a hero. Despite that image, his inner thoughts begin to reveal themselves, showing another side to Macbeth that people don’t know about. Macbeth soon admits to his dark lust for power and status beyond his capability.
Macbeth started off as a valiant and courageous soldier, who would do anything for the king. By the end of the play, Macbeth was a tyrant and a horrible leader who killed those who trusted him to maintain the throne. It takes many factors to take a strong man and transform him into an evil monster. Macbeth’s downfall was caused by the deception and temptation of the witches and their prophecies, Lady Macbeth’s greed and aspirations for her husband to be king, and Macbeth’s own greed, jealousy and ambition.
Macbeth 's confidence diminishes and when he begins to meet his true fate. A powerful theme shown in Macbeth is that anyone can be susceptible to being both good and evil; this is shown through the snowballing effects of Macbeth 's potential idea of evil, to his guilt of murdering Duncan and Banquo, and his and Lady Macbeth 's eventual downfall due to committing worse deeds for power. Anyone can be capable of good or evil, and in this case, Macbeth was shown as becoming potentially evil towards the beginning of the play. This is introduced when the witches first told Macbeth the good fortunes that were going to come to him. In the first spell they cast they chanted, “Fair is foul, and foul is fair,” (1.1.12).
Macbeth’s Moral Deterioration Throughout the years where ruling and power took place everyone has always wanted to feel powerful and wouldn't stop at any lengths to have it even if it means hurting others along the way and choosing the wrong path . For others not so much, but some will choose anything to have power for instance in the tragedy of Macbeth. This is a story of an unsuccessful ruler who became king by murdering and manipulation. He chose to kill and lie in order to have power. His immoral decisions eventually lead him into extreme feelings of guilt and remorse later on in the tragedy.
William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, the main character; Macbeth, is seen as an evil character. The play is based off of Macbeth’s decisions and his actions to become King. In the beginning Macbeth starts out as a hero in Scotland’s war with Ireland and towards the end he is transformed into a murderer. Macbeth is not wholly evil because of is heroism in the war, his love for Scotland, and because he didn’t want to kill King Duncan initially. Macbeth was brain washed by his wife and tricked into killing the King.