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Macbeth Corruption Essay

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In the drama Macbeth, Shakespeare portrays corruption of man when posed with potential power through the motif of violence. Corruption is not a state that all easily embrace; though Macbeth commits heinous crimes, he was not easily convinced to do so. Macbeth’s resistance is particularly when he is foretold that he will be king along with thane of Cawdor and Glamis and questions if he is good then why would “[he] yield to that suggestion whose horrid image doth unfix [his] hair (Macbeth 1.3.147-148). The suggestion of which he speaks is to kill King Duncan, the same man that he refers to as gracious and kind throughout the play. This truly depicts the corruption of his character because of the promise of kingship. The theme is continued when Macbeth, who is originally characterized by some level of loyalty because of his success in the army, which awarded him the title of Thane of Cawdor becomes not only murderous to king Duncan, but to Duncans soldiers to cover the trail , then proceeding to lie about why he killed them saying that the “expedition of [his] violent love outrun the pauser or the reason.” (Macbeth 2.3.129-130) Macbeth says that he murdered the innocent soldiers out of passion for King Duncan, this indicates the decay of Macbeth’s honesty and strong character. This implies that corruption is not a singular action, that one action begins a slippery slope into destruction. …show more content…

After nearly the complete corruption of Macbeth , he realizes that he wouldn not be king for long as the witches “placed a fruitless crown [upon his head]” and that he “for them [Banquo's children] murdered the gracious Duncan.” (Macbeth

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